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| Actors and Actresses The ultimate death scenes of your favorite screen stars. |
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#1
10-18-2007, 10:34 PM
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The curious death of starlet Karyn Kupcinet
[SIZE=4]O[/SIZE]ne story that I've e mailed (to) Scott that I hoped that he'd cover is the curious death of starlet KARYN KUPCINET. Born ROBERTA LYNN KUPCINET in Chicago, Illinois in 1941, her father was the very well known syndicated columnist IRV KUPCINET. The daughter was covered enough in the press growing up that most around the Chicago area were aware of her. She'd acted on the stage while a youth, and once a young woman decided to try her luck in Hollywood. JERRY LEWIS, who was a friend of her father's said that he'd see if he could assist her once she moved to L.A. and did give her a small bit part in his film THE LADIES MAN in which she marches herself downstairs to complain about LEWIS'S character who is the orderly in a sorority house.
ROBERTA now renamed KARYN, had also acted under the name of 'TAMMY WINDSOR'. In 1962 she began an affair with actor ANDREW PRINE, who had recently separted from actress SHARON FARRELL. Highly neurotic and insecure, PRINE eventually tired of her endless theatrics. KARYN went so far as to send 'Death Threats' to the couple in order to try to keep PRINE in her life. The threats were done in a cut letters from magazines formatting. The fact that she was the culprit was not discovered until after her death by using her fingerprints. There was also a shoplifting charge against her though she was well of. She'd arrived in Hollywood with a load of luggage and her father sent her a monthly allowance. CAROL LYNLEY who'd known her since they were teenagers said that KARYN could have stayed in Chicago and been a princess had she chosen. On Friday, November 22, 1963 with news of PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S assassination putting the country in a funk, PRINE took KARYN along with actor EARL HOLLIMAN and his current girlfriend LYNN LORING to Palm Springs for the weekend. Arriving back in L.A. on Sunday evening, she had dinner on Wednesday 27th with her good friend MARCIA ROGERS GODDARD whose husband DON would become better known in a few years for playing 'Don West' on LOST IN SPACE. The GODDARDS said that she'd arrived late & by cab. She picked at her dinner and acted spacey. MARK later commented that she appeared lost and drooled at one point as though she was on something. She also told the GODDARDS an incredible story about a baby having been abandoned at ther doorstep. A story which was bullshit. KARYN later told ANDREW PRINE the same story via a phone call. He said that he'd also followed up that conversation with another phone call and when asked about the baby KARYN told him that the police had taken (it) away. She went directly home after dinner and was joined by two male friends, ED RUBIN who was a writer and ROBERT HATHAWAY an actor. KARYN had a nicer television set and the guys had wanted to watch some. They ended up watching the DANNY KAYE SHOW. At some point KARYN said she was tied, was going to bed, but that the guys were welcome to stay as long as they'd like. The two men later told authorities that they'd left at 11:15 p.m. and that they'd dfeinitely locked the door (behind them). ANDREW PRINE later joined the two men at the apartment of the one and the three watched tv until 3 a.m. When MARCIA hadn't heard from KARYN in a few days and receiving no answer to her numerous phone calls, she decided to go over to KARYN'S apartment. On November 30th, a Saturday, the GODDARDS had dinner and then proceeded over to KARYN'S apartment. MARK said that the door popped right open. The television was on at a low volume. MARCIA turned on a lamp and let out a scream when she saw KARYN'S naked corpse on the sofa. MARK called out for the building manager that there was a "suicide". The police later found at least 4 different prescriptions for diet pills etc, but that was not the cause of death. Since KARYN had been dead for several days, decomposition was advanced enough that it couldn't be determined at her autopsy whether or not she had been raped. A broken hyoid bone, a tiny but crucial boney structure in the throat was the cause of death. Nutty JFK assassination theorists have tried to incorporate the death of KARYN KUPCINET into their bag of bullsh*t, but they are easily discredited. Another theory was that she had been dancing around naked and had fallen either in the bathroom or against the cocktail table and broken the small bone that led to her death. There apparently was a book in her apartment that had such a character who praised the joys of naked dancing; the book was found opened to that chapter. Thing is, consulted pathologists generally agree that it would take a good deal of force to break the hyoid bone. Though IRV KUPCINET later said that they had a good idea who murdered his daughter, he wnet on to say that unfortunately the police couldn't come up with the necessary evidence needed to charge the individual.  pretty KARYN in 1962  trade paper ad praising the young actress also from 1962  LORING, PRINE, KARYN KUPICNET, & HOLLIMAN that last weekend in Palm Springs 
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#7
10-19-2007, 08:42 AM
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Wow very interesting story! It's anybody's guess what really happened..I tend to think maybe one of the men that was with her..
