FOX 13 Tampa Bay reporter Evan Axelbank framed it as something Karen Pais’ loved ones have been holding their breath for since 2021: relief, finally, after a case that dragged on and left them feeling like time was being wasted.
Axelbank said the people closest to Karen, including longtime friends Cathy Wyncoop and Joel Wyncoop, believed Debra Patton “slow-walked” the legal process. In their eyes, it felt like delay after delay while the same awful fact stayed planted in the ground: Karen Pais was found buried in the backyard of her own Carrollwood home.
In the end, Axelbank reported, the jury didn’t take long to reach a decision. The deliberations lasted under an hour, and the verdict came back guilty.
And just like that, a five-year nightmare turned into a courtroom certainty…