00:00:05
I love his smile he has a beautiful smile and look at his eyes they just Sparkle my name is Sharon kosnik and I'm
00:00:16
Jim's wife I've been his wife for 23 years these were beautiful happy days before this whole nightmare
00:00:26
started nearly 40 years have passed since Brighton res Kathleen cenek was found murdered in her own home now
00:00:34
prosecutors say cen's then husband committed the crime that's Jim as a young man so this is Jim's first wife
00:00:43
Kathy yes it is you can see Jim and Kathy so obvious they love one another it was one of the most horrific
00:00:52
crimes that we've seen in Rochester she looked like she's just lying there on her right side sleeping it does not
00:00:57
appear that she ever saw this coming she ever will cop the case is known as the Brighton Axe Murder this is the axe that
00:01:05
was found in Kathy's head at the time that Mr crra came home her three and a half-year-old daughter was there
00:01:11
throughout the day with her mom dead in the bed how soon did Jim krack become the
00:01:17
suspect in his wife's murder oh I think within 24 hours they felt that there just wasn't enough evidence to charge
00:01:23
him at that point they went through the years thinking we're going to get something it just went cold the case has
00:01:28
been unsolved for 40 years I think that people they just want to know what happened James cnck will stand trial
00:01:37
later this year for the murder of his wife in their Brighton home nearly 40 years ago no other physical evidence at
00:01:44
the scene points to anyone other than James Kik basically it became who else could it be they were so
00:01:53
focused on Jim if Jim krack did not kill his wife who did larab early on police learned about this fell who was living
00:02:02
not far from the crime scene this evil evil evil man that lived so close to Kathy and Jim he hated women oh he was a
00:02:11
oneman crime wave he was a psychopath they ignored him I have absolutely no doubt that James krack killed Kathy
00:02:21
krack that morning so you're saying that this man who had never shown any sign of
00:02:26
violence before and never shows any violence after snaps one night one night in his life
00:02:33
and puts an axe in his wife's head yep yeah Jim is a decent loving human being there is no way Jim would ever ever have
00:02:45
done anything like that James Kik just doesn't look like an Axe Murder no but Ted Bundy didn't look like a serial
00:02:52
killer I did not murder Kathy [Music] [Music] on a wintery night near Rochester New
00:03:48
York retired detective Mark Liberator is showing us how we helped bring one of the coldest cases in America to
00:03:57
trial on February 19th 1982 police officers arrived at this home which direction was her bedroom
00:04:06
right over here to the right and encountered a horrific scene their bed was on this wall the body of a
00:04:14
29-year-old mother Kathy kosnik dead in bed with an axe lodged in her head it was a single Blow To The Head and she
00:04:25
died instantly according to the medical examiner Jim C told police he arrived home from work and found his wife's
00:04:34
body his three and a half-year-old daughter Sarah was there and unharmed minutes later he showed up at his
00:04:41
neighbor's house seemingly traumatized with Sarah in his arms the neighbor called 911 her husband's here and he
00:04:50
can't even talk after Jim told her he thought Kathy was dead okay there's someone right over there dispatch
00:04:57
immediately sent First Responders Brighton police Lieutenant Bill flood arrived to get a statement from K neck
00:05:05
he was moaning he was crying CR neck a Kodak company Economist said he'd left for work that morning at the usual time
00:05:14
around 6:30 he said he had been gone all day Kathy had planned to stay home to take care of Sarah you could tell that
00:05:24
the little girl had been left alone it looked obvious to us that she had dressed herself it seemed obvious to
00:05:31
detective flood that Sarah was confused about what had happened Sarah said she had seen a bad man sleeping in Mommy and
00:05:39
Daddy's bed with an axe in his head asked if the man was black or white she said he was many colors but flood thinks
00:05:47
Sarah hadn't seen a man at all that it was her mother in bed covered with blood and what does a three and a
00:05:55
half-year-old do Gary Craig reports for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle you know the
00:06:01
murder in and of itself is baffling and hard to believe but you add this element
00:06:07
