A freelance election reporter for the Huffington Post fatally shot herself after stabbing her lesbian lover 222 times with a screwdriver and stuffing the body in the back seat of the victim’s BMW, authorities say.
Carol Anne Burger, 57, an award-winning photojournalist and regular contributor to the website, reported on the election from their home in Florida. She had experienced an upsetting breakup with software executive Jessica Kalish, 56, a woman whom she had married in Massachusetts, the Palm Beach Post reported. The partners were planning to divide their assets, including the home they still shared, after splitting last year. Kalish had met another woman and frequently went on dates with her.
“Burger, upset at the disintegration of her relationship and disgusted with the U.S. during the past several years, sometimes talked of moving to Panama or Mexico to start again,” the Post reported.
Instead, Burger killed the woman in their garage with a Phillips-head screwdriver, stabbing her in the back of her head, back, arms and face. Most of Kalish’s wounds were at least an inch deep. A piercing in the neck damaged her spinal cord and ultimately ended her life, authorities said.
Burger attempted to conceal the killing by hiding the body and calling police to report the victim missing on Oct. 23. Boynton Beach Police Lt. Gary Chapman told the Post blood stains indicate Burger attempted to put Kalish’s body in her car trunk before ultimately hiding her in the back seat. She then drove the car about two and a half miles before smashing the driver-side window and discarding the victim’s keys and wallet. Burger returned to the home and cleaned the crime scene.
“We believe the process of killing Jessica was pretty lengthy, in and out of the car,” Chapman said. “She obviously was out of her mind.”
Burger then shot and killed herself in her backyard Oct. 24.
The following day, the Huffington Post released a “Tribute to Carol Anne Burger,” stating, she “was very excited to be writing about the presidential election and filed multiple stories a week. She covered a wide range of stories including early voting in Florida, a summit on green jobs with Barack Obama and swing-state governors and a Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation event.”
Police called a press conference today to announce their investigation revealed Burger had killed Kalish.