__________________
7-26-31-12-29-99...My Hero..My Friend..My Dad...always in my heart.
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#8
10-19-2007, 11:38 AM
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Sounds pretty shady to me!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the bone that often gets fractured during manual strangulation? Just a thought. It seems weird that she's break it in a fall. I'm guessing forensics weren't particularly good back then, and if the body was really discolored from decomposition, strangulation wouldn't be so obvious. What a sad story! I hadn't heard it, so thank you for posting! Cheers, Amy
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#9
10-19-2007, 06:26 PM
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 Sue
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#10
10-20-2007, 12:11 AM
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Thanks Kelt. Great story. I'm originally from Chicago and I remember when it happened. I was only five years old at the time, but used to watch Kup's show on TV all the time. (Kind of mature for a five year old!). Anyway, I remember being totally spooked by the fact that it was a mystery and they said they didn't know how she died. Realizing how much a five year old could comprehend about death. Thanks again!
Glenn
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#11
10-20-2007, 12:56 PM
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She looks a lot like Joan Collins. Very sad story.
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#13
10-21-2007, 10:31 PM
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#14
11-09-2007, 01:05 AM
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I just had to revive this thread because I find this case interesting. I remember they did an E! True Hollywood Story on her death years ago (I would kill to see that again!) and that piqued my interest in it.
I read an interesting thing that Karyn actually mailed threatening letters to her boyfriend (Andrew Prine) under the guise that it was someone who was jealous of their relationship. Prine was basically a dick and screwed with her head so I think she pretty much snapped and couldn't deal with the rejection. Either way, his career was dead because he was linked to the murder. Karyn's mom pretty much made his life a living hell because she was convinced he killed her daughter. I still can't figure out what really happened to her though. I don't believe the JFK connection because it's just way too out there. I don't buy suicide either because flecks of blood were found on her body (or in the apartment...I forget). It could've been just a random killing. That seems odd too because she wasn't sexually assaulted and she wasn't robbed. I don't know...the whole case is weird but I'll go out on a limb and guess that the real cause of her death probably wasn't as spectacular as some of the theories people want to be true.
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#15
11-09-2007, 05:34 AM
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would'nt the jews being armed slowed down the nazis some?
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#16
11-09-2007, 07:38 AM
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[SIZE=1]
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[SIZE=3]The coroner could not conclude whether she had been sexually assaulted because she had been dead for 3 days (advanced decomposition). There was no signs that she had been robbed. A television, cash in her pocketbook, and the minor pieces of jewelry that her parents knew belonged to KARYN were all still within the apartment. To have just been a random crime sounds unlikely; Whoever murdered her used a tremendous amount of force on the poor girl's throat. To fracture the hyoid bone is not an easy accomplishment and is only found in a portion of strangulation cases. The velocity of the act would suggest that whoever did this was in a complete rage (against her). Most murders are committed due to LUST, JEALOUSY, PROFIT, or HATE. Highly unlikely for some wack job to just murder without any probable cause; That was one of things about the TATE case that was so (initially) confusing. None was sexually assaulted. Though the killers took $ 72 in cash from FOLGER, there was $ 18. on SHARON TATE' nightstand, and SEBRING' wallet was still in his jacket. SEBRING sported an expensive watch which was still on his body. The maid, WINIFRID CHAPMAN was brought back days later to see if she could tell if anything of value was missing from the CIELO Drive house; a (camera) tri-pod was the only thing that she could surmise. ANd to quote from the various texts "highly unlikely that 5 murders were committed over a tri-pod" [/SIZE]
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#17
11-09-2007, 07:48 AM
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KELT I love your posts, I always learn something new from you. And I like how you highlight your posts. They look pretty
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#18
11-09-2007, 10:02 AM
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Why are you so obsessed with people being gay?
