Who Killed Kathleen Krausneck? ‘Dateline’ Has Her Story
On the morning of February 19, 1982, 29-year-old Cathleen Krauseneck was with her 3-year-old daughter Sara at home in the Rochester suburb of Brighton, New York. Her husband, Jim, had already gone to the Eastman Kodak Company where he worked as an economist. According to his New York Post, when he returned around 5 p.m., he was met with a horrifying scene.
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Kathleen Clausenek lay on her bed, looking like she had been hit on the head. Police later determined that the murder weapon was an ax that left a three-inch cut. It will take authorities more than 40 years to catch the perpetrators. Who Killed Kathleen Krausneck? The Date Line has her story.
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Who Killed Kathleen Krausneck?
After finding his daughter, Jim Klausneck drove next door to his neighbor Eileen Maron Keating’s house and asked her to look after Sarah while he called the police.WHEC News 10 reported that when Officer Thomas Schirmer arrived at Krausneck’s house, he saw Jim Krausneck outside his bedroom with another officer. He was “making emotional noises… yelling, growling, things like that…he didn’t say anything, just yelling and grunting,” Schirmer later testified.
Maron-Keating took Jim Klausneck and his daughter to Brighton police. “Sarah told me to tell fairy tales,” Maron-Keating said. She was questioned by the police because even though she was only three years old, Sarah was in her house all day carrying her mother’s body. According to the New York Post, she told authorities that a “bad guy” was in her parents’ room.Jim Klausneck eventually stopped asking questions and the next day, her family lived with Sarah. I left for Michigan.
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The police desperately wanted answers, but they were empty. Clausenek’s house was scrubbed of fingerprints and looked like a robbery, but nothing was stolen. Jim Klausneck was the sole suspect, but police were unable to find any evidence to support this theory. Fortunately, after 33 years, authorities were finally able to take a break.
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Where is James Krausneck now?
Authorities, through Cincinnati.com, took note of the fact that Jim Klausneck lied about getting his doctorate in Colorado. Apparently, in early 1982, the Eastman Kodak Company became aware of the hoax, as did Kathleen Krausneck. Of course, this was all contextual, and in 1982 technology could not give investigators any answers.
In 2015, Brighton police reviewed the case with the help of the FBI. “Police and prosecutors have narrowed the time of Kathy’s death, apparently challenging Krausneck’s alibi, and the lack of DNA from anyone else in the house suggests that an intruder was involved. By 2016, Jim Klausneck was the sole suspect.
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In November 2019, ABC News reported that Jim Kruzenek was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. The now 67-year-old was living in Arizona with his wife Sharon when he was arrested. , was sentenced to 25 years in prison for life.
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What happened to Sarah Krausneck?
Sarah Clausenek continued to support her father after being convicted. “The justice system has failed both sides of my parents, myself and my family,” Sarah said in court during her father’s sentencing.”So has this community.”
Sarah believed her father was innocent, which created a wedge between her and her mother’s families. Kathleen Clausenek’s father, Robert Schlosser, was particularly affected by this. When he spoke to Jim Klausneck, his tone was quite different. “Jim, I hope you live to be 100 and enjoy your new home,” he told his ex-son-in-law.
For more on this story, watch Dateline on Friday, January 20 at 9 PM EST on NBC.