where Kathy's daughter has been left in the house with her murdered mother it's inconceivable that somebody
00:06:15
could do that Liberator and his partner Steve hunt of Brighton PD say the first investigators at the scene found no
00:06:24
significant forensic Clues like fibers or fingerprints and in 19 1982 DNA had not yet become an investigative tool but
00:06:34
there was something about the scene that struck them immediately it looked like someone had pushed the pause button on a
00:06:43
burglary and there was a door leading into the house they had a paint of glass broken out and there was a mul which is
00:06:50
like a heavier axe on the ground leaning up against the wall right next to that the axe found at the door and the one in
00:06:58
Cathy's head both belonged to the Crow's necks in the dining room there were valuable items scattered me on the floor
00:07:07
was Kathy's purse with the contents strewn about there was a tea set on the floor too everything was standing
00:07:14
straight up like it was set there neatly and a black garbage bag next to it inside was a faint shoe print as if
00:07:23
someone had stepped in it to hold it open but despite many apparent signs of a burglary Liberator and Hunt say the
00:07:30
most important one was missing nothing was taken there's an officer involved in this case from the 1980s who hits the
00:07:39
nail on the head we and Brighton do not handle a lot of homicides we do handle a
00:07:44
lot of burglaries and this was not a burglary investigators suspected the burglary was simply staged to cover up
00:07:51
the real crime Cathy's murder and they began to focus on her husband let's f I mean more often than
00:08:00
not it's the husband it's domestic so police are going to go there but could Jim Kik have committed such a brutal
00:08:08
murder and left his baby daughter alone in that house we spoke to friends and family who
00:08:17
said the couple had seemed happy Kathy and Jim had grown up in the same small town in Michigan but on
00:08:26
opposite sides of the tracks Cathy's father was a trucker Jims owned a successful carpet store they met
00:08:35
at high school began dating in college and married after graduation it was a fancy wedding
00:08:43
Kathy's cousin Susie was just a kid like like a princess wedding kind of deal Jim
00:08:50
was pursuing an economics degree in Colorado when they had Sarah in 1978 she was just so excited about her
00:08:59
daughter her just so excited about her Kathy kik's friend Kathy beee and you can tell how beautiful she is says she
00:09:07
was a warm Soul who lived for love but remembers feeling that the last time they saw each other just six months
00:09:15
before the murder something just didn't seem right not the vivacious Cathy that I remembered what was the next thing you
00:09:25
heard I got a call from my sister and she told me about Kathy being murdered if Kathy and Jim were having trouble
00:09:33
they kept it to themselves but police grew suspicious when they discovered a pamphlet in the
00:09:41
couple's car that offered services including marriage counseling and there was more when they
00:09:48
went to Kodak they learned that Jim Kik had gotten his job under false pretenses
00:09:55
claiming to have a PhD when he never actually completed the program there was also kik's Behavior
00:10:03
newspaper reporter Gary Craig says initially he was cooperative he was willing early on to give statements Kik
00:10:12
had spoken to investigators that night and the next morning even agreeing to another meeting that afternoon but when
00:10:20
the time came he was gone less than 24 hours after he found his wife murdered yes
00:10:29
kik's parents had driven from Michigan and returned there with Jim and Sarah police say Jim left town without telling
00:10:37
them I wouldn't consider it normal um but this is America and he's free to do so when Rochester authorities followed
00:10:46
them to Michigan Kik continued answering their questions and even provided hair and blood
00:10:52
samples 10 days after the murder he hired a lawyer by this point police were focused squarely on Jim kosnik but they
00:11:02
had a problem they needed to establish exactly when the murder had happened had Jim even been at home at the time
00:11:11
remember he told police he left for work at about 6:30 a.m. back in 1982 the time
00:11:17
of death gave a very broad range yeah the science was that you really could not pinpoint autopsy findings reportedly
00:11:27
narrowed the time of death to between 4:30 a.m. and as late as 7:30 a.m. an hour after Kik claimed to have left the
00:11:36
house with no direct evidence against him nor any clear motive authorities didn't want to try their luck with a
