GUILTY NY - Cathleen Krauseneck, 29, axed to death, Brighton, 19 Feb 1982 *husband arrested in 2019*

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Brighton Ax Murder Trial: the anonymous letter and the star witness

We are coming up to the most anticipated day in the Brighton ax murder trial.
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Monday we told you about all the 40-year-old evidence tested for DNA. Included in that list is an anonymous letter sent to police. A lot of you asked us to find out more about the letter.

We could not obtain the letter’s content because not even the jury has seen it yet and they will be the first.

But we can tell you it was handwritten and mailed to the Brighton police department on February 20, 1982, a day after the murder.

That means the letter showed up less than 24 hours after Cathy Krauseneck’s body was found in the bedroom of her house. She was killed with one swing of an ax.

Bill Easton, Krauseneck defense lawyer: “A letter sent to the Brighton Police Department for someone who said they went to the door that day, saw a young girl, and was a married man who said he wasn’t going to say who he was but sent it to the police.”

Brean: “Does it say anything else?”

Easton: “No that’s basically what it says.”

The prosecutors are not talking on camera until the end of the trial. Off camera, they told me the letter was handwritten and arrived to the police the day after the murder.

Brean: “And did the letter try to tell police about what that person might have seen or heard?”

Easton: “I think all he had seen was the little girl there. But the letter was, he was knocking at the door for some reason.”

The little girl was Sara Krauseneck, the couple’s daughter. She was three years old at the time.
Based on the testimony, she was home with her mother murdered in her bed all day.

The FBI recently tested the flap of the envelope containing the anonymous letter and did not find any DNA.
 
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www.whec.com

Brighton Ax Murder Trial: the anonymous letter and the star witness

We are coming up to the most anticipated day in the Brighton ax murder trial.
www.whec.com www.whec.com

Updated: September 15, 2022 - 2:05 AM
Published: September 13, 2022 - 3:55 PM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — We are coming up to the most anticipated day in the Brighton ax murder trial.

At 2 o’clock Wednesday, the prosecutor’s star witness testifies. His name is Dr. Michael Baden. He’s a pathologist and a bit of a celebrity. He’s worked on the O.J. Simpson case, the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Missouri and hosted a show on HBO.

See our complete coverage of the Brighton Ax murder trial

Dr. Baden is expected to pinpoint a time of death for Cathleen Krauseneck that police have said puts her then-husband James Krauseneck in the home when it happened.

So far, testimony in the trial puts James Krauseneck leaving his home in Brighton on February 19, 1982, at 6:30 in the morning. This is what the Brighton police chief said about new information on the time of death when Krauseneck was indicted in 2019.

“I believe the timeline will put Jim Krauseneck at home, in the house, during the commission of the crime,” Chief David Catholdi said in November 2019. “So there was no, again, there was no outside party in the house during the commission of the crime.”

The time of the crime is based on the investigation by Dr. Baden.
Bill Easton is one of Krauseneck’s lawyers.

[..]

Dr. Lewis died in 2018.

In court Tuesday, Judge Charles Schiano told the jury Dr. Lewis would have testified the time was death was sometime between 4:30 am and 7:30 am, an hour after Krauseneck left for work.

The jury also heard from Krauseneck’s assistant at Kodak. On the day of the murder, she said Krauseneck was “in a hurry” and “rushed.”

“It was different on the 19th,” she said. “He was pretty calm and cool. On the 19th he wasn’t.”
 
Eriketa Cost
@eriketacost_tv

Krauseneck Trial: The defense is challenging Baden’s determinations, and suggesting the “best” perspective on time of death was the original medical examiner, in 1982. Baden: “The best to make facts, but interpretation is another matter.”

7:42 AM · Sep 15, 2022·

For context, the original medical examiner’s determination on time of death was off a few hours from Baden’s.
7:46 AM · Sep 15, 2022
 


Gary Craig
@gcraig1

No Charlie Tan shockers here - Justice Schiano denies trial order of dismissal request from Krauseneck defense in Brighton ax case.

9:09 AM · Sep 16, 2022·

Replying to
@***********
The order gets looked at in light most favorable to prosecution. That makes it a tough hurdle. The Charlie Tan ruling, as appellate judges noted, was an unusual one given the law.

11:44 AM · Sep 16, 2022
 
www.democratandchronicle.com

Brighton ax murder trial hits snag and now delayed

The "Brighton ax murder" trial — a criminal case centered on a 40-year-old homicide — is now on hold.
www.democratandchronicle.com

However, the delay is expected to be only for a few days.

The trial of James Krauseneck Jr., accused of killing his wife Cathleen with an ax blow to the head as she slept, was scheduled to resume Monday. However, according to court officials, "scheduling issues" required a delay.

There are only several defense witnesses remaining to testify. Closing arguments were originally expected to begin Wednesday.
 
www.democratandchronicle.com

Brighton ax murder trial nearing end: What do we now know?

What we know about the Brighton ax murder as the trial of James Krauseneck Jr. nears its end.
www.democratandchronicle.com

9/21/22

We are now more than 40 years after Cathleen "Cathy" Krauseneck was discovered in the bed of her Brighton home dead from an ax blow to the head. Known locally as the "Brighton ax murder," her husband, James Krauseneck Jr., is now on trial, accused of murdering Cathleen.

