Murder of mother of three Dawna Natzke by her partner Kevin Duck after an argument is profiled on Evil Lives Here

Evil Lives Here profiles the 2011 murder of Dawna Natzke, a police dispatcher and mother of three children from Hot Springs Village in Arkansas, by her partner Kevin Duck.

On December 21, 2011, Kevin Duck and his partner Dawna Natzke attended a Christmas party in Hot Springs Village. Witnesses saw the pair arguing with each other at the party. Natzke and Duck left the party together and she was never seen alive again.

Fanily members reported Natzke missing the next day after she failed to appear at work, and they were unable to contact her.

On December 31, a search party located Natzke’s body floating in a remote pond near Hot Springs Village; an autopsy discovered she died from a blunt force trauma and drowning. Her car had been found burnt-out in the Ouachita National Forest on Christmas Eve.

Kevin Duck was the obvious suspect, and investigators began building a case against him.

Kevin Duck’s brother testified against him

At the trial, Duck’s brother John Duck testified against his brother, describing how he had turned increasingly violent from the age of 7. Kevin spoke of how Duck had attempted to fake his own suicide as a child, by firing a gun in his bedroom.

The jury deliberated for a few hours before delivering a guilty verdict. Duck was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He had already been serving six-years probation for aggravated assault.

As Duck was led away to prison, a reporter asked him if he’d like any last words, and he responded with, “I think ya’ll made a mistake.”

Natzke’s son told the court that the defense had made up lies about his mother. He added, “I pray for Kevin. There is a God that truly still loves him.”

Duck launched an appeal in 2018 challenging the “sufficiency” of the evidence, but it was doomed to failure, and he remains incarcerated.

More from Evil Lives Here

Follow the links to read about other real crimes from Evil Lives Here, including the case of serial killer Bernard Eugene Giles who raped and murdered five women in 1970s Florida; the 20-year-old murderer was married with a 5-month-old daughter when he decided to start killing.

Or read about the shocking case of Karl Karlsen who murdered his son Levi Karlsen and allegedly his first wife Christina Karlsen in 2008, New York state, all for insurance money.