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#19
11-09-2007, 10:32 AM
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#20
11-09-2007, 03:28 PM
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I would never recognize Andrew Prine. He's had so much facework that he looks like a completely different person.
I never knew about her but after searching her name in imdb I noticed that she played Hannah Carter in an episode of the Andy Griffith Show which I must have watched well over ten times. Quite interesting. I thinks she looks like the 70's actress Pamela Franklin. Thanks Kelt for the information. Last edited by SquirrelNutZipper; 11-09-2007 at 03:30 PM.
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#22
11-09-2007, 07:16 PM
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KARYN'S parents had clout and they created some major roadblocks for ANDREW PRINE following their daughter' murder. HOLLIMAN on the other hand, well I'm puzzled as to why Catherine of Siena hasn't said something about him. Anyway, though HOLLIMAN has always played macho men, I've heard rumors about him for years being gay, and that his dates like those of TAB HUNTER, TONY PERKINS, ROCK HUDSON etc were strictly for show.
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#25
11-10-2007, 10:11 PM
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WOW, why should we care if someone is gay??? That is BS to me.Why call gay people "sissies"? Wash your mouth out with soap "missy". I also find that people who are so obsessed with "outing people" are acutally hiding in the closet themselves.
Come out come out wherever you are Catherine lol
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#26
11-14-2007, 01:30 AM
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As far as Prine being gay, I highly doubt it. I'm sure it's possible but I've never heard anything like that. The most I've heard of Prine is that his career tanked after the murder. I'm also wondering if her IMDb credits are correct. They're rarely wrong, but I watched that TAGS episode she was in (can't remember the name) and it doesn't look like her at all. Perhaps I'm mistaken because I've seen different pictures of her and none of them really look alike if that makes any sense. I've also read that she used the name "Tammy Windsor" when she first began acting. IMDb had a Tammy Windsor listed with a few shows/movies that Karyn's own IMDb didn't have listed (with no mention that they were the same person). The Tammy Windsor entry mysteriously morphed to the Karyn entry with a few shows dropped from the credits. Odd. I've never found anything online to back it up except Wikipedia or articles sourced from Wiki and that is sort of unreliable.
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#28
11-14-2007, 10:11 AM
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 ...whew...i am sure everyone else is as shocked as i am concerning these homosexuals
Last edited by midnitelamp; 11-14-2007 at 10:13 AM. Reason: and in show business,of all places!
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#29
11-27-2007, 09:38 PM
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The 28th marks the 44th anniversary of the murder of
[SIZE=4]KARYN KUPCINET[/SIZE]. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...e=gr&GRid=3532
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#31
01-11-2008, 01:40 PM
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Okay, I know I'm going to sound like an idiot here...but maybe THIS is where my fascination with death started. I have known since I was old enough to comprehend that my name is spelled Karyn with a "Y" because of this poor murdered woman. My mother had planned to name me Karen with an "E", but while reading the newspaper a few days before my birth, decided to name me Karyn (I was born December 3, 1963.) I have periodically looked up information on Karyn Kapucinet, especially after her father's recent passing, but I swear, it took my reading this thread, to make the connection that the "Y" in my name might have been seed planted that grew me into the Death Hag that I am.
The spelling of my name has been my burden and my boom for my entire life. I have four yearbooks from high school with my name spelled incorrectly. But, for about ten years I was in sales and people never forgot my name after I told them that I was named after a murdered actress. Oh the looks on their faces when I disclosed that one...
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#32
01-11-2008, 04:17 PM
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SquirrelNutZipper...one of my fave groups, saw them in person, lol!
