Also available in audio form as an episode of the Human Monsters podcast, which is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube and most other podcast platforms.
Michele Yvette Avila, known as “Missy” to her friends and family, was born in Los Angeles in 1968. Her mother was Irene and she had three brothers, Ernie, Mark and Chris. The story of how Michele came to the attention of the media started when she was 8-years-old.
Karen Severson and her family moved into a house right around the corner from the Avila family. Missy, in keeping with her gregarious nature, was the first child on the block to befriend Karen. Karen was shy and awkward and needed a more extroverted child to extend their hand. Missy invited her to her house to play with dolls. They became friends almost instantaneously. Their bond was so strong they walked arm-in-arm to school, jumped rope together and spent many happy hours talking underneath the willow tree in Michele’s front yard.
This entry in Missy’s diary from August 31st, 1978 describes a typical day of their time together: “Then at 11:30 I went to my friend’s house. We played Barbies, then we went swimming. After we had gone swimming, we played Barbies again. Then we went swimming for a long time. (My friends name is Karen.)”
Missy was also friends with a girl named Laura Doyle. Their friendship predated the bond between Missy and Karen by years, but she was never as close to Missy as Karen was. Karen was very agreeable, willing to engage in just about any activity suggested by her friends, so she was always game for what Karen had in mind. Laura appeared to be jealous of the connection forged by Missy and Karen.
Missy and Karen’s friendship persisted amid the unforgiving social shark tank of middle school.
However, their extra-curricular activities no longer consisted of such wholesome past-times as playing with Barbie dolls. They fell in with a clique of peers who enjoyed such adult pleasures as drugs and alcohol. To quote Michele’s brother Mark, “She fell in with a bad crowd. She had to have low self-esteem to hang around with people like that.”
By the time Missy and Karen entered the tenth grade, some incidents occurred that proved to be divisive for their friendship, cutting a chasm into it that drove them apart. One issue was appearance-related: Missy developed into a very beautiful girl. Karen, on the other hand, was not quite so lucky. She put on weight, and given society’s attitudes regarding people of size, she did not draw the amorous attentions of her male peers like Missy. Karen became jealous, and these feelings grew in intensity and toxicity over time.
Missy turned a lot of heads, and Karen yearned to do the same. Some of their mutual friends have been quoted as saying that she was obsessed with Missy. She was consumed with self-loathing and wanted to be Missy. It wasn’t just their physical appearance that differed: Missy’s social skills were exceptional, and she became popular. Karen was socially-withdrawn. If she hadn’t been Missy’s friend, she would have been the appendix of the student body: invisible and of unknown utility. This latter point consolidated Karen’s envy and resentment. She decided that Michele was to blame for her lack of recognition.
Incensed by the obscurity of being eclipsed by Missy’s shining star, Karen began to sabotage Missy’s reputation. She spread rumours that Missy had sex with other girls’ boyfriends. The girls ganged up on Missy and assaulted her. Having finished beating her up, one of the girls told Missy that it was Karen who started the rumour.
Missy could not grasp that Karen would be capable of such conniving and abusive behaviour. Irene commented on the incident: “Missy was so mad at the girl for telling her it was Karen’s fault. Missy ‘knew’ Karen would never do anything like that. Missy made great lasagna, dreamed of becoming a physical therapist, and was fiercely loyal to her childhood friends.”
Junior Year: Missy began dating a boy named Randy. She broke up with him a month later because he indulged in drugs and alcohol to excess.
Soon after, Randy started dating Karen. They got an apartment together. They had a daughter named Stephanie. Missy visited one day, and during that time Randy pulled her onto his lap. Karen happened to walk in just as this occurred. Missy got off his lap and told him she wasn’t interested in dating him again. She advised Karen to leave Randy. To quote Irene, “Karen was really upset because the guy she wanted didn’t want her. He wanted Missy.”
Randy wasn’t the only boyfriend whose girlfriend was jealous of the attention he paid to Missy. Laura Doyle’s boyfriend, Victor Amaya, broke up with her because she was always jealous. To quote Victor, “I broke off the relationship because she was jealous of me talking to other girls, including Missy. Laura refused to accept the breakup and became bitter.”
