UNSOLVED HOMICIDE: KANIKA POWELL

When a young soldier leaves the Army to work as a physics lab security specialist with a top-secret clearance, civilian life turns out to be more dangerous than anything she faced in uniform. After a series of strange events culminates in her being brutally gunned down, the mystery of her death spawns theories of conspiracy and serial killing that we explore in this episode of Last Seen Alive.

Kanika Powell, a veteran of the US Army, found her niche in the civilian world as a security specialist at a prestigious academic research and development lab.

At the time of her death, Kanika was employed as a security professional at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physicals Laboratory, which develops technologies for entities including but not limited to NASA and the Department of Defense. Although conspiracy theories that portray Kanika’s death as an assassination related to her work are rife, no evidence has been found to support them.

Kanika Powell, a Maryland native who was murdered at the age of 28, in an undated picture.

Jason Thomas Scott was a prolific burglar, robber, rapist and serial killer who was actively terrifying Prince George’s County at the time of Kanika’s murder. Currently serving an extended prison sentence, he’s known for having murdered black women in PG County, particularly mothers and daughters. He has not been named a suspect in Kanika’s murder.

The Laurel, MD apartment building (right) where Kanika lived and was fatally shot.

Sources mentioned in this episode / further reading:

Prince George’s Killing, Apparently Planned, Opens Host of Mysteries (Washington Post)

Unsolved: National Security Worker Gunned Down Amid Mysterious Circumstances (True Crime Daily)

‘Forget Me Not’ Cold Case, Kanika Powell Murder Mystery (Michelle Sigona for Women in Crime Ink)

Inside a Criminal Mastermind | Jason Scott (Brian Kuebler for ABC News via Murderpedia)

Maryland Serial-Killer Suspect Jason Thomas Scott ‘Evil,’ Victim’s Mom Says (ABC News)

United States v. Jason Scott, 12-4130 (4th Cir. 2013) (via Court Listener)

Man’s Violent Death a Mystery (Washington Post)

Know something about what happened to Kanika or Sean? Submit a tip–it may make all the difference.

pgcountycrimesolvers.com

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