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Florida Inmate Linked To 1988 Slaying Of San Francisco Officer

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By MIKE WELLS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 4, 2008

Catherine Kuntz

Twenty years after an off-duty San Francisco police officer was found shot to death in his car, investigators have connected the case to a Florida prison inmate with Tampa Bay ties.

California detectives used new technology in 2002 to match Catherine "Scotty" Kuntz to a fingerprint found at the scene of the 1988 slaying of Officer Lester Garnier, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The 30-year-old officer was found dead in his blue Corvette parked in a store parking lot in Walnut Creek, Calif. Investigators determined his killer used a.380-caliber semi-automatic pistol.

No charges have been filed, but Kuntz, 44, is considered a suspect, said Sgt. Jay Hill, who is heading the investigation with the Walnut Creek Police Department. He declined to discuss whether Kuntz knew Garnier.

For the past six years, investigators have checked her background and talked to her and those who knew her. Now, police are asking for the public's help. Kuntz may have talked about the crime to others or been seen with a weapon, Hill said.

During the 1990s, Kuntz lived in several communities in Hillsborough and Polk counties, Hill said. These included Tampa, Brandon, Seffner, Thonotosassa, Lakeland, Mulberry, Bartow and Bowling Green.

She is currently serving a one-year sentence for a cocaine conviction in the Lowell Annex women's prison in Ocala. She was arrested in Lake Wales in September 2006 and was later sent to prison after a probation violation, state records show.

Kuntz, who is a native of Scotland, is scheduled to be released on June 19 but could face deportation, records indicate.

The FDLE and California authorities are now asking for the public's help in providing more information about Kuntz. It is thought she lived in both Polk and Hillsborough counties in the past 10 years, FDLE spokeswoman Trena Reddick said.

Kuntz has a noticeable accent. She's tall, thin and has blond hair. She is a known user of crack cocaine and has used the last names of "Overend" and "Wise" as well as the nickname "Scotty," authorities said.

During the late 1980s, Kuntz lived in several California towns and frequented the Oakland area, officials said. In 1990, she moved to Norfolk, Va., where she was arrested in 1991 for conspiring to murder her husband, a naval officer, but was not convicted. Two people considered accomplices in the case were convicted, Hill said.

Detectives in California think Kuntz might have had an accomplice in the slaying of Garnier, too, Hill said. Witnesses saw two women at the scene before the officer was found dead.

Officials are still offering a reward of $250,000 for any information that leads to an arrest.

Anyone who knew Kuntz or had interaction with her or her associates is asked to call the Walnut Creek Police Department at 1-866-311-3922. Photos of Kuntz from 1988 through the present can be found online at: walnutcreekpd.com/G_news_photos.html.

Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com.

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