A 72-year-old Delaware man was taken into custody by detectives after it was claimed that in 1996, he killed his girlfriend with a knife and dumped her body in a ditch.
A person was discovered face-down in the water after deputies were called to a drainage canal on U.S. 41 North in Palmetto on December 15, 1996, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. The body of a woman with injuries to her right neck and face was found by divers. The victim suffered 83 stab wounds, according to the findings of the local medical examiner. The victim did not have water in her lungs or exhibit any other symptoms of a sexual assault.
Using the victim’s dental data, officials were able to conclusively identify 45-year-old Doris Korell seven months later, in May 1997.
At about the same time, Korell’s daughter had reported her missing on December 11, 1996, and the St. Petersburg Police Department was looking for her. Stephen Ford, Korell’s boyfriend, is said to have called the daughter to enquire about her latest sighting of Korell.
In a statement, the Florida Attorney General’s Office reported that Ford had admitted to detectives that after an altercation with Korell on December 8, 1996, she “uncharacteristically left to go shopping and never returned home.” Korell failed to report for duty the following day.
On December 18, 1996, the sheriff’s office reported that officers discovered Korell’s car at a mall, but they could find no signs of a struggle. According to their claims, Ford cleaned it and left it in the parking lot. Ford allegedly rented a storage container the day after Korell vanished and packed his missing girlfriend’s jewellery and other possessions inside “because he didn’t want Doris’ daughter to have it.”
According to reports, Ford denied any involvement in Korell’s disappearance. When asked what would happen to her if she turned out to be dead, a detective is said to have said, “An eye for an eye,” to which Ford replied, “If I killed her, I should get the death penalty.”
On December 24, 1996, authorities went back to Ford’s house, but he didn’t answer. Entering via an open window, detectives discovered him partially conscious and gaunt at the mouth. It is reported that he attempted suicide by swallowing bleach.
When investigators spoke with Ford’s ex-girlfriend in January 1997, she purportedly told them that in October, Ford had written her a letter in which he had stated, “I hope she gets the message that I don’t want her here anymore.”
Later, the lack of evidence caused the case to end inactive. At about the same time, Ford moved to Delaware.
In 2017, Korell’s case was investigated by a Manatee County Cold Case Unit detective who discovered that Korell had confided in acquaintances that she “feared Stephen Ford.” They had also been experiencing problems at home and with money.
In July 2024, a lab received a portion of her DNA for analysis. Detectives believe Ford “showed a clear pattern of consciousness of guilt,” including his “deliberate actions and statements to mislead law enforcement and ultimately his attempts to commit suicide.”
Ford was taken into custody on August 16 in his home town of Georgetown, Delaware. On August 30, he was brought to Florida and lodged at the Manatee County Jail on charges of second-degree murder using a weapon.
As per the attorney general’s office, following his apprehension, Ford asserted, “My past has come up to haunt me.”
