{"id":120968,"date":"2026-01-16T19:47:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T19:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/120968\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T19:47:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T19:47:34","slug":"friends-of-woman-killed-buried-in-carrollwood-backyard-relieved-by-sisters-guilty-verdict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/120968\/","title":{"rendered":"Friends of woman killed, buried in Carrollwood backyard relieved by sister\u2019s guilty verdict"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Friends <\/p>\n

TAMPA, Fla. – The Hillsborough County<\/a> woman found guilty of killing her sister in 2021 and burying her in the backyard of her Carrollwood home now faces 25 years to life in prison.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The loved ones of Karen Pais spent five years waiting for a trial and verdict as they watched Debra Patton slow-walk the legal process. On Wednesday, though, the jury deliberated for around an hour before returning with a guilty verdict<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED: Hillsborough woman found guilty of killing sister, burying her in Carrollwood backyard<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

“Thank goodness the jurors saw through and saw what we saw,” said Cathy Wyncoop, a lifelong friend of Pais. “I do feel like a huge weight has just been lifted.”<\/p>\n

Cathy and Joel Wyncoop knew right away that when Pais was found buried in her own backyard, that there could be only one suspect.<\/p>\n

“Karen told us, all of us, on many times, \u2018if I end up missing or something happens to me, Debra did it,\u2019” said Cathy Wyncoop.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Pictured: Karen Pais’ friends, Cathy and Joel Wyncoop. <\/p>\n

PREVIOUS: Hillsborough woman accused of killing sister, burying her in backyard stands trial in Tampa<\/a><\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

Though prosecutors never pinned down a motive, friends said Patton was living in Pais’ house cost-free, and that could have led to friction. Though deputies never found Patton’s gun, Pais was found a foot underground, wrapped in bags and shot through the chest.<\/p>\n

“Karen had such a great heart,” said Joel Wyncoop. “She would say, ‘no, she’s my sister. I love her. She’s got no one else to turn to, no other family. I have to take care of her’\u2026 and that\u2019s how she gets repaid.”<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

After her arrest, Patton spent two of the five years leading up to her trial at a mental hospital, because a doctor found her incompetent to stand trial. She also insisted that she be given new attorneys \u2014 an ask the judge declined.<\/p>\n

Big picture view:<\/p>\n

For Karen’s friends, the verdict was a chance to let go of the stress they felt since the moment Pais’ body was found: Would the only suspect ever pay a price?<\/p>\n

MORE: Woman accused of killing sister in Carrollwood home moves closer to standing trial<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Pictured: Debra Patton.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

“I had a lot of anger towards her,” said Cathy Wyncoop. “I still probably do, but it doesn’t feel as bad now, because I know where she’s going to be. I don’t have to worry about her getting out, you know?”<\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

On the second-degree murder charge, Patton faces 25 years to life. Now that she’s 72 years old, it’s likely she will never get out even if she gets the minimum.<\/p>\n

Her sentencing is scheduled for February 16.<\/p>\n

The Source: The information in this story was gathered during an interview with friends of Karen Pais. It also includes previous FOX 13 News reports on the murder case.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tampa<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. – The Hillsborough County woman found guilty of killing her sister in 2021 and burying her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[630,47,629,115,135,137,136,628],"class_list":["post-120968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-fl","tag-hillsborough","tag-news","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}