A nightmare

Ben Barkow, Brown’s family friend and a then-agribusiness sophomore, was driving to a class at about 7:30 a.m. Sept. 29, 2008, when he made his daily phone call to his dad. Expecting to talk about life at home, joke and discuss politics, Barkow instead was told news that sat with him all through his 8 a.m. class.

Brown, who was like a little sister to him, had died in a house fire at her boyfriend’s house in the middle of the night.

“I was thinking, maybe I’ll get a coffee at Tim Horton’s, sit through a boring class, but it was, ‘Katherine died in a house fire,’” Barkow said. “My reaction … It’s probably a big brother response — why weren’t you in the dorm? Why weren’t you at school? Why were you allowing yourself to be pulled away from what you were supposed to do?”

But what initially was believed to be an accidental fire turned into a quadruple homicide case when investigators determined three of the victims — Brown’s boyfriend Jeremy Zimmer, his brother Tyler Zimmer and their mother Sharmaine Zimmer — were shot and Brown was beaten to death. News of the incident got worse as more details came out, said Kayla Lehman, one of Brown’s friends who braved Monday night’s wind, cold and rain to paint the rock in her honor.

“At first, they didn’t know if she was actually in the house. They said that they couldn’t identify her, yet you have this little bit of hope, but when you find out it’s true … you find out she was there, you hope maybe she didn’t suffer then you find out she did — it was just awful,” she said.

Brown became the focus of the investigation after Troy Brake, a former neighbor of the Zimmers who lived with the family in the ’90s, came to the attention of investigators on about Oct. 16, 2008. Prosecutors later argued a fascination with Brown led Brake to commit the murders.

The trial

After about nine months, 500 hours of research, 30 witnesses and nine hours of deliberation, a jury found Brake guilty on four counts of first-degree murder, bringing justice to the friends and family of the victims, Ottawa County prosecutor Ronald Frantz said.

Brake was sentenced July 7 to four consecutive life terms for the convictions, but he and his family maintain his innocence and Brake plans to exercise his right to appeal, his former attorney Paul McDonagh said.

But Frantz said investigators are prepared for that possibility and are confident they will uphold the conviction.

He said the 15 to 20 investigators working on the case were emotionally drained, but found satisfaction in knowing they presented the best case possible.

“Always, walking out, there’s something missing,” he said. “The missing part is, obviously, a trial cannot bring back the victims.”

For Lehman, seeing Brake put in prison for life offered closure, but his blank face during the trial was painful to see.

“To see the fact he didn’t care, it was just no big deal to him to take away such a big part of someone’s life — it was hard to take in,” she said.

A ship with no sails

Barkow can judge how his father, Russ, who acted as Brown’s surrogate father after her biological father died about three years ago, is coping with her death by the way he sounds during their morning phone call. The two only recently have been begun returning to the jovial spirit the calls used to take, Barkow said.

“(My parents) really were like a ship just with no sails, sitting out there, they were out there at sea but not moving,” he said. “They were going through the motions, trying to make an effort, but really not going anywhere with no sails to catch any wind.”

Faith in God and belief that Brown is in a better place has helped Lehman, who said it took her six months to smile instead of crying when she thought of her friend.

“She’s in a better place now and that’s all you can believe in,” she said.

When Barkow, who also said his faith has helped him cope, graduated in December, he said he felt as if he carried the dreams of two people as he walked. Knowing Brown died working toward her goals reminds him to appreciate life.

“I still think about a lot of things,” he said.

“I also think about it in terms of right here and now and it’s just a reminder that life is really an accumulation of choices and attempts and, honestly, it’s good to just continually be in the game. For me it’s a bit of inertia. … Even when you think something’s terrible, you’re alive to live it, which is more than some can say.”