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#33
01-12-2008, 12:08 PM
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Interesing story. I have never heard of it before.
Just a couple of things from a professional viewpoint if I had investigated the scene. Day three of death would not be considered "advanced" decomposition. Advanced decomposition is when the remains are becoming skeletal. Day three would be bloating, blisters, greenish discoloration, foul odor, etc. Also, our office would still do a rape kit and be able to tell, but again this is 2008 and not 1963. They had no DNA back then, so the only way to be able to tell is look for trauma to the vagina which in decomposition, the genitals are one of the first areas to swell and bloat. The theory of someone in a rage strangling her puzzles me unless the scene was disturbed. Usually in a strangulation homicide there are signs of a struggle. Lamps tipped over, somthing broken, rugs disturbed, etc. The fact that she was naked alone does not raise a huge red flag, I find naked dead people daily. I am interested however, in what was in her system at the time of death. Did she have any alcohol and/or drugs in her system? I mean if she were drunk enough, someone who she trusted could have been in the home and started to strangle her while she was passed out/blacked out and by the time she started to realize it, she could not fight like someone who was sober. Would love to hear more on it.
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#34
01-12-2008, 06:06 PM
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That adds something to the table,I was certain you would be able to contribute here thanks Lisalouver!
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#35
01-12-2008, 06:15 PM
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I really would love to hear more on it, it is an interesting story.
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#37
02-20-2008, 02:44 AM
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Here's an interesting article about Kup that touches on the death of Karyn.
I found this article especially interesting, as I grew up and lived in Chicago my entire life until June 2007.
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#38
02-20-2008, 02:46 PM
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#39
02-20-2008, 04:37 PM
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IMO, it is highly likely that one or both of those guys who were watching TV in her apartment killed her. She went to bed, and after they finished watich TV, they left, locking the door behind them, they say. Wouldn't they also have turned off the TV? Their story just sounds off to me.
__________________
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#41
02-20-2008, 07:27 PM
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__________________
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#43
02-20-2008, 08:18 PM
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The father, IRV KUPCINET was quoted years later as having said, "We pretty much know who did it, but unfortunately the police couldn't come up with the physical evidence to charge him !" Two of the suspects were KARYN' ex boyfriend ANDREW PRINE and DAVID LANGE who was the brother of actress HOPE LANGE. Now, the two guys who had visited her that last night were an actor named ROBERT HATHAWAY and a writer named ED RUBIN. There was another guy, an actor who lived near her who was also considered a "suspect" named MAMCHES and the cops thought him a good candidate.  
__________________
KELT' HOME FOR WAYWARD YOUTH- Helping Young Men To Turn Around For Over Twenty Years !
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#45
04-22-2008, 04:30 PM
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Some inaccuracies
Back in 1996, when I first got on the Internet, there was nothing about Karyn Kupcinet at all. So I started it. I was and am fascinated with her story. As one of the members here said, she photographed so beautifully in photos, but not so much on screen. Kelt says she had an annoying voice. I heard this in one of 3 episodes she was in in Hawaiian Eye. She was nervous in one scene. When she made her exit, she slipped in her high heels and almost fell. She balanced herself with her arms outstretched and continued walking. They left that in that episode. In Ladies Man, she looked good and had a theatrical way of speaking. She comes into the scene from behind right after Jerry Lewis gets his hand stuck on a toaster with Kathleen Freeman. Kathleen Freeman, a great character actress loved Jerry Lewis because she was in a Martin and Lewis movie and from then on she was in, I believe, every Jerry Lewis picture after that and appeared on his Telethon.
Kelt told a very moving story about her, but there were inaccuracies. This first one is my mistake. I was watching an episode of Hawaiian Eye and Robert Conrad was in an airport talking to a young lady. She was on camera for a good time there. At the end, the credits said the Clerk was played by Tammy Windsor. I thought Karyn was acting under a different name, which she did when she was younger. The IMDb confirmed this. Someone else made the same mistake. It was Karyn Kupcinet but they didn't give her credit. Tammy Windsor is another actress of the period. She is not Karyn Kupcinet. I'm sorry for that mistake. I will tell more later. Thank you for reading.  Jigsaw
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#46
04-22-2008, 04:39 PM
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And he's still sexy. Though I hated him in "V" (Freaking Lizard!)
