Case of Platte County woman killed with a hatchet to be featured on Paula Zahn show
The 2011 case of a Platte County woman who was killed with a hatchet while she was fishing will be featured in an hour-long episode of "On the Case with Paula Zahn" on the Investigation Discovery channel this Sunday, March 11.
Alissa F. Shippert was bludgeoned to death with a hatchet while she was fishing on a day off on June 1, 2011, along the Platte River at the Platte Falls Conservation Area. She was 22 when she died.
Quintin P. O'Dell, who worked with Shippert at a Casey's General Store, pleaded guilty in 2013 to her murder and other charges, avoiding a possible death sentence. He is currently serving life in prison in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
O'Dell, who was 22 at the time, had also been accused of sexually assaulting a woman he was friends with and disemboweling her with a razor. The assault took place in December 26, 2011, months after Shippert was killed.
The woman survived the attack, and identified O'Dell as the suspect to authorities.
A preview of the episode highlighting the local murder investigation was posted on Paula Zahn's official Facebook page on Tuesday, and has more than 81,000 views.
The case was investigated by the Platte County Sheriff's Office and the Platte County Prosecuting Attorney's office, both of which were interviewed for the episode titled "River of Sorrow."
The sheriff's office noted that the show will also include an interview with a former Platte County detective who worked on the 2011 case and passed away last November. The detective, Mark Stephens, died at the age of 52.
“I hope this episode is a fitting tribute to the memory of Alissa and that shows the hard work of the men and women of the sheriff’s office and the prosecutor’s office that went into bringing her killer to justice," Platte County Sheriff Mark Owen said in a statement. "The show will also serve as a memorial to Detective Mark Stephens. ... I’m glad he got the opportunity to participate in filming.”
Shippert's family, including her father, Landis Shippert, also participated in interviews for the show.
Before her killer was sentenced, Landis Shippert described in the courtroom plans his daughter had to travel to Joplin to help people there devastated by the May 2011 tornado. He also said his daughter had cut her long hair to donate to cancer patients.
"She was a wonderful person and a wonderful daughter," Landis Shippert said at the time. "Everyone in the community thought of her as their daughter and their sister."
“River of Sorrow” and will premiere at 9 p.m. Sunday on Investigation Discovery's "On the Case with Paula Zahn." The episode will also be available on iTunes, Amazon and on the Investigation Discovery GO app.
This story was originally published March 8, 2018 at 2:28 PM with the headline "Case of Platte County woman killed with a hatchet to be featured on Paula Zahn show."