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St. Paul ’88 cold case victim’s daughter pleads for information
At 4 years old, Katelin Prokop witnessed her mom snatched from her bed before she was killed. Now, she hopes a $10,000 reward will make people talk.
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Katelin Prokop’s memories of her mom play in her head like a slideshow.
“We were really close. We were always together. I don’t ever remember being apart from her,” Katelin said.
They’re like still images, including memories from the night her mom was killed.
“There’s memory of them being there, trying to face away from me. Then there’s memory of her not being in the bed,” Katelin said.
Katelin was 4 years old, living with her 23-year-old mother Cheryl Prokop, known as Cherie, on Saint Paul’s west side.
On Dec. 2, 1988, someone came into the bedroom where they both were sleeping, took Cherie out of the room, and then beat and strangled her to death. Katelin waited for it to be quiet enough to safely get out of the bed. Then, she found her mom.
“I remember her laying there. And I remember blood coming out of her mouth so I took a washcloth and I cleaned that,” Kaitlin said. “I remember getting dressed and knocking on doors until I found someone who was awake and who would answer.”
A 1991 KARE 11 report demonstrated the police theory of the crime: When police arrived, a basement window was broken out as though someone had entered through the laundry room — someone unknown to the victim. But, they later came to believe that all this was done to make it appear as if the assailant was a stranger.
Staging a break-in, police thought, as the killer and an accomplice then actually went through the front door. Police thought they knew who.
“With method, motive and opportunity, the shadow falls on one person,” said the late Lt. Bill Gillespie, St. Paul Police homicide detective, in 1991.
But police didn’t have enough evidence to make an arrest.
“I know that it’s somebody that knew her,” Katelin said.
It was too risky, police thought back then, to ask young Katelin to testify.
“A 4- or 5- or 6-year-old child on the stand, it wouldn’t take a very accomplished trial lawyer to raise an element of doubt in front of a jury,” Gillespie said.
Now at age 39, Katelin hopes for a chance to testify and help put her mom’s killers away.
“I definitely would. I don’t think there’s anything I would want more than to help do that for her. And for my family,” she said.
Katelin’s family life, after Cherie was killed, completely changed. Katelin’s aunts became her sisters. Her grandma and grandpa became her parents. Dick and Joan Prokop are still living, nearing 80 years old. And Katelin says they deserve some kind of peace before they’re gone.
“They’ve definitely been the backbone of our family. They’re the main reason that I want this so much,” she said.
And what does she mean by “this?”
“Justice,” Kaitlin said. “To know who did it and to know why.”
The reward is being offered to anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who murdered Prokop. If you know something, contact the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) at 877-996-6222, contact the agency via email or through its “See it Say it Send it” tip app.
Tipsters can remain anonymous.
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John Sawchak faces four felony charges after officials said he shot his neighbor on Grand Avenue South while trimming a tree on their shared property line.
MINNEAPOLIS — A man is recovering in the hospital after being shot outside his home in a dispute with a neighbor on Grand Avenue South in Minneapolis on Oct. 23.
According to a criminal complaint, Minneapolis police responded to a hospital for a report of a gunshot victim on Wednesday night. The injured man had been transported from his home on Grand Avenue South for an unknown medical condition that caused him to collapse. The man was found in the fetal position by his wife when she got home from work that evening.
Officials later identified the victim as Davis Maturi.
At the hospital, providers found a small puncture wound in the back of Maturi’s neck that led to the discovery of a bullet lodged near his spine. When he arrived at the hospital, he couldn’t recall what led up to him being shot, according to the criminal complaint.
Maturi’s wife told officials that he had been outside earlier in the day pruning a tree near their property line with a chainsaw. She said their neighbor, John Herbert Sawchak, 54, had “almost certainly” shot her husband.
In the previous week, Maturi’s wife said Sawchak told her husband “Touch my tree again and I’ll kill you.”
The criminal complaint goes on to detail numerous complaints of harassment the Maturi’s experienced since purchasing their house in September 2023.
