Days after police released a detailed sketch of the man who a witness says was seen leaving with Paula Sladewski, the model who was discovered in a dumpster after a night of partying, her boyfriend spoke in an exclusive interview on the Today Show about the man in the sketch and what, exactly, in his view, happened that night.
The couple had been on vacation in Miami for New Years Eve, taking in a Lady Gaga concert and then heading to Club Space.
Kevin Klym said that the bouncer at the downtown club who both ID'd them coming into the club and escorted Klym out of the club later that night after the he and Sladewski reportedly got into an argument (a fact Klym disputes), looks like the man in the sketch.
"When I walked in the club," recalled Klym, "this is the gentleman that double ID'd Paula. I just don't think that Paula, on her best day, looked under 21. So I don't know why he would ever do that."
Klym went on to say that when he was ready to leave, at 7 a.m., Sladewski wanted to stay.
"I kind of took her by the waist," Klym said, "escorted her out of the club, doing the boyfriend shuffle, so to speak, and she said, 'wait, I don't want to go,' and the bouncers were on me immediately."
Before leaving, Klym said that Sladewski asked him for her debit card, which led him to believe that, even though she was intoxicated, she was coherent.
"I figured she was just playing games with me and that she'd be back at the hotel in a couple hours... it was bright outside, taxis were lined up -- it's not like I felt like I was leaving her in danger."
However, Paula's burned body was found later that day in a dumpster 12 miles from the club.
Neither Paula's sister, Kelly Farris, nor her brother, Thomas Bussell, believe that Klym - - who is still considered a person of interest -- killed Sladewski. However, Bussell went on the Today Show shortly after the murder and said that Klym was guilty of being a coward.
"He was responsible for her," Bussell said. "He was responsible for her safety, her well being. He left her there without a cell phone. He left my little sister there to fend for herself. Had he waited outside that club, it was only 20 minutes, 20 minutes could have saved her a lifetime."
When asked if he ever regrets leaving his girlfriend at the club, Klym replied: "Every day. Every minute. Every time I close my eyes."
