Killing of single mom Kathryn Harms examined on ID’s Detective

This week’s episode of Detective on Investigation Discovery centers on Kathryn Harms, a single mother who was mysteriously kidnapped, tortured and killed in Alaska in November 1995.

The program, titled Buzz Kill, tracks investigators as they eventually determine that Maureen Malloy cut the throat of Harms in a park in Anchorage.

“When the body of single mother Kathryn Harms is found on an isolated Alaskan roadside, detectives embark on a murder investigation that leads them into the arms of a notorious biker gang,” says a press release accompanying the show. “But is someone trying to steer the detectives off the road?”

Indeed, Malloy was responsible for the killing. She allegedly thought Harms had told Malloy’s ex-husband that she had absconded with some of his guns.

Malloy lived in a fishing town in the 15 years leading up to the murder, working on fishing boats and at a pawn shop. Harms, meanwhile, was a receptionist and business management assistant for the U.S. Forest Service.

Malloy and another woman allegedly kept Harms in a motel for at least a week. They reportedly drugged, beat and starved Harms.

Malloy told police she was afraid to say members of a bike gang were behind the killing because of possible retaliation — but she later admitted that was a lie.

In May 2002, a state high court in Alaska upheld a sentence of 99-years in prison without parole for Malloy.

Detective airs Fridays at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery.