Member-only story
A Contact Lens Case Cracked This Murder Investigation That Stumped Durham Police
On April 26, 2005, Raven Abaroa left his home in Durham, North Carolina, around 8:30 p.m. to play soccer. When he returned around 10 p.m., he discovered his wife, Janet Abaroa, dead in their bedroom.
25-year-old Janet Abaroa had given birth to her and Raven’s son, Kaiden, six months earlier. He was found unharmed in a nearby room. Tragically, Janet was also pregnant with their second child when her life was cut short.
After discovering his wife’s lifeless body, Raven called the police, saying,
“She’s been shot or something; there’s blood everywhere.”
When officers arrived, they found Janet in a kneeling position and pronounced her dead at the scene.
Though Raven thought Janet had been shot because of the amount of blood she’d lost, she had actually died from multiple stab wounds. One wound at the base of her neck was so deep, it punctured an artery and penetrated her lung. She also sustained a stab wound to the chest, and one of her fingers was slashed, indicating possible defensive wounds.
On the day that she died, Janet had picked up their son Kaiden from daycare before meeting up with Raven and another member from their Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
