On the morning of October 1, Kimberly A. Smith’s body was found stabbed to death in her own home. Her boyfriend Tim McMickle, who was living with her, called the police after walking into their house to find her bound and dead on the floor.
The only witness to the crime was supposedly Smith’s 4-year old son, and he was said to be sleeping before the murder. A neighbor saw the little boy looking out of the window around the time she was said to be murdered.
Those who know Kimberly said she was a nice person who was always wearing a smile. Her family added that she never had any enemies and that she didn’t have one bad bone in her body.
Smith was described as 5’6’’, blonde, and bubbly.
The murder was allegedly committed by Justin Patrick Welch, at her home at 366 S Maple Street in Oconomowoc. She was discovered in her family room in her sleeping clothes, covered in blood, and bound up. The police received her boyfriend’s call at 9:35 AM. Her boyfriend had left their house at 6:00 AM for work and came back to check to see why she wasn’t at work.
Smith’s neighbors were asked if they heard any yelling or saw anything suspicious. One neighbor, Jim Malkow, said he saw a pickup truck pull up in her drive way and a man went inside her house. That’s when he saw her son by the door.
The police found Welch’s DNA on a knife left in the yard of Smith, and on a latex glove in a nearby sewer. He made a recent call to his wife from an unknown number. The police are working on tracing the call to see if it leads them closer to the criminal. There has not been any connection between the victim and Welch found by the police, friends, or family.
Smith will be missed by her family, friends, and co-workers. The light that she was said to bring to the people she knew will be kept in their hearts. Welch has been spotted around Oconomowoc and his DNA is filed everywhere nationwide.