One day Laura drove past Victor’s home. She caught sight of Victor and Missy holding hands and kissing. She became enraged. She pulled down her window and told them they were caught. She called Missy “slut” and “whore”. Victor told her to leave. Victor recalled this incident: “We argued with Laura at my house in Arleta. Me, my brother Noah and Missy had been standing in front of the house when Laura drove up. Laura wanted to know ‘Why is Missy here?’ and I ordered Laura to leave. Before she drove away she said, ‘I’m going to kill that bitch!’ I didn’t take the threat seriously and I never reported it to police.”
September 1985: By this point Laura and Karen both severed their ties to Missy. Missy was hurt by losing who had at one time been her two closest friends.
September 21st: Karen spotted Missy at a public park. She attacked her with a beer bottle. Having exhausted that resource, she pushed and slapped Missy before mutual friends broke up the skirmish. It came as a surprise to no one they knew: the two girls had been feuding off and on for years.
Deputy District Attorney Tamia Hope gave her diagnosis on the situation: “Her only problem, at least on that fateful day was that she was very popular with the boys and this drove Laura Doyle and Karen Severson crazy. They started out yelling at her, telling her how mad they were at her, and how she slept with entirely too many boys and messed up entirely too many relationships.” Once the dust settled, the girls apologized to Michele and they made amends. Missy, being a forgiving sort, was excited to have her best friends back in her life.
October 2nd: Missy informed her mother that she was going somewhere with Laura. Irene recounted what she remembered about the moment that preceded Missy’s departure: “When Laura got to the house, the girls were laughing and talking about boys. As they drove off they seemed very carefree. I remember how especially pretty Missy looked that day. She was all excited to go. She even turned to me and said, “I love you” which is something she did not ordinarily do. That scene haunts me even today.”
A rendezvous was arranged whereupon Missy and Laura would meet Karen and her roommate Eva Chirumbolo at Stonehurst Park in Sun Valley. At that location, they left in two separate cars to commute to Wicky up, which is also known as Colby Canyon. This location was popular with teens as a place to party, with its campground ideal for socializing.
To quote Eva from her testimony at a future trial, “Karen said that she and Laura ‘planned to scare Avila.’ I didn’t know what they had planned. I didn’t know how far this was going to go.”
The description of the events that followed have been arranged in a timeline based on three separate testimonies. According to the girls’ narratives, once they reached the forest, they parked in a dirt lot near a creek. Laura and Karen immediately got out and started yelling at Michele, who was sitting in Laura’s car. Missy began to cry. The girls dragged her out of the car. Once they brought her out, they started pushing her. They called her names. Once again, she was accused of stealing their boyfriends.
The confrontation became so heated Eva got out of her car. Missy was no longer crying, just shaking with terror. Laura grabbed her wrist and forcefully pulled her toward a trail that led into the woods. Missy resisted, but Karen came up from behind and pushed her. Eva recalled what happened next: “All four of us walked down an embankment to the creek. Laura and Karen continued screaming at Missy.” Laura grabbed Missy’s hair and yanked on it. She accused her of having sex with Victor. She stepped up to the creek and pushed Missy toward Karen. Karen shoved Missy to the ground.
Missy was frantic by this point. She begged the girls to forgive her and spare her life. Eva claimed she was petrified by what was sure to follow, and ran back to her car. To quote Eva, “I was scared, so I ran back to where the cars were parked.” Eva heard Missy scream at her, begging for her intervention, but Eva felt she was too helpless to come to her rescue. She also feared she would suffer the same fate. She has insisted that Karen and Laura left her at a disadvantage due to their superior size and strength.
Karen and Laura unleashed a full-force assault on Missy. As Missy was beaten, one of her earrings was torn from her ear and became tangled in her hair. Her hair was cut and clumps of it were tossed haphazardly on the ground. Laura’s jealousy climaxed into irrational, maniacal rage. She was blinded by the green-eyed monster. She screamed at Missy, “You’re going to pay for what you’ve done! You’re going to pay for sleeping with our boyfriends!”
They carried Missy down to the water. She struggled to escape their grasp, but at ninety-eight pounds there was little she could accomplish. The water was eight inches deep, but it was deep enough for Karen and Laura’s nefarious agenda. They forced Missy’s head down underwater. They held it there. They kept her head submerged as Missy struggled to break herself free. After Missy’s body went limp they continued to hold her head underwater. For several minutes. Assured that Missy was no longer capable of stealing their boyfriends, they brought a four-foot, 100 pound log over to Missy’s body and placed it on her neck.
