'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wAARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQH/8QAIBAAAgEFAAIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIDAAQFESEGBzFRgf/EABUBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAB/8QAGBEBAQADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQACIpH/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AMqxvlGNxF/ir2ysrhilvMs0TMFVi6KNg9J+N9/Kmn9iZOSaRzisNtmLdiYnp+90pQAK5u3L/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Dateline looks at one of the state's most unsettling cold cases in the history of upstate New York in "The Bad Man", the 1982 murder of Cathy Krauseneck.
On February 19, 1982, Cathy was murdered in bed in her Brighton apartment, an ax stuck in her head, with her three-year-old daughter, Sara, alone at home, a case distressingly surreal. Dateline takes another look at the case with an even-keel, fact-driven perspective.
Dateline presents how this gruesome scene terrorized investigators over decades, and how returning to the evidence, notably time-of-death analysis, set off a new breakthrough. Dateline provides careful reporting of the investigation, trial, and residual doubts.
The crime scene: Disturbing details
According to Oxygen, on February 19, 1982, Brighton police were called to a 911 report by a neighbor, who said:
"There’s been, I think, a murder, across the street"
When police entered the home, they discovered Cathy in bed, with an ax still buried in her head. Her toddler daughter, Sara, was untouched. Dateline highlights the haunting image and the long-term emotional effect it had on responders.
Police observed evidence of a faked burglary: a shattered windowpane on the garage door, a maul propped against the wall, Cathy's purse and a sterling tea set carefully laid out on the dining room floor, and a trash bag with a smudged shoe print on it inside, a sign that someone was standing in it to hold it open. Contrary to these indicators, no property had been taken, aspects that Dateline emphasizes as extremely suspicious.
Detective Thomas Schirmer, the first to respond, testified that the scene appeared to be staged: the sugar jar was standing, not knocked over by carelessness; the family pet was confined to the basement, fed neither water nor food; and the overall topography showed no evidence of forced entry upstairs. Dateline details how such contradictions spurred skepticism regarding burglary as a motive.
Staged scene or criminal diversion?
Dateline points out how detectives thought the crime scene was staged. As per CBC News, retired Brighton detective Mark Liberatore explained that there were no signs of an actual burglary there.
The shoe print of the trash bag can be associated with the boat shoes Jim Krauseneck was wearing, pointing to him. Dateline simply reports these facts without concluding.
Cold case reopened: Examining the evidence
For years, the case had gone unsolved because of limited forensic technology. In 2015, the Monroe County District Attorney's office and the FBI re-examined evidence with the Brighton PD, the Crime Lab, and forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden. Dateline explains how breakthroughs happen as a result of persistence and new eyes, particularly in cold cases.
Time of death: Key shift in focus
Early on, the medical examiner had placed Cathy's time of death between 6:55 and 8:55 a.m., consistent with her husband's reported leaving at 6:30 a.m. and providing him with an alibi. But in court, Dr. Baden gave testimony that rigor mortis and partially digested contents indicated death between 9 p.m. the night before and 4 a.m., well before Jim departed. Dateline shows how this revised estimate of the time of death was critical to realigning suspicion.
Trial and conviction
A grand jury indicted James (Jim) Krauseneck in November 2019 on second-degree murder charges. Defense lawyers pointed to the absence of direct DNA or fingerprints connecting him to the crime. They pointed to Ed Laraby, a convicted murderer living in a nearby neighborhood, as an alternative suspect, citing his late prison confession (albeit with factual inaccuracies). Dateline adds that the defense made these arguments while staying neutral.
When the trial occurred in September 2022, the prosecutors emphasized the fabricated burglary, the recanted time-of-death, neighbor witness statements, and a marriage and sex social worker card found in the couple's car, linked to Jim's history with Cathy and motives surrounding his unfinished Ph.D.
On September 27, 2022, the jury convicted Jim Krauseneck. In November, he was given 25 years to life, the maximum sentence. Dateline frames this development as legally noteworthy.
Appeals, death, and a vacated conviction
Jim never wavered in claiming his innocence and initiated an appeal. In May 2023, he passed away in prison from esophageal cancer. New York state law has the effect of vacating his conviction after his death, a legal phenomenon called "abatement ab initio." Dateline reports that, while emotionally complicated, this renders the conviction no longer valid in a legal sense.
The many lives of a case: What Dateline reveals
With the perspective of factual objectivity, Dateline outlines the Cathy Krauseneck case as representative of how cold cases develop. Points to note are: the staged burglary evidence, the discrepancies regarding the time of death, the extensive investigation, the circumstantial nature of the trial, and the posthumous reversal of the conviction. Dateline leads viewers through the ways forensic science, legal protocol, and time relate to one another.
Trending
For Cathy's daughter Sara, who witnessed her mother's body and, as an adult, stood up for her father, Dateline captures the emotional nuance of family bonds, loss, and pursuit of truth, without prejudice.
Reply