Closing arguments could be this week in the trial, followed by jury deliberations and, unless no consensus among jurors is possible, a verdict.

How did we get here, four decades after the crime? Here are some of the questions commonly asked about the homicide, the subsequent investigations, and the current trial.

Was James Krauseneck an early suspect in the crime?​

Krauseneck, now 70, was not publicly identified as a suspect early on, and he did give a statement to police about his whereabouts the day of the homicide.

[..]

Did Sara witness the crime?​

Sara was 3½ when her mother was murdered, and was in the house throughout the day. She did tell police she thought a man was in the bed of her parents, but it's believed she could not recognize her mother because of the grisly scene.

[..]


Why was James Krauseneck charged now?​

This is a question that has been part of the foundation of Krauseneck's defense — a claim that there is no new evidence that connects him with the homicide, so there was no more reason to criminally charge him now than there has been in the past four decades.

[..]

Was the investigation recently resumed, and why?​

Brighton police will say the investigation was never closed, but it had, before 2015, been somewhat dormant.

[..]

Did the forensics evidence implicate James Krauseneck?​

It depends on whom you ask.

[..]

Was the home burglarized?​

Again, there are varying opinions here. Police say an apparent burglary scene at the home looked staged, with silver and jewelry too neatly arranged on the first floor as if left behind by the burglar.

[..]

What were the determinations of when Cathy Krauseneck was murdered?​

This is an integral part of the case. The medical examiner, now deceased, decided in 1982 that the window for the killing was from 4:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., with a possible two hours outside that window.

[..]

What is the story behind the Ph.D. and why does it matter?​

Krauseneck did not complete his doctorate in college — his dissertation was not accepted and some work was requested for its completion — but he went onto a teaching job at Lynchburg (Virginia) College and then Eastman Kodak Co. in Rochester as an economist, partly relying on claims that he did have his doctoral degree.

[..]

Have there been other suspects?​

Through the years, police have eyed other possible suspects, eliminating them.

[..]

Is this trial receiving notice beyond Rochester?​

Yes. Producers for both "Dateline" and "48 Hours" have been attending the trial.
 






Gary Craig
@gcraig1


After many hours and days of testimony about estimated time of death in Brighton ax murder trial, we can deduce that Cathleen Krauseneck was killed before or after her husband went to work.
8:45 AM · Sep 21, 2022·

Replying to
@gcraig1
Is that your opinion from sitting through testimony? If jurors are similar, sounds like an acquittal.

Replying to
@***************
This won’t be the only evidence highlighted by prosecution. It will be used to bolster other circumstantial evidence. Prosecution will of course claim that proof of death before 6:30 a.m. came from veteran pathologist.
8:58 AM · Sep 21, 2022·

Replying to
@***************
Yes, I think a firm determination of time of death definitely solidifies the case. But now we've had one former ME, admittedly with lots of experience, doing so, and three saying it can't be that narrow (plus the original ME from 1982).
10:29 AM · Sep 21, 2022·
 
After 11 days of testimony, jury deliberation started in the Brighton ax murder trial, following the end of closing statements on Thursday. Still, a verdict was not reached, and deliberations will continue on Monday, September 26 at 9:30 a.m.

13wham.com

Jury deliberations in Brighton ax murder trial to continue on Monday

After weeks of testimony, the jury is now deliberating in the Brighton ax murder trial, following the end of closing statements on Thursday.ICYMI |Closing argu
13wham.com 13wham.com
 
GUILTY VERDICT

www.democratandchronicle.com

Four decades after crime, a husband convicted in Brighton ax murder

Cathleen "Cathy" Krauseneck, 29, was found dead in her bed in the Brighton home on Del Rio Drive on Feb. 19, 1982, with the ax embedded in her head.
www.democratandchronicle.com

9/26/22

A jury on Monday found James Krauseneck Jr. guilty of the 1982 murder of his wife, Cathleen, who was killed with an ax blow to her head.

Cathleen "Cathy" Krauseneck, 29, was found dead in her bed in the Brighton home on Del Rio Drive on Feb. 19, 1982, with the ax embedded in her head. There were no signs of sexual assault, and police think she was killed while sleeping.

Among those in the courtroom for the verdict were members of Cathleen's family, including her 95-year-old father, Robert Schlosser.

"I wanted to live long enough to (see) it," he said after the verdict. "My wife passed away four years ago. She didn't make it."

"My mom and Cathy are here," Annet Schlosser, Cathy's sister, said in response.

[..]

Prosecutors maintained throughout the trial that there was no other possible suspect — a claim challenged by the defense — and the entirely circumstantial case pointed to James Krauseneck as the murderer.

The jury "came to that conclusion because there was no other conclusion in this case," Assistant District Attorney Patrick Gallagher, one of the prosecutors, said after the verdict.

Defense lawyers said after the verdict that they think they have legitimate grounds for an appeal. They unsuccessfully argued before the trial that the defense was hampered by the four decades since the homicide and the number of witnesses who had died and could not either help the defense or be strenuously cross-examined.

"We think the law's on our side and we're confident we're going to have a reversal," defense attorney Michael Wolford said.
 
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