When Laura and Karen returned to the cars, Eva was still frightened. She asked Laura numerous times, “What happened? Where’s Missy?” They told her she drowned. Eva said in court that while Karen and Laura were a little jittery, they were satisfied overall with what they accomplished. To quote Eva, “Karen Severson jumped into her car and drove away. When I got into the car with Laura, she said ‘We killed Missy.’ Then she said, ‘Missy deserved to die because she slept with Victor.'”
Four hours after Missy was killed, Laura called her home and asked Irene if she could speak with Missy. Irene was confused by this, saying she thought Missy was with Laura the whole time. The story Laura gave her was that she dropped Missy off to talk with three boys in a blue Camaro while she went to get gas. She said that when she returned, Missy and the boys had disappeared. Laura’s fixation on destroying Missy’s reputation was pathological. She didn’t hesitate to speak ill of the dead, and would continue to do so.
October 5th: Hikers found Michele Avila’s body planted face-down in the creek with the log lying atop of it. The first police officer to arrive on the scene commented on this visage later, saying, “The young woman’s body was a terrifying sight.” Her face was bedecked with scars and bruises and her hair was butchered off.
When police delivered the news to Irene Avila, she collapsed. She fainted again at the funeral and had to be taken to hospital by ambulance. Losing her beloved daughter was more than she could process. There was no way to cope.
As a means to cover their tracks, Laura and Karen attended the funeral of the girl they characterized as their “best friend”. Eva Chirumbolo was not present.
To further reinforce her façade as a bereaved friend, Karen moved into Irene Avila’s house with her 2-year-old daughter in tow. Karen vowed to Irene that she would find the “animal” who murdered Missy. She even assisted Irene as she conducted her own investigation and assembled clues. She lived there for three months, often staying up to the wee hours reminiscing over their memories of Michele. Karen and Irene became close, as Irene testified: “She was close to me, like another daughter. Karen was my daughter’s best friend. They grew up together.”
Karen was preoccupied with the case. She visited Missy’s grave two to three times a week. She left balloons and flowers behind. She posted pictures of Missy and the relevant newspaper articles that were published on her wall at home.
She even started visiting the crime scene. On one occasion, she was observed sitting there drinking beer.
Cracks in Karen’s cover story began to appear when suddenly she announced that Laura changed her story. Karen invited Laura to go to Irene’s house so she could tell her she lied. The blue Camaro and the boys were never part of the equation. The revised version consisted of dropping Missy off at a church in Los Angeles to deliver a $500.00 payment to a drug dealer.
Karen told Irene that Missy was haunting her. She said she saw her sitting on the Avila’s couch. She even said Missy floated over her as she slept. She went as far as to say that Missy prevented her car from starting when she visited her grave.
So far, Karen kept the truth effectively buried, and it seemed as though it would never reach beyond the grave.
Everything changed when Eva Chirumbolo’s brother committed suicide. In the wake of this tragedy, Eva keenly felt the sense of loss that had become all too familiar to Irene Avila and her family.
July 1988: Eva Chirumbolo met with police and told them the truth about the murder of Michele Avila. In exchange for her full cooperation, she was not charged as an accessory to murder.
Karen Severson and Laura Doyle were taken into custody. They were both charged with first-degree murder. A trial date was arranged for September 18th, 1989. They both entered not-guilty pleas. Karen said to the investigating officers, “I know the details of what happened to Missy, but I’m not going to say.”
Irene’s grief was compounded upon discovering that she shared it with one of the people who brought about Michele’s demise. To quote Irene, “She was Missy’s best friend, but she was jealous of Missy’s family, Missy’s looks, Missy’s popularity and even Missy’s relationship with me.”
Karen’s jealousy of and hatred for Missy was successfully hidden from all with whom she discussed the case. To quote L.A. Deputy Sheriff Bill Patterson, “We talked to Karen several times during the investigation, and not once—I mean never—did we suspect she was in on the murder.”
Irene was just as doubtful: “When they told me that it was Karen and Laura, I didn’t believe the cops. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it.”
Irene commented on the alleged hauntings: “Who knows, maybe Missy was haunting Karen to make her pay for what she did. If it’s possible, then I hope to God she’s haunting her each night in prison.”
