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Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on Oxygen is scheduled to revisit the 1983 murder case of Katherine Mordick, a young mother of two, which occurred days after she filed for divorce with her then-husband, William Gregory Mordick. The episode will air on Wednesday, August 24, 2022, at 8:00 pm ET.
The synopsis of the episode titled Haunting Images read:
"A young mother was killed and her family hoped for quick justice. As the years went by with no arrest, that hope faded. What didn't fade: small traces of DNA. Nearly three decades later, that evidence was about to reveal an ugly truth."
Katherine was found with her throat slashed in the former couple's South Ridgecrest, California home on the night of January 23, 1983. The crime scene that looked like one straight out of a movie was discovered by her brother, Joseph O'Connell, and then-lover, Henry Bjoin.
The Anaheim Police Department was immediately informed about the incident that night. Upon arrival, although no murder weapon or any signs of forced entry were found, authorities did find traces of blood, which would eventually prove to be the breakthrough point in the case decades later, with all evidence pointing towards her former husband, William Gregory Mordick.
Trigger warning: This article contains information about graphic violence.
Exploring Katherine Mordick's troubled marriage with husband, Gregory Mordick
After getting hitched in 1977, Gregory and Katherine Mordick welcomed their first daughter in 1978 and their second in 1980. The couple lived in a house (the Ridgecrest house) on South Ridgecrest Circle in Anaheim Hills
While Gregory toiled to make a career as a photographer, Katherine Mordick worked as a "food stylist," which meant that she set up food for advertising in print and on television. As a direct result of this, she had a job, and her husband spent a lot of time at home with their two young daughters.
Katherine soon started an affair with a photographer named Henry Bjoin who she worked with in August 1981. But by the end of that year, she had put an end to the affair and severed all ties with her boyfriend in order to focus on strengthening her marriage. According to reports, Katherine started working with Bjoin once more during the summer of 1982, and they also reportedly started dating again.
During this time, Gregory and Katherine Mordick's marriage and relationship only grew worse. Her husband would allegedly abuse her and hit her, oftentimes in the presence of their young daughters. Their abusive marriage resulted in the couple's separation. Gregory reportedly left their Ridgecrest house and started living with his parents in Poway.
Katherine Mordick was murdered not long after she filed for divorce
According to reports, another violent encounter between Gregory and Katherine Mordick in December 1982 pushed her to file for divorce in January the following year. According to Katherine's sister, Donna Holbrook, she witnessed Gregory repeatedly "striking her, hitting her, pounding her" in their parents' home.
Immediately after the incident, she filed for divorce with the assistance of the family lawyer. The motion was in process and they were expected to appear in court on January 28, 1983. Unfortunately, Gregory murdered Katherine just five days before their court appearance.
The prosecution and the victim's family believe that Gregory murdered her for financial gain. Investigators initially suspected the husband of being involved in the murder because of circumstantial evidence, such as the journal notes he kept about his unhappy marriage. DNA evidence was eventually able to link him to the crime, and on February 6, 2008, he was taken into custody in the city of Spokane.
The jury at the first trial was evenly divided about the defendant's guilt, and the court declared a mistrial as a result. The defendant was retried, and the jury this time found him guilty of first-degree murder nearly three decades later, in 2011. But the jury concluded that the defendant did not commit first-degree murder with the intention of profiting financially.
Catch more on the decades-old cold case of Katherine Mordick and the conviction of the alleged killer nearly three decades later in Dateline: Secrets Uncovered's upcoming episode, set to air this Wednesday, August 24, at 8 pm ET.
