Canada - Kristin Gurholt, 34, Vancouver, 4 Sept 1981

[dotr]

http://www.vpdcoldcases.ca/kristin-gurholt/

"Kristin GURHOLT

Some people end up living difficult lives, a long way off from where they started.

Kristin Gurholt’s life came to an end in a Vancouver alleyway behind 575 Richards Street on September 4, 1981. She was naked and her skull had been fractured. Her clothing was scattered around her and a suitcase containing all of her personal effects was found nearby.

It was 2:00 in the morning and Kristen had just been evicted from the Marble Arch Hotel in the Downtown Eastside. Investigators believe she met her assailant when she entered the alley and that the severe attack may have been the result of Kristin rejecting sexual advances.

Kristin was just 34 years old, a petite woman with blue eyes and brown frizzy hair. She had come to Canada when she was only four, from Norway, and grew up in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, in a loving family with five sisters and three brothers. Kristin was a creative child, who loved to read. She did very well in school, and particularly excelled in music. She studied piano and received honours in the Royal Conservatory of Music exams. She went on to earn a masters degree in education."

 

[Kell1]

Not enough info given to render an assessment.

A lot of the cases, on that site just offer a brief description, not sure what you can get from it if you can get anything at all .

 

[musicaljoke]

She was evicted from her room in the Marble Arch Hotel, which in 2013 was named the worst rental building in Vancouver. Was it any better back in 1981 when Kristin was murdered? Did the landlord toss her out onto the street at night and leave her to fend for herself?

http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/539111/vancouvers-five-worst-rental-buildings-do-you-live-in-one/

 

[musicaljoke]

Not enough info given to render an assessment.

A lot of the cases, on that site just offer a brief description, not sure what you can get from it if you can get anything at all .

This one has a map and some crime scene photos with a comment to come back as the page is updated. We must do what we can to encourage LE to post information like this. Enlisting more than just token public involvement is still a new concept in a police culture that is shrouded in secrecy.

 

[dotr]

Updated July 2014

http://www.vpdcoldcases.ca/kristin-gurholt/


"Kristin GURHOLT

<modsnip>

It was while Kristin was in university that she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. She was married and had a son, who family say was her greatest joy and the love of her life. The marriage ended after a few years, and when her son was seven he went to live with his father in B.C. Kristin moved to Vancouver and would take the bus on weekends to see him.

Kristen, who was sometimes called Sunny or Misty, died a violent death in a dark alley, leaving behind a 12-year-old son. Her family has endured 32 long years of waiting for justice. For them, the memories of the sweet little girl who filled their house with music have been forever tainted with the painful knowledge of how her life ended and the fact that no one has been held accountable.

This is an ongoing file. Please check back regularly for updates."

 

[Snoop Sister]

She was evicted from her room in the Marble Arch Hotel, which in 2013 was named the worst rental building in Vancouver. Was it any better back in 1981 when Kristin was murdered? Did the landlord toss her out onto the street at night and leave her to fend for herself?

http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/539111/vancouvers-five-worst-rental-buildings-do-you-live-in-one/

That is what my understanding was when I read the police report. What a time to evict someone.

 

[Snoop Sister]

This one has a map and some crime scene photos with a comment to come back as the page is updated. We must do what we can to encourage LE to post information like this. Enlisting more than just token public involvement is still a new concept in a police culture that is shrouded in secrecy.

Not enough info unfortunately.

 

[MoonDragn]

Not enough info unfortunately.

Something about this case just seems off to me. Looking at the pictures of the hotel and the alley it seems strange that she would go into that alley after being evicted. Was she trying to hide so she can sleep? From the police photos, there does seem to be a little niche where one could hide and sleep.

But who would wander into an alley at 2 am and attack someone? A Vagrant or homeless person would have at least taken some of her stuff. A local would know better to go into that alley. So that leaves two possibilities... Someone from the hotel or a witness to her eviction.

Given the shady hotel and the heartless staff who evicted her. One wonders if there was not some ulterior motive. Was it a spurned hotel employee who wanted some revenge on her outside? It doesn't make sense to me someone would strip her totally naked for a sexual intention. Seems more like they did it to humiliate her. That seems to point to someone that knew her. I wonder if there was any DNA evidence? Was she assaulted sexually? It just seems like this was made to look like a sexual assault but has the feeling of revenge to it.

Either way it is a shame we don't have more info.

 

[dotr]

Something about this case just seems off to me. Looking at the pictures of the hotel and the alley it seems strange that she would go into that alley after being evicted. Was she trying to hide so she can sleep? From the police photos, there does seem to be a little niche where one could hide and sleep.

