A Delaware man was detained 28 years after his fiancée was discovered dead from 83 stab wounds in a drainage ditch

FLORIDA’S MANATEE COUNTY: A 72-year-old Delaware man was taken into custody by detectives after it was claimed that in 1996, he killed his girlfriend with a knife and dumped her body in a ditch. 

A person was discovered face-down in the water after deputies were called to a drainage canal on U.S. 41 North in Palmetto on December 15, 1996, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. The body of a woman with injuries to her right neck and face was found by divers.

The victim suffered 83 stab wounds, according to the findings of the local medical examiner. The victim did not have water in her lungs or exhibit any other symptoms of a sexual assault.

Never returned home

Using the victim’s dental data, officials were able to conclusively identify 45-year-old Doris Korell seven months later, in May 1997. At about the same time, Korell’s daughter had reported her missing on December 11, 1996, and the St. Petersburg Police Department was looking for her.

Stephen Ford, Korell’s boyfriend, is said to have called the daughter to inquire about her latest sighting of Korell. After a disagreement on December 8, 1996, Ford told detectives, according to a statement from the Florida Attorney General’s Office, and the next night, Korell “uncharacteristically left to go shopping and never returned home.” Korell failed to report for duty the following day.

On December 18, 1996, the sheriff’s office reported that officers discovered Korell’s car at a mall, but they could find no signs of a struggle. According to their claims, Ford cleaned it and left it in the parking lot.

Ford allegedly rented a storage facility the day after Korell vanished and packed his missing girlfriend’s jewelry and other possessions inside “because he didn’t want Doris’ daughter to have it.” Ford’s home was searched by detectives, who “smelled something inside that smelled like decomposition.”

Found in partially conscious condition

In addition to a suicide note from Ford stating that he “wanted to be with Doris if she was dead,” they also found fresh stains on the sheets. Christmas presents had been opened “days before Christmas as if he expected Doris wouldn’t be,” according to the sheriff’s office.

On December 24, 1996, authorities went back to Ford’s house, but he didn’t answer. Entering via an open window, detectives discovered him partially conscious and gaunt at the mouth. It is reported that he attempted suicide by swallowing bleach. In July 2024, a lab received a portion of her DNA for analysis.

Detectives believe Ford “showed a clear pattern of consciousness of guilt,” including his “deliberate actions and statements to mislead law enforcement and ultimately his attempts to commit suicide.” Ford was taken into custody on August 16 in his home town of Georgetown, Delaware.

On August 30, he was brought to Florida and lodged at the Manatee County Jail on charges of second-degree murder using a weapon. As per the attorney general’s office, following his apprehension, Ford asserted, “My past has come up to haunt me.”