American Detective With Lt. Joe Kenda is examing the murder of medical student Carmen Sanders by two-time murderer Robert Earl Harvey at her apartment in Ridgeland, Mississippi, in 2010.
Sanders was a 22-year-old medical student studying at the Mississippi State University Medical Center when her remains were discovered in her apartment in January 2010. She had suffered multiple stab wounds.
The murderer had stolen some electronic items from the apartment, and this was how the cops came to suspect Harvey. A member of the public tipped off the police that Harvey had tried to sell some of his victim’s electronic items.
When the investigators went looking for Harvey, they learned he was already in custody. The neighboring Hinds County police had picked him up on a larceny charge.
It’s suspected Carmen Sanders’s murder was a crime of passion
It’s never been clear exactly what the relationship was between Harvey and Sanders, but it’s suspected that they did know each other. Harvey’s name was mentioned by the victim’s friends, and the murder was dubbed a crime of passion.
Lt. John Neal of the Ridgeland police said at the time of Harvey’s arrest, “It’s obviously a crime of passion. We felt like the way the crime scene was laid out, without giving any details, it was an indication that somebody was in the apartment that she was comfortable being with.”
Harvey was already a convicted murderer. He had been sentenced to 20 years for a murder in 1996. Incredibly he served just five of those years before he was released. Ten of the years had been suspended, and he was inexplicably paroled after just 5 despite the law stating inmates should serve 85% of their sentence.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelHarvey is now serving a life sentence, and, likely, he will now die behind bars.
More from American Detective With Lt. Joe Kenda
Follow the links to read about more murderers investigated by Joe Kenda.
Serial killer Dwayne Lee Harris, aka The Seattle Jungle Killer, aka Chilly Willy, terrorized Seattle in the late 1990s. The unrepentant killer is known to have killed at least three women.
Allen and Patricia Prue were a violent, murderous couple who targeted Melissa Jenkins. They lured her out of her home and attacked her in front of her young son. They then threw her body into the Connecticut River.
American Detective With Lt. Joe Kenda airs at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.