MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Just ten days before Christmas in 1996, Manatee County deputies were called to a drainage canal in Palmetto. There, they found a woman's body, which had been floating face down before divers recovered it.
Deputies were unable to identify Doris A. Korell, the 45-year-old woman from St. Petersburg who was pulled from the canal, for months. Her investigation would remain unsolved even longer, spanning nearly 30 years.
But now, a 72-year-old man that deputies identified as her former boyfriend is finally behind bars.
The Sunday that the Manatee County Sheriff's Office found Korell in the canal on US 41 North, deputies noticed she was wearing a gold ring on her right index finger. The Medical Examiner also noted that she had trauma to the right side of her neck and face.
An autopsy the following day, on Dec. 16, revealed that she had been stabbed a total of 83 times. At the time, MCSO detectives were unaware that the St. Petersburg Police Department was looking for Korell, who was living with her boyfriend, Stephen Ford, in a duplex on 92nd Avenue North.
Korell's daughter, who lived in Maryland, reported her missing on Dec. 11 after Ford called and asked her if she had seen her mother. Ford allegedly claimed that Korell left in her car to go shopping after they argued.
On Dec. 18, St. Pete detectives located Korell's red Maza RX-7 at the Pinellas Square Mall but failed to find evidence of a struggle or attack inside it. MCSO said they believe that Ford parked it there and wiped it down, later learning that he rented a storage unit a day after Korell went missing. Her jewelry, clothing, and photos were kept inside because Ford "didn't want Doris' daughter to have it."
Detectives returned to Ford's duplex days later, noting that it smelled like "decomposition" inside his home. They said they also found stains on the bedding and a mattress that were not present during an earlier search, as well as a suicide note from Ford.
The note, they said, was addressed to Ford's two sons, and stated that he wanted to be with Korell if she was dead. Detectives also observed that Christmas gifts had been opened days before Dec. 25, "as if he expected Doris wouldn't be found."
Ford denied involvement in her disappearance. When detectives asked him what should happen to the person who killed Korell, he allegedly said, "An eye for an eye. If I killed her, I should get the death penalty."
On Christmas Eve, detectives visited Ford's home for a follow-up interview. When he didn't answer the door, they entered through an unlocked window and found him semi-conscious and foaming at the mouth.
Detectives said Ford had ingested bleach in an attempt to commit suicide.
When St. Pete detectives interviewed Ford's former girlfriend on Jan. 5, 1997, they said they learned about a letter he mailed in October 1996, which read "He has no time for you know who, and hopes she’ll leave soon," and “I hope she gets the message that I don’t want her here anymore.”
Korell was finally identified in May 1997 using dental records, which led MCSO and St. Pete Police to realize they were working on the same case. However, due to a lack of physical evidence, the investigation went cold.
As for Ford, he moved to Delaware, and the case remained unsolved until it was reopened in 2017.
That year, a detective began to re-examine files from both Manatee and St. Pete Police. Over the course of six years, detectives said new information came to light, with Korell's acquaintances saying she was afraid of Ford and the couple was having domestic and financial problems.
Detectives said they noted Ford's behavior showed a "clear pattern of consciousness of guilt." The evidence obtained, including his actions and statements to mislead law enforcement, was enough for MCSO to believe that Ford murdered Korell and disposed of her body in the canal.
Ford's years-long run from the law ended in Georgetown, Delaware, where he was arrested for second-degree murder with a weapon on Aug. 16 during a traffic stop near his home. He was then extradited and booked into the Manatee County Jail on Aug. 30.
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