Vigil recalls life of murder victim Pam Kinamore
Nitamargarita
DENHAM SPRINGS -- More than 100 people gathered Saturday night outside Pam
Kinamore's antiques shop for a candlelight vigil to celebrate her life and
show support for her family.
Eddie Piglia, Kinamore's brother, thanked everyone who came.
"My family and I cannot express how grateful we are to everyone who has been
in this from the beginning," he said. "My family depends on that support for
the energy to keep our campaign going."
Kinamore, 44, was last seen at her antiques shop, Comforts and Joys, on July
12. Evidence suggests she made it to her Briarwood Place home off Airline
Highway in Baton Rouge before being abducted. Her body was found July 16 in
a secluded area near the Whiskey Bay exit from Interstate 10. Her throat had
been cut.
Law enforcement officials revealed last week that Kinamore's death was the
work of a serial killer, the same man who killed Gina Wilson Green on Sept.
24, 2001, and Charlotte Murray Pace on May 31 in their Baton Rouge homes.
At the vigil, barber Richard Young, whose shop was next to Kinamore's, said
he's glad she is at peace and in a place where no one can hurt her anymore.
"They just don't come any better," Young said.
Julie Dyason Norris told the group that Kinamore would be proud of the way
her friends have gathered to support the family.
"She touched so many of our lives in so many different ways," Norris said.
Ellen White, Kinamore's youngest sister, recalled the last Thanksgiving they
spent together. Kinamore always made yams for the family dinner.
Last year they didn't taste quite right, she said. Kinamore finally admitted
she hadn't put her glasses on when she was cooking and had used cumin
instead of cinnamon in the yams.
"It was pretty bad," White said. She said stories like that are the kind of
things she wants people to know about her sister.
"So much has been written and said about how she died," White said. "Not
enough has been said about the way she lived her life."
White said she believes the man who killed her sister has killed other women
in cases that have not yet been linked by law enforcement to Pam Kinamore.
More than 30 women, including five in 2002, have been killed in and near
Baton Rouge over the past decade and none of the slayings have been solved.
"I think it's more than three," she said. "I think it's more and they don't
even know yet."
She urged people to support families of other murder victims in the same way
her friends have supported her family.
Kinamore's mother, Lynne Marino, who has lobbied Gov. Mike Foster for
assistance in the investigation, thanked the other victims' families as
well. The families of some of the victims are to meet today to discuss
potential connections among the women.
"We want everyone to be safe and never have another family go through what
we have had to go through," Marino said.
Chris Bergeron of Denham Springs said she attended the vigil because she
used to shop in Kinamore's store and thought she was a wonderful person.
Lisa Cypel and Cheri Cowen came from Baton Rouge to the vigil even though
they had never met Kinamore.
Cowen said she felt as if there wasn't much she could do as an individual in
response to Kinamore's death, but that being part of a group at the vigil
might be more helpful.
"We thought it was one way to show our support for their family," Cypel
said.
Anyone with information about any unsolved homicide in East Baton Rouge
Parish can call the tip line set up for that purpose at 225-389-3310. It is
staffed from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
I also believe that there are a lot more women killed by this person. At
least once or twice a year, you hear about girls gone missing from LSU and
that area. Whiskey Bay Bridge is a perfect dumping ground, also.
Nita
Nita