00:11:43
jury the investigation went cold no one was ever charged with a crime kosnik and
00:11:51
Sarah eventually moved out west he would briefly wed twice more before marrying his current wife Sharon 23 years ago
00:12:01
never dreaming that his past would come looking for him we were in the bedroom as about 9 or 9:30 in the morning we
00:12:09
heard the doorbell ring [Music] [Music] in 1997 Sharon James ran into Jim kosnik
00:12:34
an old friend at a trade show when Sparks flew and he asked me out and from then on for two years we
00:12:42
dated they both lived near Seattle kosnik and his daughter Sarah had moved there 10 years earlier but couldn't
00:12:50
leave the past behind he was devastated with the death of Kathy Sharon says he told her about
00:12:58
Cathy's 1982 murder but didn't offer details and I didn't want to pry because he would start getting
00:13:08
emotional what was it that made you fall in love with him Jim is so honest he's so loving I wanted to be a part of his
00:13:19
family they married in 1999 you like to spend a lot of time together oh absolutely as the years roll by Sharon
00:13:30
had no idea that more than 2,000 miles away in Rochester New York someone else would set her sights on Jim
00:13:39
kosnik Monroe County district attorney Sandra dly Kathy really needed to have Justice in 2015 the FBI provided
00:13:49
resources to help Brighton police with their investigation I mean you look at all
00:13:55
those boxes of paperwork and evidence if see it's daunting detectives Mark Liberator and Steve hunt of the Brighton
00:14:04
PD took the lead and pouring over the file they too became convinced the evidence pointed to one person Jim
00:14:14
kosnik so on April 16th 2016 we were just having a lazy Saturday morning and then all of a sudden the
00:14:22
doorbell ring hi Mark Lor how are you you wanted to surprise us probably a little bit surprised while
00:14:30
we're here did Jim at that point think maybe I better call a lawyer no no not at all um on the contrary she says her
00:14:40
husband welcomed them in and allowed them to record the conversation hopefully you get some good newes we
00:14:47
just want to kind of revamp everything go through everything again with you she says they sat around the kitchen table
00:14:53
talking for more than an hour they said we think we know who killed Kathy and we
00:14:58
need your help and in in that type of a tone I'm sure you think about this who could possibly
00:15:04
done for a long time but but then Sharon says detectives Liberator and Hunt suddenly turned up the heat did you have
00:15:13
anything to do with this I didn't K Kathy I disagree well I think you did you could see his heart pounding through
00:15:20
his shirt that would be a very scary thing that somebody's accusing you of killing someone I would say scary if you
00:15:27
did it was that the first time then you started hearing details of what happened
00:15:31
to Kathy yes Sharon says it also was the first time she had heard any suggestion
00:15:38
that her husband was involved did you ever ask him point blank no I didn't I didn't have to you didn't have to know
00:15:47
no I know I know he did not murder his wife Sharon how can you be so sure you only have Jim's word for it no
00:15:59
when you're married to a man you know his heart and you know his soul Jim could never Aaron never in this world do
00:16:08
something so horrific you know somebody listening to would say you sound a little naive didn't you have some doubts
00:16:17
didn't you want to know more I you can call me naive I suppose but she insists that no one who has
00:16:25
known Jim Kik as well as she has for as long as she has could possibly have doubts no I'm not going to question him
00:16:34
I don't doubt for a moment he was innocent but the detectives still HED to find what investigators 40 years ago
00:16:42
were never able to find a Smoking Gun that tied Jim kraic to the bright ax murder now you have to remember back in
00:16:51
1982 there was no such thing as DNA testing so my first thought was you know what can we test are we going to find
00:16:59
someone else's DNA on any item within the home we sent the evidence from 82 back to the FBI lab the results there
00:17:08
was no DNA evidence that directly tied kosnik to the crime but none tying anyone else to the murder either and
00:17:17
although DNA evidence can degrade over time the most important thing was finding the absence of someone else's
00:17:24
DNA within that home but to charge Jim kosnik they want wanted to prove his wife had died before he had gone to work
