Durham murder remains unsolved after 28 years

After Kirk failed to show up for work, her sister Beverly Sechler went to her home in an 502 Constitution Drive in Durham near Duke University.

Unable to face what may be waiting inside, Sechler flagged down one of her sister's neighbors for help. The neighbor found Kirk’s body lying in the doorway to her house.

“I can’t imagine why anyone would want her dead,” Sechler said.

Investigators said the 34-year-old mother was loading her car, to take her 2-year old daughter to the babysitter when she was stabbed multiple times in her driveway. Kirk then stumbled to her door where she died. Her daughter was sleeping in her crib at the time.

The murder occurred around 1 p.m. on Aug. 21, 1989. “It really shocked everyone,” Investigator Shawn Pate said.

Investigators said Kirk was stabbed in the front of her home while a landscaper mowed the lawn across the street, and a construction crew worked down the block.

“It was almost like the person approached this with a nonchalant attitude or ‘I don’t care who sees,’” Pate said.

The landscaper told police he saw a middle-aged white man driving away from the scene in a green sedan.

Investigators said Kirk’s husband Bill had an alibi and was ruled out as a suspect.

Police have no eyewitnesses, very little physical evidence and no motive.

There is a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in this case.