Linda Karlen, 50, formerly of Sharon and Hempfield Township, is serving a 15-year sentence in the Ohio Women's Reformatory in Marysville for conspiracy to commit kidnapping for her role in the 1988 kidnapping and slaying of Thiel College graduate Roger "Butch" Pratt, a crime that crossed state lines and received national attention.

According to Herald files:

When Ms. Karlen's Sharon home caught fire Sept. 18, 1989, authorities noticed it was the second suspicious fire in 18 months that could be tied to Ms. Karlen. On May 22. 1988, fire destroyed a warehouse of Old Towne Furniture. Ms. Karlen was a partner in the Greenville furniture store.

When confronted with evidence linking her to the two fires, Ms. Karlen led authorities to the shallow grave on a Greene Township farm where Pratt was buried.