00:17:33
Jim claimed to have left the house at around 6:30 a.m. and Kathy had been fine we need a definitive time of death back
00:17:42
in 1982 the medical examiner was unable to narrow the time of death enough and since then other experts have agreed
00:17:51
with her in 2018 prosecutors turned to Dr Michael Boden for over 50 years Boden a forensic
00:18:01
pathologist has been hired to work on a who's who of who D it cases from the assassination of JFK Boton testified
00:18:10
that a single bullet struck the president's back to the reported suicide of disgraced Finance year Jeffrey
00:18:17
Epstein often raising eyebrows and generating controversy in this case using the same file from
00:18:25
1982 Boden said in his analysis it appeared Kathy died at about 3:30 a.m. that would be hours before Jim Kik
00:18:36
said he left for work that day you know some people may say that we're looking for an opinion that you were just
00:18:41
looking for somebody who would pick a time of death that was before K left the house in order to secure an indictment
00:18:51
absolutely but if in fact Dr Boden had agreed with the other medical examiners would you have hired him
00:18:59
absolutely not armed with Dr B's opinion on Kathy's time of death along with what
00:19:05
they believe is evidence of a stage burglary prosecutors went before a grand jury Jim kraic was indicted on November
00:19:14
1st 2019 he voluntarily surrendered to authorities a week later do you have any doubt about Jim kik's guilt and his
00:19:26
wife's murder I have absolutely no doubt doubt none none whatsoever but Jim kik's
00:19:32
attorneys say there's a mountain of doubt in this case because Jim kosnik is not the bright Ax Murderer there was
00:19:41
someone who could be responsible for it a Serial Predator had been living in the
00:19:46
neighborhood who actually confessed to killing Kathy [Music] there really is no evidence that Jim
00:20:09
cren had killed his wife attorneys Bill Easton and Michael Wolford are trying to
00:20:14
save James KCK he is the most reserved humble uh gentle person a man both believe had zero motive for murder they
00:20:26
had a wonderful relationship a wonderful family and so his lawyers insist that February 19th 1982 was a typical morning
00:20:36
in a home defined by love until a stranger slipped in and took it all away Jim cnck went to work someone came in
00:20:47
and killed Kathy kosnik we think that someone was Ed laraby Ed laraby a monster just down the
00:20:56
road he was just a VI ENT son of a gun and terrible terrible human being from Rochester's back streets to New York's
00:21:07
toughest prisons Ed laraby had a reputation and record as a violent sexual predator larby hunted women he
00:21:16
was a psychopath before dying in prison in 2014 larby was locked up for a total of
00:21:24
32 years on charges that ultimately included a Ed murder robbery and his sick specialty rape but all too often
00:21:34
larby was released back on the streets and every time he was free he would rape again he liked to laugh at women and
00:21:43
humiliate them you probably know as much about Ed larby as anyone I think so right yeah Rachel rear wrote catch the
00:21:52
sparrow a heroine story painfully close to home it's about the the murder of my stepsister in
00:22:01
1991 27-year-old Stephanie kinsky was a music teacher and violinist when her life tragically intersected with Ed
00:22:10
larabe it's mindboggling to me that he was ever free in 1991 freshly paroled after
00:22:19
serving a sentence for robbery larabe had come back to the suburbs of Rochester his familiar hunting ground he
00:22:27
got the job at at Newcastle apartment complex which is where my step sister lived larabe himself said that they were
00:22:34
foolish to hire him it wasn't long before Stephanie went missing it was like she evaporated Stephanie kin's
00:22:43
death rattled many when she disappeared from her apartment in 1991 her remains found 7 years later the remains of
00:22:51
Stephanie kiny lay scattered in a shallow stream bed she had been strangled more than a Dozen Years Later laraby by
00:23:01
then convicted of other crimes and back in prison admitted he was her killer what made him confess to Stephanie's
00:23:10
murder what ultimately made him confess um was that he was dying laraby who was suffering from ALS came up with a bucket
00:23:20
list of a dying man Pizza sandwiches and he was angling for an agreement to be buried off prison grounds so in
00:23:31
2012 Ed laraby confessed he went into Stephanie's apartment then she screamed and then he choked her and she died and
