North Miami police have released a composite sketch of a suspect who was seen with 26-year-old former-Playboy model Paula Sladewski outside Club Space in Miami. Paula left the club at 7:21 AM and was seen by witnesses holding hands with this suspect when leaving the downtown Miami nightspot. The detailed sketch is of a stocky, 6-0, light-skinned black male.
It has not been revealed yet who the witness is who gave the police such a detailed description of this man. Lt. Neal Cuevas, a spokesman for the North Miami police said about the sketch, “He’s a person we want to locate and speak to. We’re progressing; we’re not at a dead end.” (The Miami Herald-Sketch released of man seen with slain model-by Jennifer Lebovich-2/02/2010)
Kelly Farris, the sister of Paula Sladewski, has flown down to Miami from Michigan to make public her cause to bring her sister’s killer to justice. There is a reward of $15,000 for anyone who provides information that leads to the apprehension of this man in the sketch. “It’s been hell,” Farris said on Monday. Farris is retracing her sister’s steps in Miami from exactly one month ago.
Along with the sketch, further new developments are emerging. Now it looks like the suspect was in the club stalking Paula on the dance floor of Club Space. Referring to the sketch, Kelly Farris revealed, “It looks like what Kevin had described to me of the guy who came up on the dance floor in Club Space, where Kevin had walked upstairs and came back down, and my sister was dancing, and he came up behind her and grabbed her by the waist and started talking in her ear.”
So Kevin Klym saw this man in the club, but did any other witness see him that night of Jan. 3rd? Hopefully, more witnesses will come forth. The suspect was inside of Club Space and was stalking Paula all along. This is more logical. This is what Paula’s sister and brother have been saying since day one. But verification of this man’s presence inside the club is much needed.
Last night on Jane Velez-Mitchell’s show Issues, the brother of Paula, Thomas Bussell, was interviewed by phone. Thomas revealed for the first time that the man in the sketch was the cause of the argument between Paula and her boyfriend, Kevin Klym. This argument led to the bouncers extricating Kevin from the club. For me, this is a defining moment in this tragedy. Now Paula was left alone, and this shady character was free to pursue her unimpeded.
Two other breaking developments in this case are forthcoming. One is the important forensic evidence from the dumpster scene at Northwest 130 Street and 14 Avenue. This could come in the way of fibers, fingerprints and a determination of the accelerant used to burn the body. The other form of evidence is the two abandoned cars that were found, that can possibly be linked to this atrocious crime.
These developments in the murder of Paula Sladewski are significant. Nonetheless, they suggest yet more questions about what went down. How could the police get such a detailed sketch of the suspect? Why was the witness so reluctant to come forward earlier? Did he (She) know the man? Are there others who can identify this man as being in Club Space and possibly stalking Paula? And what about the timeline of Kevin Klym’s story?
Michelle Sigona’s web page has said that the boyfriend did not call the police to report Paula missing until 10:40 PM on Jan. 3rd. The dumpster fire was spotted at around 9 PM. This may not be of any consequence, but why didn’t he call the authorities earlier? Michelle also indicated that Paula had left her cell phone back at the La Flora hotel, where she and Kevin were staying for their visit to Miami.
Curiously, Lt. Cuevas stated about Klym, “Although most of what he has told us has turned out to be exactly as he has said, there are a couple of things we still need to get to the bottom of to completely rule him out.” That tells me his account is good, but not airtight.
While these new developments will be helpful in solving this case, things are still not adding up for me. Something is still a little fishy? Maybe as the days go by, things will begin to clear up, will start to fall in place. There’s the possibility, I must confess, that this black man in the sketch is merely a patsy. I hope the police factor that in. In fact, this may be set up to catch the real culprit, I can’t say, but I suspect this man was known in Club Space. So why hasn’t he been apprehended already?
Michelle Sigona-International Crime wire
7 News WSVN TV-Police release sketch in case of model found murdered
