Lynn 2006 murder remains a puzzle

Editor’s note: This is the eighth in a series of stories about cold cases in the city of Lynn.LYNN – On Feb. 1, 2006, a resident of the Heritage Apartments at 249 Union St. made a grisly discovery.There, on the second-floor staircase, a woman, Kellie LaPanne, was found sprawled out with a deep stab wound to the neck and torso, and a frozen look of fear on her face.Dressed in striped pants and a tan-colored jacket, LaPanne?s blond hair was splattered with blood and the carpeted stairway she lay on also was stained from her massive blood loss.?She was last seen on Jan. 31 between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., when she left her apartment,” said Lynn Police Captain Mark O?Toole.Every resident in the building was interviewed following the 2:30 a.m. discovery, but no one heard or saw anything.?We also couldn?t confirm that she had been in any of the apartments,” he said. “And there?s a delay on when she was murdered and when she was discovered. She could have been there several hours.”LaPanne, 47, was born in Lynn, attended school in South Carolina to become a paralegal, and later worked as a hostess at the Porthole Pub. She had a checkered past and struggled with drug dependency, according to O?Toole.Records show she also used an alias of Kellie Spottiswood, and bounced around from different addresses in Lynn and Saugus. Her last known address was 500 Essex St., Lynn.?She engaged in a lifestyle that put her at risk,” O?Toole said. “So, I do think that there are people out there who know exactly what happened to her.”The apartment building that she was found in, at the time, did not have front or rear doors that lock, so it?s possible that someone could enter. The area in which LaPanne?s body was found, however, was behind locked fire doors.?We have surveillance footage, but nothing on it was found to be helpful,” O?Toole said. “It?s frustrating to investigators because there has been a lack of information. You would think that between the time she left her apartment and her demise, that someone came in contact with her and knows how she spent her final minutes.”Anyone with information on this cold case is urged to contact the police at 781-595-2000. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by texting the word tiplynn and the information to tip411 or 847411.In addition, tips can be submitted through the department?s website, www.lynnpolice.org and clicking on the submit tip icon.By Robin Kaminski/The Daily ItemLYNN On Feb. 1, 2006, a resident of the Heritage Apartments at 249 Union St. made a grisly discovery.There, on the second-floor staircase, a woman, Kellie LaPanne, was found sprawled out with a deep stab wound to the neck and torso, and a frozen look of fear on her face.Dressed in striped pants and a tan-colored jacket, LaPanne?s blond hair was splattered with blood and the carpeted stairway she lay on also was stained from her massive blood loss.?She was last seen on Jan. 31 between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., when she left her apartment,” said Lynn Police Captain Mark O?Toole.Every resident in the building was interviewed following the 2:30 a.m. discovery, but no one heard or saw anything.?We also couldn?t confirm that she had been in any of the apartments,” he said. “And there?s a delay on when she was murdered and when she was discovered. She could have been there several hours.”LaPanne, 47, was born in Lynn, attended school in South Carolina to become a paralegal, and later worked as a hostess at the Porthole Pub. She had a checkered past and struggled with drug dependency, according to O?Toole.Records show she also used an alias of Kellie Spottiswood, and bounced around from different addresses in Lynn and Saugus. Her last known address was 500 Essex St., Lynn.?She engaged in a lifestyle that put her at risk,” O?Toole said. “So, I do think that there are people out there who know exactly what happened to her.”The apartment building that she was found in, at the time, did not have front or rear doors that lock, so it?s possible that someone co