But who would wander into an alley at 2 am and attack someone? A Vagrant or homeless person would have at least taken some of her stuff. A local would know better to go into that alley. So that leaves two possibilities... Someone from the hotel or a witness to her eviction.

Given the shady hotel and the heartless staff who evicted her. One wonders if there was not some ulterior motive. Was it a spurned hotel employee who wanted some revenge on her outside? It doesn't make sense to me someone would strip her totally naked for a sexual intention. Seems more like they did it to humiliate her. That seems to point to someone that knew her. I wonder if there was any DNA evidence? Was she assaulted sexually? It just seems like this was made to look like a sexual assault but has the feeling of revenge to it.

Either way it is a shame we don't have more info.

Welcome to Ws. MoonDragn, thanks for posting !

 

[dotr]

Odd, any fairly recent articles, ie. circa 2015, concerning this case seem to have been removed. imo.

http://www.vpdcoldcases.ca/kristin-gurholt/

 

[My3LilKittens]

So here is a woman that at 34 is living away from family. She takes the bus to see her kid on the weekends. Now, no one mentions how she is making ends meet in Vancouver on her own. With the fact she had other aliases, Misty and Sunny, that tells me that more than likely she is involved in sex and drugs. Her life sounds derailed and to add to that, she has schizophrenia. No mention if she actually took her meds or not, but she would NEED meds to stay rational. Being evicted from a hotel at 2 am sounds like the hotel owner was just FED UP. Maybe he is tired of the johns/drug dealers? Just wants to be done with her. I am sure she made a scene as would most at 2 am. Someone sees this. The alley where she is found is clearly full of gang-related graffiti and perfect for those wanting to hide away from the bright lights of the busy street.

She makes her walk into the alley as she has no other options. She is approached by someone who is either looking for sex, drugs, or she owes a DEBT. This was a "violent death" so someone was pretty angry at that point. She knew him, just not sure how. Sounds like someone made an "example out of her," which explains all her clothing being taken off. Another angle is perhaps she wanted to offer sex FOR her debt, but he had no interest. He just wanted his money and that wasn't going to happen.

Regardless of how her life turned out in the end, she deserves to have this case solved. Someone ALWAYS knows ......

 

[CherryKitty]

I wonder if the landlord was ever investigated. Evicted and tossed out at night? Did she perhaps reject his sexual advances, and in turn he became angry? Tossing her out, following her and attacking her... not sure, but seems like something that should have and hopefully was looked into.

Sidenote, when I try and reach the VPD Cold Case website, it says "Forbidden". I hope it's working again soon - I think it's a great move by the VPD and I hope it's helped them in some way.

I can only hope that with all the new technology these days, some sort of justice can be found for these cold cases.

 

[Gypseygirl]

However much Kristin's life had fallen apart, due to divorce, drugs, schizophrenia, she still kept it together enough to visit her son every weekend. Makes me upset when people judge others when we can't begin to understand how utterly lost she must have felt, and then she gets tossed out into the night...Life can be totally unfair and cruel.

 

[goldenarrow]

The Vancouver Sun - Google News Archive Search
From an archived Vancouver Sun newspaper dated 08 Sept 1981 (four days after her death):
The body of a woman found Friday in the 500-block of the lane between Richards and Seymour has been identified as Kristine Gurdult, 28, of 577 Richards.
Her nude body was found by a passerby in a rear doorway of the building she lived in. An autopsy revealed she died of a fractured skull inflicted by a blunt instrument.
Police said they have no suspects in this, the 22nd homicide of the year in Vancouver.

Notes:
-Name is notably differently in this section than it is on the VPD's current webpage, where it is listed as Kristin Gurholt.
-On the current VPD webpage, her age at death is listed as 34. In the 1981 newspaper, it is listed as 28.
-This is the first place I have seen a blunt instrument mentioned as having been the cause of the skull fracture.

 

[dotr]

The Vancouver Sun - Google News Archive Search
From an archived Vancouver Sun newspaper dated 08 Sept 1981 (four days after her death):
The body of a woman found Friday in the 500-block of the lane between Richards and Seymour has been identified as Kristine Gurdult, 28, of 577 Richards.
Her nude body was found by a passerby in a rear doorway of the building she lived in. An autopsy revealed she died of a fractured skull inflicted by a blunt instrument.
Police said they have no suspects in this, the 22nd homicide of the year in Vancouver.

Notes:
-Name is notably differently in this section than it is on the VPD's current webpage, where it is listed as Kristin Gurholt.
-On the current VPD webpage, her age at death is listed as 34. In the 1981 newspaper, it is listed as 28.
-This is the first place I have seen a blunt instrument mentioned as having been the cause of the skull fracture.

Welcome to Ws goldenarrow, thanks for posting the extra tidbits, nice find!