January 31st, 1990: Karen Severson and Laura Doyle, both 22-years-old, were convicted of second-degree murder. The prosecuting attorney lobbied for first-degree convictions. After Laura’s application for parole was denied years later, that attorney said to the Daily News, “Our position was that this crime was a deliberate, well-planned torture and execution of Missy, and needed to be treated as such.”
The jurors disagreed with the notion that the murder was premeditated: they felt it was a crime of passion.
Laura Doyle and Karen Severson both received sentences of fifteen years to life.
1997: Both of the girls were eligible for parole at this time. During the parole hearings, Karen confessed that she arranged the plan to walk Missy into the forest, but that her intention was only to torture Missy.
Laura became more truthful during her parole hearings. In 2002, she admitted to coaxing Missy into the water and killing her. She insisted that Karen was the catalytic figure.
Throughout Karen’s incarceration she dedicated herself to becoming a model inmate. She participated in various groups, such as those dedicated to self-help, Bible studies and peer tutoring. She enrolled in post-secondary education programs, completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and a doctorate in theology. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis while serving her sentence.
July 8th, 2011: The parole board approved Karen Severson’s application for parole. The Avila family strongly objected to this initiative. Due to ill health, Irene was not able to attend the hearing; she was still suffering from complications that arose from a heart attack she had after Karen’s 2001 parole hearing. Irene’s doctors advised against attending the 2011 session, feeling that the stress would put her at risk for another bout of cardiac arrest.
There was a lay period before Karen’s parole was finalized. The board spent four months reviewing the qualifying criteria of her eligibility. The governor of California was given a chance to intervene if he saw fit. There was nothing the prosecutors could do to stop it. The Avila family started a letter-writing campaign as a means to convince the governor that Karen was not fit for full immersion in law-abiding society.
Their efforts were not successful, and Karen was free to enjoy her freedom and all its privileges after denying that opportunity to Missy. Reflecting on this, Irene said, “I wish that girl would die. I feel bad for my sons. I feel bad for everybody who knew her. This was a terrible injustice, a terrible injustice. I don’t understand why people who commit murder, they let ‘em out.”
Laura Doyle was paroled soon after Karen Severson.
Irene Avila struggled through the healing process for many years with middling success, and this event was a critical setback. Irene summed up her feelings by saying, “Both should have suffered the death penalty. They are free. My daughter is in the ground.”
The story does not end there.
Despite opposition from the Avila family and the public at large, Karen Severson wrote a memoir about the murder with the narcissistic title My Life, I Lived It. In that book, she described the murder in graphic detail. On one occasion when she was asked about the book, she said, “I walked away. They don’t have a daughter. They don’t have a sister. I don’t have a friend.”
When she was informed that there were other ways to make money than capitalizing on the crime she committed, she said, “Like what, sell myself?” She vowed to donate a portion of the profits to an anti-bullying activist group. When asked why she wouldn’t donate all the money to that organization, she said, “I didn’t say everything. I have to live. It’s hard to get a job out there.”
The Avila family filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit against Karen.
They also filed a lawsuit against the book’s distributor for slander and infliction of emotional distress. To quote Missy’s sister-in-law, Shavaun Avila, “Today we’re filing a lawsuit against a vicious killer who has been profiting off her crime. It’s not about us making money off this lawsuit. It’s about letting the public know that crime is paying in California.”
Along with the civil lawsuit, the Avila family advocated for a new legislation in the state assembly called “Missy’s Law”. The purpose of this legislation is to assist relatives of crime victims in their efforts to recoup money that a perpetrator has made when they publish a book or make a movie deal based on their offences. State Assembly member Nora Campos sponsored the bill. As Irene noted, “This law should have been passed a long time ago. It’s like they’re giving them a reward for killing somebody.”
The distributor of Karen Severson’s book changed its price to zero to respect the wishes of the Avila family. Having done so eliminated the possibility that Karen could ever profit from its publication.
October 15th, 2015: Governor Jerry Brown passed Missy’s Law. The Avila family celebrated. To quote Shavaun Avila, “I feel like we’ve won a really big battle, but there’s still a war going on out there, and we’re going to keep battling as long as it takes.”
Irene Avila’s conclusive statement: “Girls, watch out whom you trust.”
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