00:23:40
he confessed to killing her but Ed larby didn't stop was Stephanie kuchinski once he confessed to
00:23:49
Stephanie's murder and realized that he could get things in exchange for confession all of a sudden then he
00:23:55
started M wheeling and dealing and making more deals Ed larby contacted the FBI claiming he was a serial killer and one
00:24:05
of the victims he listed was a Rochester housewife murdered on a February morning
00:24:10
in 1982 29-year-old Kathy KRA neck laraby lived very close by and she was someone
00:24:19
that uh he was going to pray on the idea that decades earlier Ed larby might have
00:24:24
murdered Kathy doesn't come as a surprise to inv investigators and those who know him best everybody from back in
00:24:32
that time frame is familiar with that he would have been out of prison at the time that Kathy was killed free violent
00:24:39
and just down the road police went to question him shortly after Kathy's murder but Ed laraby wasn't talking back
00:24:47
then they filed their report and then backed off and is it fair to say the police dropped the ball in that case
00:24:56
because you've got a sexual Predator within minutes of the house and they they don't do anything more than visit
00:25:03
him once oh I think it's very fair to say that to have apparently ignored Ed larby
00:25:12
in 1982 whether he did or didn't do it is clearly was just a major lapse in the investigation I don't know that I'd use
00:25:20
the phrase drop the ball and unfortunately the officer and the sergeant who approved that report are
00:25:26
both deceased still the FBI and detectives lior and Hunt don't believe Ed larby murdered
00:25:35
Kathy he was a bad man he was bad man but he's not our bad man this is a guy who has a long history of
00:25:45
hurting women and he's confessing to killing Kathy krack yeah but his was way off
00:25:53
base why are you so sure it's not Edward larby because his confession didn't match up to the facts as simple as that
00:26:01
larby said Kathy had dark hair when in fact she was blonde that she was heavy set when she wasn't even Rachel rear who
00:26:11
knows all too well the damaged larby can do doesn't believe he killed Kathy to me
00:26:18
I was like it's not his Mo I don't think he was a serial killer he's a serial rapist after four Decades of dead ends
00:26:26
law enforcement was convicted that James kosnik not Ed laraby wielded that Bloody
00:26:34
axe this man is an innocent man he has been treated so unjust become 2022 James kosnik successful businessman
00:26:44
and father headed to trial The 40-Year-Old murder case could hinge on mere minutes and prosecutors
00:26:55
proving that Kik was home when Kathy was killed you look at the evidence it's clear she was killed in her
00:27:17
sleep after four decades as James Kow finally came to trial prosecutors were betting on
00:27:24
Michael Boden that forensic pathologist they had engaged and his theory of when Kathy most likely died about 3:30 a.m.
00:27:34
well they needed a Dr boten Who said basically that it happened at 3:30 in the morning that was different than any
00:27:41
other medical examiner that uh was was involved in this case one of them was Katherine Maloney a forensic pathologist
00:27:51
who would testify for the defense something she had seldom done before can you pin point the actual time of death
00:28:00
no oh my goodness I wish I could the best you're going to do is is a window of several hours drct Maloney thinks
00:28:07
it's possible Kathy could have died much later in the day I mean so you're saying
00:28:12
that Dr Boden is wrong I disagree with him um I think he's wrong I think she likely died sometime between like 5:00
00:28:21
a.m. and 1:00 p.m. timing of the death seemed crucial if Kathy was murdered in the dead of night night before Jim Kip
00:28:29
went to work then prosecutors say her killer wasn't an intruder it had to be her husband an opening statements today
00:28:39
for the James crck trial 198 the stage was set for a gruesome drama in search of its final Act what makes this case so
00:28:48
unique is it happened over 40 years ago so we're over those decades Hearts have been broken relationships shattered
00:28:58
really how would you describe the last 40 years on your family this been a terrible it's just God awful and cousin
00:29:06
Susie jaimovich witnessed the shift in Kathy's now 95-year-old father Bob schlasser who today believes kosnik is a
00:29:15
killer but for years was certain his son-in-law was innocent I just didn't think that he would that he would do
00:29:23
