After a decade-long investigation that yielded just a few tiny clues and countless dead ends, Paula Sladewski’s brutal 2010 murder case remains a mystery to everybody. Sladewski was an ambitious young model whose corpse was discovered horribly burnt inside a trash near the Miami nightclub where she was last seen.
Kevin Klym, the 26-year-old victim’s boyfriend, was first designated as a suspect in the case when facts about his violent relationship with Paula were revealed. Furthermore, suspicions were made that the nightclub’s staff was implicated in the murder, which was eventually ruled out, leaving the case cold and unresolved for more than a decade. On Tuesday, November 15, Oxygen’s Dateline: Unforgettable will examine Paula Sladewski’s murder case in an upcoming episode titled Death of a Golden Girl. The episode’s summary is as follows:
“In Miami, FL, an ambitious Playboy model is killed. Seven-second footage of her last moments alive was captured on a surveillance camera and might provide important information. This is one of Dennis Murphy’s most remembered cases because of the unsettling imagery.”
Here are five significant aspects of Paula Sladewski’s case, ranging from a long night of partying to hopes of discovering a murderer.
1) On the night of the murder, Paula Sladewski and her boyfriend were booted out of Club Space.
According to accounts, Sladewski and her partner, Kevin Klym went to a prominent nightclub called Club Space in the early morning hours of January 3 after two nights of heavy drinking and partying in Miami, Florida. Kevin, on the other hand, was booted out of the club after raising a commotion when Paula refused to leave.
Klym stated he immediately took a taxi back to the hotel where they were staying to sleep. Sladewski was also hauled out of the club shortly after he departed, and she apparently vanished. Two bouncers were seen pursuing her out of the venue on security footage that night. Space’s boss reported that as she left, a suspicious guy followed her.
2) Paula Sladewski’s corpse was discovered in the trash later that day.
The same day, around 13 to 14 hours after the club incident, a North Miami homeowner phoned the police and the fire department after witnessing a flaming dumpster near NW 14 Avenue and 130 Street, in an industrial area about 12 miles away from the nightclub. When officials arrived, they found the burned corpse of a lady at the horrible scene. Using dental records, the badly burned corpse was subsequently identified as Paula Sladewski. The victim’s face was virtually unrecognizable, with just piercings and earrings remaining.
3) Police suspected the culprit murdered Paula somewhere and then burnt her corpse.
Investigators hypothesized that she was murdered somewhere and then carried to the garbage, where her corpse was lit on fire. Given that the position of the trash is not known to everyone, they suspected that someone who knew about it was behind the murder. An autopsy found that strangling was the potential cause of death, implying that Paula Sladewski was killed before her corpse was set on fire.
4) Her partner claimed that the Club Space personnel was responsible for the crime.
Paula’s lover, Kevin Klym, stated that one of the bouncers from Club Space, where the two partied on the night of the murder, January 3, was responsible for the heinous act. According to sources, Klym was booted out of the club that night and returned to the hotel. Sladewski was taken out shortly after, and she went missing.
According to Kevin, the staff members may have intended to follow Sladewski and so chose to divide the duo so that they could approach her while she was alone. In a shaky, black-and-white CCTV film, two bouncers can be seen pursuing a woman as she leaves. The club’s management, on the other hand, stated that another person followed the victim out of the club and that they all departed together.
5) Paula Sladewski’s boyfriend was identified as a person of interest in the investigation.
When police began looking into Paula’s death, they discovered that her lover Kevin was the only one who had seen her alive before she was slain and burnt. Further investigation revealed that he was abusive to the victim, prompting them to designate him as a person of interest in the case. He was later ruled out as a suspect, and the case is still unsolved.
