Kathleen Dawn Martin West, known by “Kat” or “Kitty Kat” on social media, was a 42 year old stay-at-home mom who was found dead outside her home in Calera, AL on January 12, 2018.
Click on the links below to see Kat’s social media:
https://www.facebook.com/kathleen.martinwest
https://twitter.com/kittykatwest75
https://www.instagram.com/meowmeowkittenchow75/?hl=en
Originally from Tampa, Florida, Kat had also lived in Georgia with her husband of 14 years, Jeff West, before moving to their home in the Birmingham suburb of Calera on Green Wood Circle in 2015.
Around 5am on January 13th 2018, Kat’s neighbor was leaving for work, and discovered her partially nude body in the road with blood coming from her head — near her body was her cell phone, and a green liquor bottle propped on top of it. The bottle placed on her phone appeared “staged”, and police classified her death as a homicide. However, little to no information about her death has been available since Kat’s body was discovered.
Media outlets began reporting that Kat was leading a “double life” – due to risque photos she posted on her social media accounts. People quickly found that Kat – the happily married, mom of a 12 year old daughter – had a $15.99 subscription onlyfans account that she advertised on instagram and twitter. The AP reported, “Kathleen Dawn West described herself as a full-time wife and mom on Facebook, but she lived another life on other social media platforms, calling herself an exhibitionist and posting risque photos with a chance for subscribers to see sexier images for $15.99 a month.”
On January 20th, 2018 Kat’s mother, Nancy Martin, created a fundraising Facebook page on behalf of Kat.
Nancy’s message reads, “It seems so impossible for the extreme sadness and grief we feel as the loss of our beautiful daughter Kat to ever diminish or decease however, the Lord is our hope and our salvation, and he can turn our mourning into comfort. God wants to encourage us and relieve our sufering if we will just go to him at all times. And his word is powerful enough to bring healing and solace even during our darkest hours. My Family ask for your prayers and support in our time of loss. My beautiful daughter Kat was not just my daughter but a cherised wife to Jeff, as well as a loving mother to their daughter. So much negativity is out there, but with God all I see and hear is the goodness of my Kat. My family and I ask for help in the services to lay our daughter to rest with the good Lord, to where she will be guideng her daughter and husband through this. If you’re not able to make a donation we ask for prayers.”
Footage was released from R&R Wine & Liquor store that showed Kat shopping in the store and buying alcohol a few hours before she was discovered deceased. She was in the store with a man that “appears to be her husband.” Kat seemed happy, and was shown smiling and laughing in the footage. Stacey Oglesby, the liquor store clerk who rang up Kat and her husband, told Inside Edition, “They came in, it looked like they were on their date night, [They] bought a bottle of Jameson and a bottle of Lucid absinthe and made their purchase and went on their way. Everything was normal.” Hours later, Kat was dead.
Her COD was blunt force trauma to the head, and that was allegedly caused by a bottle of Lucid Absinthe. Many theories came from online forums – including that a potential fan or “stalker” who knew Kat online could have murdered her out of jealousy, someone could have seen that her husband was taking a hunting trip that weekend and took Kat by surprise in her home, she could have gotten drunk and fallen, resulting in a terrible accident… or, did her husband do it, and try to cover it up?
People could not help but notice that her husband had removed his Facebook less than a week after her body was discovered.
Jeff West, the former Birmingham Southern security guard and US army veteran, was then charged with Kat’s murder and taken into custody on February 22, 2018. Kat’s mother Nancy has claimed that Jeff is a “Good man” and “did not do this.” Telling AL.com in early 2018 that, “[Jeff] loved her with all his heart.” She said her daughter died from a fall, claiming she was an alcoholic with bipolar disorder who got drunk and “fell all the time.”
Nearly 3 years later, Kat’s homicide will finally go to trial, with jury selections beginning Monday, November 16th, 2020. Jeff has remained in custody on a $500000 bond since his arrest. He maintains his innocence.
Court filings show that the defence has asked that anyone in our Facebook discussion group be excluded from the jury pool.
Opening statements in the trial started on November 16.
This info comes from the Shelby County Reporter:
Reporter for CBS42, Malique Rankin, has been live tweeting during the trial.
In the 911 recording, the 911 caller describes the scene. And said she saw a man with his front door open, pacing back and forth.
— Malique (@MaliqueRankin) November 17, 2020
11/18/2020 – ABC33/40 reports that Kat West fought with Jeff West in text messages prior to her death, relating to her relationship with her mother-in-law, and accusing Jeff of, “Throwing away 14 years of marriage.” Judge Bill Bostick ruled Wednesday jurors will be able to see those text messages over the objections of the defense.
Live tweeting continued, with new information from the second day of trial including the following,
More detailed information, including text messages & photos, is expected to be presented tomorrow during trial. Jeff West’s attorney has not said definitely whether Jeff will take the stand or not.
Update- 11/20/2020
Jeff West will go for sentencing January 11 2021 at 1:30 pm
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