such a thing I mean had there ever been a real serious problem in their marriage
00:29:27
that anybody had heard oh not that I knew of but investigators believe the marriage was secretly crumbling he
00:29:36
snapped is what we believe he just snapped people look at Jim K neck he just doesn't look like an Axe Murder
00:29:45
what's the Axe Murder look like Bob believes that over time kosnick began separating Sarah from her mother's
00:29:52
family the child who was home when her mother was murdered we didn't see s Sarah anymore Not only was Kathy taken
00:30:00
away Sarah was taken away Sarah is a grown woman now firmly standing by her dad as sure that he's innocent as
00:30:10
prosecutors Constance Patterson and Patrick Gallagher are certain he's Kathy's killer no doubt at all
00:30:19
absolutely no doubt in my mind but as the trial moved forward lawyers on both sides confessed that they had a daunting
00:30:26
challenge Tom itself dealing with with memory issues dealing with deceased witnesses
00:30:33
witnesses can't recall what happened 40 years ago so investigators pursued evidence that didn't rely on the
00:30:40
frailties of memory they homed in on the physical crime scene I wanted to not only prove that that Kathy was clearly
00:30:50
killed in the early morning hours but also prove that it was a stage burglary there's a lot of questions and things
00:30:55
just didn't make sense authorities argued the scene was staged by someone who had no idea what a
00:31:02
burglary looked like uh the house wasn't ransacked in fact there was Cash on the
00:31:08
dresser in the room where Kathy was killed that wasn't taken the broken glass the seemingly precise placing of
00:31:16
that mall they wanted us to believe that the mall was used to break that pain of
00:31:20
glass that silver tea set barely Disturbed and when you look at the pieces that don't fit the reason they
00:31:28
don't fit is because it was a stage burglary then there was that faint shoe print investigators found inside this
00:31:35
garbage bag prosecutors thought the print told a story the only way that gets in there is when the bag is being
00:31:43
opened when items are being placed in that bag and somebody is putting their foot on there so they can hold it open
00:31:49
so you're stepping on the edge of that bag holding one Edge and you're placing that silver in the bag investigators say
00:31:55
the print was from special foot wear a boat shoe and why boat shoe and so there's a picture in that bedroom where
00:32:04
you can see next to the bed you can see these boat shoes and and whose shoes are
00:32:09
those and those are James kik's shoes he's a boat shoe wearing guy and we don't have uh murderers running around
00:32:15
in February in the winter time wearing boat shoes and killing people but the shoes kic wore back them
00:32:22
were not tested to see if they were a match and his lawyers say it's not just the wrong Theory it's the wrong
00:32:31
man they say it's Ed laraby that career Criminal Who before he died had confessed to killing Kathy he lives
00:32:40
4minute walk away but there's the problem of L's Mo remember he was a repeat sex offender was there any sign
00:32:50
that Kathy had been sexually assaulted or that she had had any contact at all with her killer none
00:32:59
whatsoever do you believe that there was tunnel vision in this investigation I think it would almost be
00:33:07
the dictionary definition of tunnel vision there was this overwhelming urge and desire to solve the crime and the
00:33:17
Hadad toe Jim kosnik I know he did it I know it was him come closing statements cameras were
00:33:26
allowed into the courtroom as lawyers made their final pleas the mystery of Kathy kik's death remains to
00:33:35
this day and we submit it has not been resolved by this trial Common Sense tells you this was a stage burglary
00:33:44
those are the only reasonable inferences that can be drawn from this case there are no
00:33:51
eyewitnesses there are no ear witnesses there is no direct evidence that that was the case 40 years ago and that's the
00:34:01
case now but Gallagher reminded the jury of that time stamp 3:30 a.m. that pathologist Michael Boden put as Kathy's
00:34:11
possible time of death Common Sense tells you she died early that morning as we said at the outset there is no new
00:34:20
evidence simply a new opinion by Dr Boden we don't think that cuts it 40 years after that off awful day the case
00:34:29
would now go to a jury were you worried I was worried yes and Jim being the husband and that's been the typical Fall
00:34:38
