Kathleen V. “Kathy” Stith
47 YOA
966 E. 6th Avenue
Des Moines, IA
Polk County
Case # 1994-7200
February 24, 1994
In 1994, Kathleen “Kathy” Stith, 47, lived with 32-year-old Scott Macy — her boyfriend of five years — in a townhouse at 966 E. Sixth Avenue in Des Moines.
The two had an off-and-on relationship. Macy was arrested at least four times between 1986 and 1994 for domestic abuse, and Kathy was one of his victims.
Macy told investigators that on the night of Wednesday, February 23, four people slept in the townhouse. He was on the upstairs sofa, Kathy was in a first-floor bedroom, and Kathy’s son, 16-year-old Denny Dellaca, and his friend Chris Davis slept on the downstairs level.
The next morning, Thursday, February 24, Macy said he loaded his tools into his truck and went back inside to leave some cigarettes for Kathy.
She had moved from the first floor bedroom to the sofa upstairs and had a blanket over her head.
Macy said he told her, “Here’s your cigarettes” and put the pack by her head.
Macy said he left the home at 8:30 a.m. and believed the two teenaged boys were still there.
When he returned home from work at about 5:00 p.m., he found the townhouse unlocked. The television was still on from the morning.
Inside, Kathy was lying on the upstairs sofa with a blanket over her head just as she had been when he left. The pack of cigarettes was untouched.
Macy then realized Kathy was dead.
Because there was no telephone in the townhouse, he went out to a phone booth where he called both the Des Moines Police and his own mother.
Polk County Medical Examiner Dr. R.C. Wooters performed an autopsy and placed Kathy’s time of death at about 8:30 a.m., the time Macy said he left the townhouse.
Although she had no bruises or obvious injuries, Wooters believed Kathy was the victim of foul play.
Macy told investigators Kathy had no illnesses and never used drugs; her family, however, believed she might have used narcotics.
No one was ever charged in Kathy’s death and the case remains unsolved.
Kathleen V. Stith was born on June 27, 1946. She was the mother of Dennis Dellaca.
If you have information on the unsolved murder of Kathleen Stith, please contact the Des Moines Police Department at 515-283-4864 or Iowa Cold Cases through the Contact form.
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Was my neighbor and friend, I think he did it!