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Man pleads guilty in 1996 kidnapping, murder of 7-year-old Kentucky girl
A man charged earlier this year in the decades-old kidnapping and murder of a 7-year-old Kentucky girl has now pleaded guilty in federal court.
Robert Scott Froberg, 61, of Dayton, Ohio, pleaded guilty Wednesday to kidnapping resulting in the death of Morgan Violi, ending a case that remained unsolved for nearly 30 years.
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Morgan was kidnapped from her Bowling Green, Kentucky, neighborhood on July 24, 1996.
Her body was found months later near a barn in Tennessee.
Prosecutors said new DNA testing and advancements in forensic technology provided the breakthrough for investigators.
According to prosecutors, Froberg escaped from an Alabama prison in April 1996 while serving a sentence for armed robbery.
Weeks later, authorities said he attempted to lure a 7-year-old boy into a treehouse in Pennsylvania before being arrested.
He escaped from custody a second time on July 16, 1996.
Investigators said Froberg then returned to Dayton, Ohio, stole a van and started heading south.
On July 24, 1996, he exited I-65 in Bowling Green and drove to the Colony Apartments.
Prosecutors said Froberg first tried to abduct one of Morgan’s friends, but the girl managed to escape.
He then grabbed Morgan, forced her into the stolen van and continued driving south on I-65.
Authorities said he exited the interstate near White House, Tennessee, where he strangled Morgan and left her body near a barn before leaving the scene.
The van was found two days later in Nashville, and Morgan’s body was eventually discovered in October 1996.
When the federal charges were first announced back in February, officials said that recent advancements in forensic technology allowed the FBI to test a hair that was found inside of the van.
Officials said that testing returned an association with Froberg.
Froberg was then interviewed by the FBI, and investigators said he admitted to killing Morgan.
“It is hard to envision a more egregious crime than the abduction and murder of a 7-year-old child. This evil act left Morgan’s family devastated and began 30 years of unanswered questions and torturing sadness. This evil act also left the parents in our community wondering if this previously unknown predator would strike again. Whose child would he steal next… This defendant’s depravity forever changed Morgan’s family and Bowling Green,” said U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner.
Froberg is scheduled to be sentenced in court on November 2 in Bowling Green.
If the court accepts the terms of his plea agreement, prosecutors said he will receive a life sentence.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, a life sentence means he will remain in prison for the rest of his life.
“Morgan’s abduction has been an open wound in our community for 30 years. Yesterday, Morgan’s family and our Bowling Green community witnessed this defendant admit his horrors and agree to a life sentence. I am so thankful that my office, along with our incredible law enforcement partners, played an important role in this guilty plea,” Bumgarner said.
