Who Killed Janice Lynn Potter?

Kimberly Lubinski-Panday has no memories of her aunt, Janice Lynn Potter.

Lubinski-Panday was just 11 months old when her aunt was murdered on April 15, 1986 inside her Rosedale home, located on the unit block of Talister Court. The 24-year-old, who was two months pregnant at the time, was strangled and stabbed.

For her niece, the murder robbed her of her aunt, the cousin she never had and all of the memories Lubinski-Panday knows she would have created through the ensuing years.

“My mom and aunt Janice were so close,” Lubinski-Panday said. “I know my aunt would have been like a second mother and my cousin would have been my best friend. Even after all of these years, her murder has not been forgotten in our family.”

Making Potter’s death even more difficult to comprehend is that no one has ever been charged with her murder. Finding out who killed her has become a mission for her family, including Lubinski-Panday, who took up the cause about 10 years ago while she was still in high school.

Lubinski-Panday said her determination has only become stronger with the 25^th anniversary of Potter’s murder this month. She also wants to find out what happened in honor of her late grandparents, Edmond and Margaret Lubinski. Edmond passed away at the age of 93 in 2007, while Margaret was 86 when she died in 2008.

“We still have all of the clothes she bought for me when I was born,” Lubinski-Panday said. “My grandfather held on for several years because he wanted some closure before he died. I owe it to my grandparents and my mother to try and find out who killed aunt Janice.”

Many Questions, Few Answers

Few concrete clues have surfaced through the years that could lead Baltimore County police to make an arrest in Potter’s case.

According to police reports, Potter, a Towson High graduate who grew up in Lutherville, arrived home from work, ate dinner and then went to the basement to watch television on the night she was murdered. Before Potter’s husband, William, left the house at 6 p.m. to attend night classes, Janice Potter told him that the heat from the wood-burning stove was making the basement too hot.

Police said William Potter partially opened the basement sliding glass door to give some relief from the heat. Upon returning from school at 10 p.m., William Potter discovered his wife murdered in the basement family room.

Investigation revealed that sometime between 6 and 10 p.m., an unknown person entered her residence through the basement sliding glass door, then attacked and killed Janice Potter.

In the follow-up investigation, detectives learned that a number of pieces of jewelry were stolen from the house. They included:

• a ladies yellow gold ring with one ruby;
• a ladies yellow gold ring with one emerald;
• a ladies 14K white gold ring made up of a diamond surrounded by five sapphires;
• a ladies 14K white gold wedding band, with the engraving June 14, 1981;
• a 1/3 carat diamond white gold engagement ring;
• a pair of 1/4 carat white gold pierced earrings; and
• an antique sterling silver salt and pepper shaker.

In the weeks before her death, Potter, an employee of Martin Marietta Aerospace in Middle River, received annoying telephone calls at work. It is believed the person responsible for these calls may be the same person responsible for her murder. Coincidentally, the women who lived in Potter’s house before and after her also received harassing phone calls, none of which could be linked to her murder.

"It was obvious to people who worked with her that the calls were upsetting her,"  Lubinski-Panday said. "She even received calls on the day she died."

Homicide detectives theorize that a neighbor who resided on Talister Court in 1986 may hold the key to solving this crime. The case is still open and detectives from the Baltimore County Police Department's Homicide Unit, Unsolved Case Squad, are actively investigating leads.

“We’ve looked at this case for years, even before I was on cold cases. It’s one of those cases that boggles your mind because it appears you have suspects and you go back and look at forensic testing looking for DNA,” said Baltimore County Police Det. Phillip Marll, who has been on the force since 1974 and has investigated homicides for 25 years. “You can’t fabricate evidence. It’s either there or it’s not there. You just can’t clear them all. It’s been frustrating for us and the family.”

Police still have the clothing Potter wore the night she was killed and hope a test is developed to help them identify her killer. However, DNA testing was not available in 1986 and much of the evidence has already been tested.

Hope Not Lost

Still, both Marll and Lubinski-Panday believe whoever killed Potter is still alive, and hope continuous media coverage of the case, especially with how quickly information is spread through the Internet and social media today, will help shed new light on this unsolved murder.

“It’s not something that we can just throw away and say there’s nothing,” Marll said. “I’ve never put it away, hoping someone would call or we would get forensic evidence that we can test. ... We have cleared a bunch of old cases through the years.

"Unfortunately this case doesn’t have the evidence screaming out like you would want it to.  We’re hoping that having as much publicity as possible may trigger someone’s memory."

Marll continued: “It's very tough to go back, but unless you go get a tip that you can investigate you have to revisit the physical evidence hoping to find anything that can be tested that we didn’t have the technology to test for back then.”

Lynda Lubinski, Lubinski-Panday's mother, said time has not healed all wounds in her family when it comes to her sister’s death. She is convinced that whoever killed Potter had to have made a mistake at some point and that he or she will eventually be brought to justice.

“My sister was a kind, loving person who didn’t deserve to die like she did,” Lubinski said. “We owe it to her to find out who did this. There’s no such thing as the perfect crime. I know that unless someone confesses that there is a chance it may never be solved. Someone out there has to know something. We really need the public’s help to find out who killed my sister.

“I hate to think that there is someone walking the streets that killed somebody. I’m just so proud of my daughter for carrying on the tradition of trying to find out what happened. She is so passionate and determined to make sure Janice’s memory never fades away. It’s hard to believe Kimberly has been alive longer than Janice lived and we still don’t know who killed her.”

Lubinski-Panday said the toll Potter’s death took on her family is immeasurable. A once trusting family had lost any sense of innocence. Even to this day, Lubinski-Panday has a hard time fully trusting anyone and is not afraid to call the police if she sees someone that appears even remotely suspicious.

“Put yourself in our shoes,” Lubinski-Panday said. “There has to be someone out there that saw something or knows something about what happened that day. Even if you think it’s insignificant, it may be the missing piece of the puzzle to help bring a killer to justice.

“Whoever killed aunt Janice still gets to breathe. My aunt and her baby—my cousin—don’t get to do that. They are dead and buried. They were robbed of their lives and we were robbed of someone we loved very much.”

Reward Offered

Anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact the Homicide Unit's Unsolved Case Squad at 410-887-3943 or Communications Team at 410-307-2020. Callers may remain anonymous and can also contact Metro Crime Stoppers at 866-7-LOCKUP (866-756-2587) to be eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000. To text a message to Metro Crime Stoppers, send to "CRIMES" (274637), then enter the message starting with "MCS."