Timothy B. Hennis, 1986 — Credit: AP · Public domain
Kathryn "Katie" Eastburn and her daughters Kara, age 5, and Erin, age 3, were found dead in the family's home in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on May 12, 1985. The Eastburns were a U.S. Air Force family; Katie's husband was away at officer training in Montgomery, Alabama, when the killings occurred. Katie had been stripped to the waist, raped, and stabbed 15 times; Kara had been stabbed repeatedly in the chest, and Erin had been bludgeoned in the chest and back. The youngest child, 22-month-old Jana, was found alive at the scene, dehydrated and ill.
Cumberland County Sheriff's Office detectives Robert Bittle and Jack Watts led the investigation and determined the killings likely occurred overnight between May 9 and May 10, 1985. A witness reported seeing a man carrying a garbage bag leave the Eastburns' driveway in the early hours of May 10 and provided a description used to produce a composite sketch. U.S. Army Sergeant Timothy Hennis, who had visited the Eastburn home on May 7 to take in the family's dog after responding to a classified ad, resembled the sketch closely enough that investigators identified him as the prime suspect. Hennis was interviewed, provided blood, saliva, hair, and print samples, and was picked out of a photo lineup by the witness; he was arrested on May 15, 1985. Investigators also tied Hennis to unauthorized withdrawals on Katie's stolen ATM card and to other circumstantial evidence, including a jacket he brought to a dry cleaner and items neighbors saw him burning in a barrel.
At trial in Cumberland County in 1986, the prosecution argued Hennis killed Katie after she rejected a romantic advance. A jury convicted Hennis of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree rape, and he was sentenced to death on July 8, 1986. In 1988, the North Carolina Supreme Court overturned the conviction by a 5-2 vote, ruling that graphic crime-scene photographs shown to the jury had been unfairly prejudicial, and granted a new trial. At the April 1989 retrial, the defense challenged the reliability of the eyewitness testimony and presented forensic evidence — footprints, blood, and hair — that did not match Hennis or the victims; the jury acquitted Hennis of all charges.
The case remained closed until 2005, when Cumberland County Sheriff's Office Captain Larry Trotter revisited archived evidence, including a semen sample recovered from Katie's body that could not be DNA-tested in the 1980s. A 2006 forensic test at the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation's crime laboratory found the sample was 1.2 quadrillion times more likely to have come from Hennis than not. Because the Fifth Amendment's Double Jeopardy Clause barred a second civilian trial, the U.S. Army recalled Hennis to active duty in September 2006 and court-martialed him under the military's dual-sovereignty authority. His court-martial at Fort Bragg began on March 17, 2010; on April 3, 2010, a military jury unanimously found him guilty of all three murders. On April 15, 2010, the panel recommended a death sentence, and Hennis was dishonorably discharged and incarcerated at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Hennis pursued appeals through military and federal courts, arguing the Army lacked jurisdiction to try him for a case tied to an enlistment period that had ended with his 1989 acquittal and honorable discharge. The U.S. Supreme Court denied his final petition for certiorari on January 11, 2021, leaving the conviction and death sentence in place.
Erin Eastburn, Kathryn "Katie" Eastburn, Kara Eastburn, Jana Eastburn
Date
2006
Location
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Case status
solved
Case timeline
1985-05-07
Timothy Hennis visited the Eastburn family home to take in the family's English Setter after responding to a newspaper ad.
1985-05-09
Investigators later determined that the murders of Katie, Kara, and Erin Eastburn occurred overnight between May 9 and May 10, 1985.
1985-05-12
A neighbor and a police officer found the bodies of Katie, Kara, and Erin Eastburn in the family home; the youngest child, Jana, was found alive but dehydrated.
1985-05-15
Timothy Hennis was arrested after a witness identified him in a photo lineup.
1986-07-08
A Cumberland County jury convicted Hennis of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree rape, and he was sentenced to death.
1988
The North Carolina Supreme Court overturned Hennis's conviction by a 5-2 vote, ruling that graphic crime-scene photographs shown at trial had been unfairly prejudicial, and granted a new trial.
1989-04
At a retrial, a jury acquitted Hennis of all charges after a three-week trial and two days of deliberation.
2006-06
A forensic DNA test on a previously untested semen sample from Katie Eastburn's body found it was 1.2 quadrillion times more likely to have come from Hennis.
2006-09-26
The U.S. Army recalled Hennis to active duty so that he could be court-martialed for the murders under military jurisdiction.
2007-08
The Commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps ordered that Hennis be court-martialed on three counts of premeditated murder.
2010-03-17
Hennis's court-martial began at Fort Bragg.
2010-04-03
A military jury unanimously found Hennis guilty of all three murders.
2010-04-15
The jury panel recommended a death sentence; Hennis was dishonorably discharged and incarcerated at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
2021-01-11
The U.S. Supreme Court denied Hennis's final petition for certiorari, leaving his conviction and death sentence in place.
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Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
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The Bizarre Case of Tim Hennis
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Timothy Hennis
CONVICTED
Convicted by a Cumberland County jury in 1986 of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree rape; that conviction was overturned on appeal in 1988 and he was acquitted at a 1989 retrial. Following a 2006 DNA test linking him to the crime, he was court-martialed by the U.S. Army under the dual sovereignty doctrine and convicted again in April 2010 on three counts of premeditated murder; he was sentenced to death, and the conviction survived appeal through the U.S. Supreme Court's denial of certiorari in January 2021.
Larry Trotter
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Cumberland County Sheriff's Office captain who in 2005-2006 pursued DNA testing of archived evidence, leading to Hennis's re-arrest and court-martial.
Jack Watts
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Cumberland County Sheriff's Office detective who co-led the 1985 homicide investigation.
Erin Eastburn
VICTIM
Three-year-old daughter of Katie Eastburn; killed in the family home in May 1985.
Robert Bittle
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Cumberland County Sheriff's Office detective who co-led the 1985 homicide investigation.
Kathryn "Katie" Eastburn
VICTIM
Killed in the family home in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in May 1985; raped and stabbed.
Kara Eastburn
VICTIM
Five-year-old daughter of Katie Eastburn; killed in the family home in May 1985.
Jana Eastburn
VICTIM
Twenty-two-month-old daughter of Katie Eastburn; found alive but dehydrated and ill in the family home after the attack.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Kathryn Eastburn and her young daughters Kara and Erin were found stabbed and beaten to death in their Fayetteville, North Carolina, home in May 1985. U.S. Army Sergeant Timothy Hennis was convicted in 1986, acquitted at a 1989 retrial, and after DNA testing linked him to the crime in 2006, was convicted again by a 2010 military court-martial and sentenced to death, a verdict that survived appeal through 2021.
Where did the murders happen?
Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Who was convicted?
Timothy Hennis (Convicted by a Cumberland County jury in 1986 of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree rape; that conviction was overturned on appeal in 1988 and he was acquitted at a 1989 retrial. Following a 2006 DNA test linking him to the crime, he was court-martialed by the U.S. Army under the dual sovereignty doctrine and convicted again in April 2010 on three counts of premeditated murder; he was sentenced to death, and the conviction survived appeal through the U.S. Supreme Court's denial of certiorari in January 2021.).