Guy the husband must have done it I was very fearful what do you make of the case
00:34:46
against Jim krack see a timeline of how the investigation unfolded at 48 hours.com
00:35:06
[Music] Jim kik's fate will be determined by 12 strangers they want to hold someone
00:35:19
accountable for this I was very fearful because it's Sharon and Sarah's future as well on Friday night the jury
00:35:31
hadn't finished their deliberations and I was so thankful I thought oh you know give us this
00:35:38
weekend did you think this could be the last weekend you could spend with him I I think deep down I probably
00:35:47
[Music] did all together it takes the jury less than 10 hours of deliberations the poor
00:35:55
person please rise to reach a verdict guilty Jim kosnik is guilty of second degree
00:36:09
murder I remember standing up but I saw this one Deputy across from me and I said oh please let me hug my
00:36:19
husband he said no no I I can't we got our Justice for 40 years thank God we got
00:36:33
it unfortunately there is a presumption of guilt if the husband is living in the
00:36:38
home and the wife is killed he's almost presumed guilty defense attorney Mike Wolford says that Jim Kik was convicted
00:36:46
because of who he was not what he did I think there was a gut reaction on the part of of the jurors that well he
00:36:54
probably did it but the jurors we spoke to in insisted they decided this case on
00:36:59
the evidence evidence they admit had divided them at the start I just kept thinking someone else really could have
00:37:07
done this the forensics did not point to anybody else the first time they voted we were told six said guilty three not
00:37:16
guilty three undecided the most important thing to me was the stage burglary scene they said that stage
00:37:26
scene was a critical clue and there was something else they seemed to agree on that in the end it was impossible to say
00:37:34
exactly when Kathy died we threw out all of that testimony we it it meant nothing
00:37:41
to us but their verdict means everything to kik's heartbroken daughter Sarah who
00:37:48
tells the judge at sentencing it adds insult to deep injury I've been blessed with the most extraordinary parents
00:37:57
sadly they have both been taken from my life my mother's killer got away with her murder and my father's life has been
00:38:04
taken by a fail justice system that convicted him of a crime he did not commit but Sarah's grandfather Kathy's
00:38:12
father once to make sure Jim kenck spends the rest of his life paying for her death and Jim I hope you'll live to
00:38:20
be a hundred years old and enjoy your new home and finally it's up to Jim cren himself to take one last opportunity to
00:38:31
address the court to this day it's still very difficult for me to talk about the
00:38:36
circumstances that surrounded her death all I see is Kathy with an ax in her head and Sarah standing in the
00:38:48
hallway dis shuffled with an empty and distant look on her face I did not murder C Kathy I love Kathy with all my
00:39:00
heart and with all my soul the judge is unmoved giving the 71-year-old kosnik 25 years to Life
00:39:10
Behind Bars before his own life is over there's one more thing Kathy's father wants to
00:39:20
do for decades Kathy has been buried in Jim's Family plot I want to move my daughter's remains where her mother and
00:39:29
brother are but to move her Bob schlasser needs Sarah to agree and that may never
00:39:38
happen Sarah and Sharon continue to support Jim who intends to appeal his conviction you're going to stand by him
00:39:47
no matter what oh absolutely Sharon Kik rejects the possibility that her husband has
00:39:54
permanently traded his golden years for the hardened medal of a prison cell we have a lot of hope we have a lot of
00:40:03
faith this is not our retirement this is a hiccup this is just a just a a pause and kik's lawyers say
00:40:15
that forcing him to defend a 40-year-old case violated his constitutional right to a fair
00:40:23
trial are you worried at all about that if an app hel Court ruled in favor of Jim krack and said that his rights have
00:40:32
been violated then it would all be for nothing it wouldn't all be for nothing Kathy's story was able to be told and
00:40:40
that family was able to get justice justice has been done for Kathy [Music] I'm Aaron morard and this is my life of
00:41:01
crime listen to My Life Of Crime from 48 Hours wherever you get your podcasts what does it take to be retirement ready
00:41:09
your questions answered all next week on the CBS Evening News with noro oono for
00:41:13
more info go to cbsnews.com moneywatch [Music]