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#47
04-22-2008, 06:41 PM
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Mark Goddard and the Death of Karyn Kupcinet
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He told how he climbed the stairs and felt an atmosphere of death. He went to her door, turned the knob and it popped open. He went down to get his wife and, I understand, she made the discovery. Mark Goddard starting yelling, "Suicide. There's been a suicide." The proper authorities were called. Some people find his reaction a little suspicious. I think you'd yell, "Help, someone's dead. Call the police." Goddard is now a born-again Catholic and is married for the nth time, to a woman he met in the driveway of his Catholic Church. In July of 1963 Karyn found out she was pregnant. Mark Goddard took her to Mexico to have an abortion, which he paid for. Catholic Mark said this was the worst thing he ever did in his life. Andrew Prine visited Karyn the next day and made her some soup -- big deal. As far as I know, he never paid back Mark Goddard. At the time Prine was divorcing his first wife, Sharon Farrell and was asking for alimony.  Jigsaw
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#48
04-23-2008, 12:17 AM
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Suspicious
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Karyn's mother Essee begged Karyn to come to Chicago on Thanksgiving. Every year the Kupcinets held dinner for out of town stage actors. The year before had been wonderful for Karyn as Prine called her everyday and told her he loved her. Then the year later Karyn didn't want to go to Chicago because Prine didn't want to see her anymore and there'd be no phonecalls coming in from him. Also, she had aborted his child. She told her parents she still had work to do on Perry Mason, which wasn't true. She couldn't let them see her depression. We have Ed Rubin's story of watching TV with Karyn. We also have his set of prints in her apartment. We also have the Goddard's word that she was stoned. Many methamphetamine pills were missing from her medicine cabinet. Other than that, nothing was stolen. No jewels. No furs. The place looked ransacked. Rubin claimed Karyn got antsy and went for a walk. Supposedly she ran into Robert Hathaway, an actor. Hathaway and Rubin used to room together. They lived next door to Andrew Prine in a beautiful double house. Rubin, who didn't have a car, walked to Karyn's house from Beverly Hills where he was living with another friend. There were no fingerprints of Hathaway's. It almost sounds like he's Rubin's alibi. Then they went to the Rain Check Room on Sunset Strip. Rubin stayed 15 minutes and said he was taking off. He had no car. Hathaway stayed at the nightspot. Somehow Rubin rode home to Hathaway's house with Hathaway driving. Prine returned home from a date with a beautiful Bavarian actress, Anna Capri. He did not have sex with her. He called Karyn at 12:00 midnight, about 45 minutes after Rubin and Hathaway left her. Prine and Karyn spoke for 5 minutes. Then he went to Hathaway's house next door and sat talking with them till 3 am or longer. They could be his alibi. In the autopsy, a "copious" leukerhrea (sp?) discharge was found inside her vaginal canal. There were no signs she was forced to have sex, but it seems to me she had sex with someone that night -- this after a shower. 3 years later, Rubin told the cops he was riding around that night with 2 college girls. But he didn't remember their names or what college they went to. They eventually drove him to where he was living and this took him 3 years to remember. Was he saying he never was at Karyn's house? The police found his prints there. This makes me suspicious of him. I don't think the police investigated the crime thoroughly. So it begs the question: Did Rubin leave the TV on with the sound down as light and left without locking the door? Or did he visit her alone that night? Was he even in the Rain Check Room? Or did he leave early to go back to Karyn's? There were 2 sets of prints not belonging to any of the suspects. Five suspects all took polygraphs and all proved "inconclusive." That gives you something to think about. Jigsaw Last edited by Jigsaw; 04-26-2008 at 09:06 PM. Reason: Wanted to add info on a suspect
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#49
04-23-2008, 12:24 AM
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Jigsaw
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#50
04-23-2008, 12:29 AM
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Wow
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Jigsaw
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