 

[dotr]

April 29, 2014
''Thirty-two years ago, a woman packed all she could fit inside a suitcase and set off to find a haven after being kicked out of a low-rent Vancouver apartment building in the middle of the night.

She didn't get far. Kristin Gurholt's body, naked with her skull fractured, was found nearby in a dirty alleyway on Sept. 4, 1981. Police have never made an arrest.''

"For them, the memories of the sweet little girl who filled their house with music have been forever tainted," says the case overview for Ms. Gurholt, who grew up in Dartmouth, N.S., where she loved to read and play piano.

Without justice, the site says, the family holds only "the painful knowledge of how her life ended and the fact that no one has been held accountable."

Families of the victims support the website approach, said Constable Palmer, which the force believes could garner tips from a large public audience. Often a small lead, perhaps chatter along the grapevine, could be all that's necessary to reactivate a case, he said.

"Armchair detectives" are encouraged to scroll through the files, he said.''

gurholt-4 | Vancouver Police Department Cold Cases

 

[goldenarrow]

Unlikely to be helpful but for visualization purposes, I've attached some images of what the area/hotel would have looked like around the time of her murder.

An image of the Marble Arch Hotel that Kristin was kicked out of preceding her murder, of taken in 1981:
500 Richards Street east side - City of Vancouver Archives

Image of the Marble Arch Hotel taken in 1985 (four years after her murder):
518, 520 Richards Street - City of Vancouver Archives

Image of the Marble Arch Hotel taken in 1985: 518 Richards Street - City of Vancouver Archives

Image of the Marble Arch Hotel taken in 1974 (7 years before her murder):
500 Richards Street east side - City of Vancouver Archives

Image of the North Side of 400 Dunsmuir Street taken in 1974:

• From the Vancouver Archives website: "Image shows portion of B.C. Government office building (411 Dunsmuir Street), the parking lot at Dunsmuir Street & Homer Street. In the distance are the sides of the Kingsley Hotel and the Marble Arch Hotel. "

400 Dunsmuir Street north side - City of Vancouver Archives

 

[goldenarrow]

The Marble Arch Hotel (which Kristin Gurholt was kicked out of on the night she was murdered only a few blocks away) was bought by a man named Marvin Mydonick in 1976, who owned the hotel until a motor vehicle accident in 1981 forced him to retire from the business. He is now deceased. I am not sure who owned it afterwards, but they both presumably owned it for at least some portion of 1981 (the year of her murder).
Source: Marvin Mydonick: obituary and death notice on InMemoriam

 

[goldenarrow]

I believe that the Marble Arch Hotel was owned by a man named Ronald John Polson in the year 1984 (three years after her death, though I do not know when he bought the hotel). There is a British Columbia Liquor Appeal Board Decision that refers to the owner of the Marble Arch Hotel as "Mr. Polson", though access to the decision is limited. I will attach the case citation below. Additionally, an obituary was posted for a Ronald John Polson in British Columbia that indicated that he had owned "several hotels" in his lifetime. I don't know who owned the Marble Arch between 1981 and 1984, though it is entirely possible that it was Ronald Polson.

Marble Arch Hotel (Re), [1985] BCLI No 1
RONALD JOHN POLSON: obituary and death notice on InMemoriam

 

[goldenarrow]

"Kristin was last seen alive at about 2 a.m. sitting on the front steps of 577 Richards. Eight hours later, her naked body was discovered by workers at the rear of 575 Richards. She died of a fractured skull."

Hall, N., & Kines, L. (1995, Sep 16). The killers among us: 329 unsolved homicides series: FROM DOA TO DNA: GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER: [FINAL edition]. The Vancouver Sun​

"Someone remembers Kristin Paldi Gurholt. Perhaps you don’t. She got 15 1/2 lined in the paper and you might have missed it.

Kristin Gurholt was 34 years old when someone bludgeoned her to death and dumped her naked body at the rear of 575 Richards, just a few steps from where she lived. Workmen found her wasted body.

The details of her death are as sketchy as the story of her life. It is believed she was a prostitute and she may have been an addict. The police file noted “Motive Unknown.” She died between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m., Sept. 4. She had been sitting alone on her front steps before her death, and later in the company of an unknown white male with long brown hair."

November 20, 1981 (page 3 of 146). (1981, Nov 20). The Vancouver Sun (1973-1983)​

She was seen sitting alone at approx. 2 a.m. on the front steps of 577 Richards. One of these sources states that this is the last sighting of her alive. The other source asserts that she was later seen in the company of a white male with long brown hair. She was believed to have been a prostitute and possibly an addict. If the information is accurate, she died between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. on September 4th, 1981.