EXCLUSIVE: Sister of man stabbed to death in Piedmont Park 14 years ago wants answers

By Tori Cooper

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    ATLANTA, Georgia (WANF) — When most people think of Piedmont Park murders, they think of the latest brutal stabbing of Midtown resident Katie Janness and her dog Bowie two years ago.

The gruesome murder still haunts the community today as the killer remains on the loose.

However, as we mark the two-year anniversary of Janness’ murder, Atlanta News First uncovered another murder in Piedmont Park from 14 years ago.

The case still remains unsolved — and Patrick Boland’s family still wants answers.

Atlanta News First spoke exclusively with the victim’s sister, Sheron Bautista, about what it’s been like trying to find closure for over a decade.

“I miss talking to him, miss hugging him,” Bautista said, adding that her bother was her shining light. “I cannot even begin to describe the pain that I feel when I look at my brother’s picture. His smiling face and just his warmth.”

Bautista would often visit Boland in Atlanta. She lives more than 780 miles west of the city now, but despite the distance, Piedmont Park for her is a dark place that haunts her family every day.

“It is dark but it’s the reality of what we live,” Bautista said.

Fourteen years ago, Boland was also found stabbed to death in Piedmont Park, according to Atlanta Police.

“I want people out there to realize that even after 14 years, the pain is still immense,” Bautista said.

Boland’s home showed signs that he left abruptly. His sister believes he left to meet someone in the park, but who exactly… remains a mystery.

“Who would want to do this to your brother?” Atlanta News First Reporter Tori Cooper asked Bautista.

“That is the million-dollar question and I would give almost everything that I have right now to find that answer,” she said.

Like in the murder of Janness, investigators had very few suspect leads in Boland’s case.

“While surveying the crime scene we noticed that there were some cameras in the immediate vicinity in the park, I asked our detectives to start reaching out,” former Atlanta Police homicide commander and current South Fulton Police Chief Keith Meadows said.

Meadows was one of the lead investigators on Boland’s case and he said he still remembers the night of his murder vividly.

“Unfortunately, our cameras didn’t yield much in the way of leads. At that time, we learned that the cameras in the park were not working,” Meadows said.

“There wasn’t an answer at all really about the cameras, they weren’t working and there may not be a good answer for that question,” Bautista said.

More than a decade later Bautista lives with guilt. She said she feels she hasn’t done enough to get answers as to who murdered her brother.

“I know that I haven’t done enough to push for someone to reopen the case because the pain sometimes is unbearable,” Bautista said.

She is hoping that by speaking out for the first time, new answers will come to light despite this dark memory. Not just for her brother Patrick but for Katie too.

“I think it’s worth reopening right now and taking a stronger look at the case and the physical evidence that did exist at that time,” Meadows said.

He went on to say that local investigators should also look at the other stabbing attack that happened nearby the park on the same night that Boland was stabbed to death. He said the other victim survived the stabbing attack, but investigators could never confirm that the two incidents were related.

“That person never wanted to talk to us, unfortunately,” Bautista said.

Bautista is now holding on to hope that the Atlanta community will member something from the night of May 28, 2009.

“There’s that one percent of cold cases that are solved and I’m hoping and pray every day that his case is among that one percent,” she said.

In both the murder of Katie Janness and Patrick Boland, the cameras in Piedmont Park were not working.

However, it is important to note that last year, the city spent more than $40 million to install more than 30 new surveillance cameras in Piedmont Park, that are not linked up to the Atlanta Police Department video integration system.

If you have any information on the murder of Patrick Boland or Katie Janness contact crime stoppers.

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