Woman killed after answering Craigslist nanny ad

You can't trust anyone on the Internet.
One probably should stay away from the MSP airport.

Ok, I don't get it. If this were a newspaper ad, it wouldn't even have made the news.

The world is a scary place. If you are taking a nanny job, wouldn't you be a little more careful? References, meeting in a public place, bringing a friend along, etc.

I'm very sorry that something bad happened to this girl, but at the same time, its all about taking precautions in any situation.

The world is full of scary people who do bad things. That hasn't changed in the last hundred years at the very least.

Kevin

i have a daughter age 22 and i warn her constantly about the dangers of the internet now i see why. and so does she....we cannot trust people anymore and it is sad. but true

Does it make people feel better to blame the victim? This poor girl was trying to get a job, be a productive member of society, and people feel the need to make comments about she should have been more careful? What about the pathetic sicko who tortured and murdered her? It's her fault because she answered an internet ad? That is really twisted. The reason this country is so screwed up is because so many people believe that they are better than others. "I'm above being murdered and left in my trunk because I would never answer an internet ad and meet with a stranger!" I wish this family peace. They have just lost a child in one of the most horrible ways and apparently will have to put up with people second guessing thier daughters last actions. I'm sorry for your loss. She sounded like a great girl.

Ms. Olsen seemed to be a gifted intellegent young woman and it is horrendous what happened to her. Her family will be forever scarred by this brutality and my sympathies are with them.

It is really frightening to think of what happened to her while she was conducting a search for employment. According to the story she was outgoing, vivacious and trusting, fabulous qualities when encountering decent individuals, but inherently dangerous when targeted by criminals.

Exactly what Colleen said!

I don't understand how a woman who graduates from high school and college with honors winds up looking for a mundane nanny job on Craigslist. How horrific and sad to realize that if she had any other kind of employment that used her obvious intelligence, she'd be alive today. Condolences to her poor family.

Death Penalty for that piece of garbage.

Sad wrote:

I don't understand how a woman who graduates from high school and college with honors winds up looking for a mundane nanny job on Craigslist. How horrific and sad to realize that if she had any other kind of employment that used her obvious intelligence, she'd be alive today. Condolences to her poor family.

There is nothing wrong with being a nanny. It is an honorable job. Only those gifted with dealing with children and sometimes their nutty parents, can handle the job. It very clearly stated that she was in the mode of discovering what she wanted to do with her life as well. My deepest condolences to her family. What a horrible tragedy and what a sick world we live in, unfortutnately.

I'm so terribly sorry for Katherine and her loved ones.
RIP Katherine.

The job market is tough for new grads, especially ones with less "practical" majors. It doesn't sound to me like she did anything wrong, and we should be thankful that the police have the guy in custody.

I don't know why people focus on the type of job she was pursuing, or how she was pursuing it. It has no relevance. I've hired nannies and all were met through newspaper ads, or online ads. Bad people are everywhere. If they didn't have the internet to use, they'd use some other means to prey on their victims. People are murdered, sometimes at random, but it seems to me we can reduce those chances if we just follow common sense and try not to be too trusting in uncertain environments. A young woman could easily accept a job and find herself working for a psychopath and wind up just as dead. Or, she might leave the bar one night with a stranger and end up the same. Would we then blame bars for murders?

Hey Sad, go to the devil, will ya? This poor woman, no matter what her level of education she has, she is trying to find a job to make money. It's a tough job market out there and she, like everyone else, has a choice on professions.

I don't know where Savage, MN is, but I'm sure it's a hotbed for Meth users, like all of MN.

Geo wrote:

Death Penalty for that piece of garbage.

I'm in 100% agreement.

colleen wrote:

Does it make people feel better to blame the victim? This poor girl was trying to get a job, be a productive member of society, and people feel the need to make comments about she should have been more careful? What about the pathetic sicko who tortured and murdered her? It's her fault because she answered an internet ad? That is really twisted. The reason this country is so screwed up is because so many people believe that they are better than others. "I'm above being murdered and left in my trunk because I would never answer an internet ad and meet with a stranger!" I wish this family peace. They have just lost a child in one of the most horrible ways and apparently will have to put up with people second guessing thier daughters last actions. I'm sorry for your loss. She sounded like a great girl.

Colleen, I feel your anger in the supposed blame being laid at the victim's feet. However, after reading most of the posts I don't think that anyone is blaming her for someone's sick mind and what they did to her. This was horrible and no one deserves this treatment when they are looking for a job. However, this was an educated young woman, who, unfortunately made a very bad decision that cost her her life. We tell our children every day about "stranger danger" yet someone as seemingly intelligent as this young woman didn't follow the basic tenets of personal safety. Even if she chose this avenue to look for work, I don't criicize her in anway for this. What bothers me is that she didn't (at least it wasn't said in the article) even give her family and friends the info of who she was meeting and where. Heck, on first dates a young woman is taught to meet in a public place for the first time and to give her family and friends some info to have in case it is needed. We all most taken some responsibility for taking as many precautions as possible with our own safety even if it means job hunting the old fashined way of going through a reputable agency. My prayers and heartfelt condolences to her family (they also had misgivings about what she was doing).

Sad wrote:

How horrific and sad to realize that if she had any other kind of employment that used her obvious intelligence, she'd be alive today. Condolences to her poor family.

Or maybe she enjoyed the work. Maybe she found it fulfilling and worthwhile work while she decided what permanent path she wanted to take in life.

Pretty pathetic to have to insult someone caring for children as "horrific and sad" and not work worthy of the "intelligent". Whatever makes you feel better.

i agree with JNL

That's disgusting. They should hang that man for murder! He killed her without another thought. She sounds like a delightful person and now nobody will know if she could have been an actress or not. Poor girl.

Darwin's theory in motion ?

1. Always get your background info and leave an itinerary.
2. Always meet at a residence.( meeting in a public place is stupid ... U may leave there under false pretenses )
3. Inform the person that someone will be aware of the meeting.( i.e.. My mother was nice enough to help with directions to your house for 6 PM )
4. Have some1 call during the first 20 minutes

And some want death penalty abolished