Daughter of a founding Garden of Peace board member, Evelyn Tobin
Kathy Dempsey was 31 when she was murdered. She was a freelance graphic designer about to enter graduate school to obtain a Master’s in education so that she could teach art to young children.
She was the oldest of three children and her parents’ only daughter. Kathy had many talents, but the greatest was her ability to bring people together and to nurture her many relationships. She loved her friends and family. She loved the earth and every living thing on it. And she loved life.
During the early morning hours of August 23, 1992, while asleep in her home in Lexington, MA, Kathy was stabbed by an intruder. She dialed 911 for help, but through a series of tragic errors by the telephone operator and the emergency dispatcher, help never came and she bled to death. The case was solved when a serial killer already serving prison time for another murder of a young woman, confessed to Kathy’s murder and received a life sentence. He subsequently confessed to a third murder in NH and was sentenced to life without parole there.
Kathy’s family, including 5 nieces and nephews who never had the pleasure of knowing her, continue to miss her and honor her memory.