{"id":157620,"date":"2026-02-16T21:10:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T21:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/157620\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T21:10:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T21:10:42","slug":"woman-who-killed-buried-sister-in-tampa-yard-says-shes-blameless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/157620\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman who killed, buried sister in Tampa yard says she\u2019s \u2018blameless\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long before Karen Pais was shot in her chest and buried in the backyard of her Carrollwood home<\/a>, she repeatedly told her friends who would be to blamefor her murder.<\/p>\n

Nearly five years after she died, her warnings echoed through a Tampa courtroom as they told a judge what they\u2019d heard her say: \u201cIf something happens to me, my sister did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Robin Fuson sentenced Debra Patton to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing Pais, her sister, with whom she lived.<\/p>\n

A jury last month found Patton, 72, guilty of second-degree murder<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Patton, short and stooped and clad in an orange jacket, stared straight ahead, listening to words of pain and condemnation from her late sister\u2019s friends as they asked for a sentence ensuring she will die incarcerated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do stand here blameless for this,\u201d Patton said. \u201cI do intend to appeal the verdict. I do also forgive everything that I just heard in here that was a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n

She voiced what seemed to be a kind of prayer directed toward the judge.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeavenly father, I know that you are in sovereign control of this situation,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd even though I understand that the verdict is in and that you are going to pronounce (your) sentence, I am going to continue to fight this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fuson responded in harsh terms, saying what Patton did showed \u201cthe evil that walks among us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember this case when it first came in and the cold, calculated way that you perpetrated this crime,\u201d the judge told her. \u201cYou say you stand here blameless. Nobody else agrees with you. And I certainly don\u2019t. The jury certainly (didn\u2019t). You will be judged someday. If you\u2019re a God-fearing person, then you should fear God at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Pais, 66, was a retired Verizon engineer who lived a quiet life in a home she inherited from her parents on Cypress Park Street, north of Gunn Highway. Patton moved in with her about a decade before Pais was killed.<\/p>\n

Pais\u2019 friends recalled that Patton was at first friendly and sociable, but became cold and distant as years progressed. There was tension between the sisters, according to court testimony, but the source of it was never publicly stated.<\/p>\n

Pais\u2019 friends became concerned after she disappeared and stopped responding to calls in May 2021. One friend found it odd when she sent a text message about a hairstyling appointment she and Pais had discussed and got a curt reply: \u201cI\u2019ll pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

When her friends came looking for her at home, they found her red Toyota parked in the garage. One of them saw Patton through a garage window. When she called out, Patton ignored her, the friend testified.<\/p>\n

One of the sisters\u2019 neighbors happened to be a Hillsborough County sheriff\u2019s deputy whose home was equipped with a surveillance system. A review of videos turned up footage of Pais doing yard work the morning of May 24, 2021. After she went into her garage, she never reemerged.<\/p>\n

Subsequent footage showed Patton taking trash to a curb, walking her dog, Buddy, and retrieving a shovel from the garage. Sheriff\u2019s detectives later searched the home and dug up a large dirt patch in the backyard. About 2 feet down, they found Pais\u2019 body.<\/p>\n

A medical examiner determined she died from a gunshot wound to her chest. Both sisters owned handguns, and one that was said to belong to Patton was missing. A pair of latex gloves found with her sister\u2019s body carried her DNA.<\/p>\n

Although Patton was convicted of second-degree murder, Assistant State Attorney John Terry said Monday there was evidence to suggest the killing was premeditated. Much of that evidence, though, was deemed hearsay and barred from Patton\u2019s trial.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But several of her sister\u2019s friends told the judge Monday morning they harbored no doubt that Patton had thought about what she did for a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not the defendant\u2019s first threat of violence,\u201d said Pam Nelson, a longtime friend of Pais\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is going to kill me,\u201d another friend, Jan Wilder, recalled Pais saying.<\/p>\n

The friends said they implored Pais to make her sister move out. But Pais was too generous, too kind. She would say that Patton had nowhere else to go.<\/p>\n

Cathy Wynkoop, another friend, described Patton as a \u201cnarcissist\u201d who gave nothing in return for her sister\u2019s hospitality.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she had a chance, she would probably fulfill other threats she has made to other family members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patton shook her head at times as her sister\u2019s friends spoke, at one point quietly uttering a single word: \u201cLies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second-degree murder conviction gave the judge some discretion in the sentence, with 25 years being the minimum. It was what the defense sought.<\/p>\n

The judge noted the callous nature of Patton\u2019s actions as he imposed the sentence that prosecutors and Patton\u2019s friends requested.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I watched the video and saw you take the shovel and walk back into the house to bury your sister\u2019s body, it\u2019s unfathomable,\u201d Fuson told Patton.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should have watched the whole thing,\u201d Patton mumbled.<\/p>\n

The judge cut her off.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not your time to speak,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s your time to listen. I think you may think it\u2019s a joke. Well, enjoy yourself for the rest of your life because I\u2019m going to mandate that you go to prison for the rest of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long before Karen Pais was shot in her chest and buried in the backyard of her Carrollwood home,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[75523,68877,75524,135,137,136],"class_list":["post-157620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-debra-patton","tag-friends","tag-karen-pais","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157620","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=157620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}