Oct. 11, 2023: Maturi approached Sawchak to discuss the tree on their property line. Sawchak became irate, according to the criminal complaint, yelling at Maturi and using “racially charged language.” Sawchak told Maturi if he “touched” the tree, Sawchak would “take care of” him.
March 1, 2024: Sawchak approached Maturi while he was working outside his house on a ladder. While verbally harassing him, officials said Sawchak told Maturi that he would put him in the hospital.
April 5, 2024: Sawchak threw household items at Maturi from his 2nd-floor window.
May 28, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened Maturi, calling him “a Black bastard,” and telling him “I’m going to kill you if you call the police again. All you people do is lie and commit crimes.”
Aug. 7, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened Maturi from his 2nd story window. Maturi saw Sawchak holding up a large knife in the window while threatening to kill Maturi and his wife.
Oct. 8, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened and screamed racial slurs at Maturi from his 2nd-floor window. Sawchak also, once again, brandished a knife from his window while threatening to kill Maturi.
Oct. 14, 2024: Maturi saw Sawchak outside Maturi’s home with a firearm. Sawchak pointed the firearm at Maturi through the window.
On the evening of Oct. 23, Maturi’s wife went home to pack some things and leave for the night, officials said. Sawchak verbally harassed her and shone a stone light on her as she left her home, the criminal complaint read. The next day, Maturi and his wife were able to access home security footage from their home cameras. The video shows Maturi working outside near the tree at the property line with his back to Sawchak’s home. A faint “crack” or “pop” can be heard, then Maturi collapsed to the ground.
Maturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion. He talked to KARE 11 from his hospital bed and said he feels the police failed to protect his family by not arresting Sawchak during one of the various other incidents.
“If you’re saying you’re scared, what does that do to me?” Maturi said. “You have this body armor, you have professional training… when I call for assistance, when I called for having a knife pointed at me, I had to wait hours and hours and hours.”
As of Sunday morning, Sawchak is not in police custody. According to the criminal complaint, Sawchak has at least three active warrants associated with prior threats or acts of violence against Matsuri and other neighbors. Sawchak has “actively evaded” police during their prior attempts to contact or arrest him.
A letter from ranking members of the Minneapolis City Council to Mayor Jacob Frey showed anger and blame directed at the Minneapolis police department for allegedly failing to act on Maturi’s numerous complaints against Sawchak before the shooting, and failing to arrest him immediately after the shooting.
“MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,’” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
Watch Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara’s response below:
Police are investigating after three men were shot early on Saturday morning.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police are investigating after three men were shot in the Ventura Village neighborhood early Saturday morning.
According to Minneapolis police, officers were called to the area around East 21st Street and South 15th Avenue around 5 a.m. Saturday.
Officers found three men had been shot. One of the men died and the two others were taken to the hospital with what police described as life-threatening injuries.
Officials said the shooting happened at a small homeless encampment.
Police have not announced any arrests as of Saturday morning.
KARE 11 will update this story as more information is made available.
This Halloween the chocolate shop is getting very festive.
MARINE ON SAINT CROIX, Minn. — A small sweet shop in a Minnesota river town has won some BIG awards for its chocolates.
St. Croix Chocolate Company in Marine on St. Croix has won national and international awards including Best of Show in this year’s America’s Division of the International Chocolate Awards.
Their chocolates are available at the St. Croix Chocolate Company kitchen or online.
This Halloween they are selling a Halloween Countdown Calendar that features 14 prize-winning recipes made into ghosts, bats, skulls and other spooky configurations. They also have a Boo Bag-handled tote that comes with their “best of” Halloween assortment.
Owner and Chocolatier, Robyn Dochterman, joined KARE 11 Saturday to share what St. Croix Chocolate Company has to offer.
Satellite images show damage from Israeli attack at 2 secretive Iranian military bases
JD Vance dismisses taking action against Russia for election interference
Transcript: “Face the Nation” excerpt of Norah O’Donnell interview with Vice President Kamala Harris
Satellite images show damage from Israeli attack at 2 secretive Iranian military bases
JD Vance dismisses taking action against Russia for election interference