Blood Doesn't Lie: Serial Killer in Kentucky?

A woman survives with her throat slit from ear to ear, stabbed multiple times, and writes her attacker’s name on the wall with her own blood. Her attacker goes home to have dinner and watch television. Is Ernest Pine the same man who killed Elena Hawkins 16 years earlier with the same method, in the same county? In this episode, you’ll discover how a survivor identified her killer through blood, how a mountain of physical evidence was ignored for years, and why a man charged with a brutal attack with intent to kill served only 17 of 20 years before being released on parole. We’ll explore the unsolved case of Elena Hawkins from 1992 and the question that haunts Kentucky: is Ernest Pine a serial killer who managed to escape justice? Case Details Primary Victim: Linda (last name withheld for confidentiality), in her 50s, assault survivor Secondary Victim: Elena Hawkins, 35 years old, mother, murdered Suspect: Ernest Pine, in his 50s at the time of release Date of Attack on Linda: August 25, 2008 Date of Elena’s Death: January 8, 1992 Location: Rough River Lake and Elizabethtown, Kentucky, United States Current Status: Ernest Pine released on parole on August 19, 2025 after serving 17 of a 20-year sentence - Ernest denies attacking Linda, but his blood, jammed weapon, bloodied knife, sandals with soles matching the footprint at the scene, and visible injuries on his body directly contradict him - Ernest’s name written in blood by Linda before collapsing is impossible to fake, yet Ernest argues that “without penetration there is no sexual assault,” implicitly acknowledging sexual contact with objects - Elena Hawkins was murdered using an identical method sixteen years earlier, only five miles away in the same county, but Ernest was never an official suspect until after attacking Linda - Elena’s DNA collected in 1992 was preserved but never publicly compared against Ernest Pine, leaving the