Gorgeous young mom found in her own bed, AXE embedded in her forehead: SOLVED
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
3.9 • 7.6K Ratings
🗓️ 10 June 2023
⏱️ 40 minutes
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Summary
Three-year old Sara Krauseneck was home alone for hours. Her money 29-year-old, dead in her bed with an axe lodged in her head. James Krauseneck, Cathy's husband, returned from work, walking in on the grisly scene. Forty years later, the retired business executive arrested for the 1982 murder of his wife. Police say James Krauseneck used the axe to hack his sleeping wife. Krauseneck convicted in the case, but a surprising turn during his appeal.
The case stumped police for nearly four decades.
Joining Nancy Grace to discuss the case:
- Kathleen Murphy: Family attorney
- Cloyd Steiger: 36 years with Seattle Police Department, 22-year homicide detective & author of "Seattle's Forgotten Serial Killer: Gary Gene Grant"
- Dr. Bethany Marshall: Psychoanalyst, Beverly Hills
- Dr. Michelle Dupre: South Carolina Medical Examiner & author of “Homicide Investigation Field Guide”
- Nancy Monaghan: Reporter for Democrat & Chronicle (retired) & co-author of book on the Krauseneck murder
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | 5. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace |
| 0:12.3 | It was a blustery coal winter night near Rochester when Detective Mark Libertory arrives |
| 0:20.1 | to a scene. What he sees then, he will never forget. A beautiful young 29 year old mom, |
| 0:29.1 | Kathy Krausnek, dead in her bed, and acts lodged in her head. In the last hours, a stunning, |
| 0:40.5 | stunning turn of events. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thanks for being with us |
| 0:46.3 | here at Fox Nation in Sirius XM-111. When the detective arrived at the scene, husband |
| 0:53.3 | Jim Krausnek tells cops he arrived home from work and found his wife's body. His |
| 1:01.7 | 3.5 year old little girl, Sarah, was also home and unarmed minutes later. Husband wanders |
| 1:10.9 | over to the neighbor's house, traumatized and shocked with the baby girl, Sarah, in |
| 1:17.9 | his arms. The neighbor immediately calls 911 after Jim says, Kathy's dead. That was |
| 1:25.1 | just the beginning of a scenario that began to unfold that winter night. In the last |
| 1:32.9 | hours, a suspect has been named. But let's go back to the beginning. When officers arrived |
| 1:40.6 | at the neighbor's house, they were ultimately led to the home of James, his wife Kathleen, |
| 1:46.3 | their daughter Sarah, who resided at 33 Del Real Drive. Officers arrived at the house to |
| 1:52.4 | find Kathleen deceased. She died from a single blow to her head from an axe. Gary Princy |
| 1:58.2 | was an investigator on the case since day one. Princy says he'll never forget arriving |
| 2:03.2 | to the scene that day. It was not a pleasant scene. It was the first one that I had ever |
| 2:09.9 | seen this violent and I hope I never see another one. The police knocked on our door |
| 2:15.6 | after midnight. First thing they said, there was been a thing called a murder. They were |
| 2:23.6 | a homicide and it was Kathy. Wow. You are hearing from our friends at WRC News A. That |
| 2:30.3 | was reporter Kelley Green and others. What happened to Kathleen? Kathleen found in her |
| 2:38.2 | bed with an axe embedded deeply in her forehead. It sounds like the stuff that horror movies |
... |
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