NY NY- Donna Lee Hart, 25, fatally shot by intruder w. stocking on head, as she hid in cabinet @ home, Herkimer County, 8 Aug. '68, *New initiative*

[dotr]

New York State Police continues to investigate the homicide of a Herkimer County woman

State Police continue to investigate the 56-year-old Homicide Cold Case

troopers.ny.gov

''The New York State Police continue to investigate the August 1968 homicide of 25-year-old Donna Lee Hart.

On August 8, 1968, Hart was home alone at her residence on ST-29 between Dolgeville and Salisbury Center in Herkimer County, NY. At approximately 12:45 a.m., Donna called her father, Richard Karla, at his residence in the Village of Dolgeville, which was only a few miles away.

Donna told her father that there was a man outside her residence wearing a stocking on his head, and he was trying to break into her residence.

Mr. Karla responded immediately to Donna’s residence, arriving at approximately 12:50 AM, and started checking around the outside of the house in an attempt to locate the prowler. He found the front door locked and then heard several gunshots from within the residence.

Mr. Karla found the south side door had been forced open, so he entered the house. He observed the previously locked front door was open and realized the intruder left through that door as he was moving toward the south side.

Mr. Karla searched the small house and found his daughter deceased in an upstairs bedroom.

The responding Troopers and Investigators found the intruder had fired a round through a wall next to the south side door, then forced the door open to gain entry to the house. Donna had retreated upstairs to a spare bedroom, where she hid herself in a closet. The killer ripped the closet doors open, shot Donna four times, and then ran down the stairs and out the front door.

Mr. Karla heard a vehicle leave the area and head toward the Village of Dolgeville. The investigation determined the killer’s car had been parked approximately 350 yards away on Hopson Road.

The investigation also revealed that the gun used was a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol. However, the weapon has never been recovered.

Numerous leads were investigated, and hundreds of people were interviewed regarding this murder, however no arrest has ever been made.''

 

[dotr]

https://www.news10.com/news/herkimer-county-news/troopers-still-investigating-herkimer-county-cold-case/

by: Abbi Stanley: Aug 12, 2024
''Troopers say their investigation revealed that a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol was the murder weapon, but it has never been recovered. There have also been no arrests made in the investigation despite numerous leads and interviews conducted.

The 56th anniversary of her death just passed and the State Police are hoping someone has information regarding this cold case. Anyone with information should contact Investigator Chad Salls of the State Police Major Crimes Unit at (315) 366-6066.''

 

[Brightchaser47]

View attachment 524089

New York State Police continues to investigate the homicide of a Herkimer County woman

State Police continue to investigate the 56-year-old Homicide Cold Case

troopers.ny.gov

''The New York State Police continue to investigate the August 1968 homicide of 25-year-old Donna Lee Hart.

On August 8, 1968, Hart was home alone at her residence on ST-29 between Dolgeville and Salisbury Center in Herkimer County, NY. At approximately 12:45 a.m., Donna called her father, Richard Karla, at his residence in the Village of Dolgeville, which was only a few miles away.

Donna told her father that there was a man outside her residence wearing a stocking on his head, and he was trying to break into her residence.

Mr. Karla responded immediately to Donna’s residence, arriving at approximately 12:50 AM, and started checking around the outside of the house in an attempt to locate the prowler. He found the front door locked and then heard several gunshots from within the residence.

Mr. Karla found the south side door had been forced open, so he entered the house. He observed the previously locked front door was open and realized the intruder left through that door as he was moving toward the south side.

Mr. Karla searched the small house and found his daughter deceased in an upstairs bedroom.

The responding Troopers and Investigators found the intruder had fired a round through a wall next to the south side door, then forced the door open to gain entry to the house. Donna had retreated upstairs to a spare bedroom, where she hid herself in a closet. The killer ripped the closet doors open, shot Donna four times, and then ran down the stairs and out the front door.

Mr. Karla heard a vehicle leave the area and head toward the Village of Dolgeville. The investigation determined the killer’s car had been parked approximately 350 yards away on Hopson Road.

The investigation also revealed that the gun used was a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol. However, the weapon has never been recovered.

Numerous leads were investigated, and hundreds of people were interviewed regarding this murder, however no arrest has ever been made.''

The intruder certainly seemed focused on her demise. Also, he seemed familiar with the layout of the house, but didn't bother to muffle the shots. It's interesting that with that much investigative effort, no one's ever been arrested.

 

[dotr]

Aug 14, 2024

 

[Melquiades]

The intruder certainly seemed focused on her demise. Also, he seemed familiar with the layout of the house, but didn't bother to muffle the shots. It's interesting that with that much investigative effort, no one's ever been arrested.

Yeah, pretty clearly a targeted killing.

This article contains a clip of an article at the time stating she ‘was estranged from her 30 y/o husband’ so … prime suspect is pretty obvious.

Investigators still probing 1968 Dolgeville area homicide

Still sought out are answers in the slaying of a young Mohawk Valley woman more than a half-century later.

www.dailygazette.com

 

[Brightchaser47]

Yeah, pretty clearly a targeted killing.

This article contains a clip of an article at the time stating she ‘was estranged from her 30 y/o husband’ so … prime suspect is pretty obvious.

Investigators still probing 1968 Dolgeville area homicide

Still sought out are answers in the slaying of a young Mohawk Valley woman more than a half-century later.

www.dailygazette.com

He apparently had an alibi, or police were otherwise unable to charge him. That gun could be anywhere. Maybe a stretch, but could the husband have hired a hit?

 

[Melquiades]

He apparently had an alibi, or police were otherwise unable to charge him. That gun could be anywhere. Maybe a stretch, but could the husband have hired a hit?

Yeah, no idea if the husband had a good alibi or a ‘he was with me’ bad-but-often-works alibi from family or a new gf or no alibi at all.

This seems like an incredibly targeted killing - almost like a mob hit - and it’s hard to imagine this woman having any enemies that extreme aside from the estranged husband.

 

[Brightchaser47]

Yeah, no idea if the husband had a good alibi or a ‘he was with me’ bad-but-often-works alibi from family or a new gf or no alibi at all.

This seems like an incredibly targeted killing - almost like a mob hit - and it’s hard to imagine this woman having any enemies that extreme aside from the estranged husband.

In all fairness, though, we don't know the circumstances behind their estrangement.

 

[Melquiades]

In all fairness, though, we don't know the circumstances behind their estrangement.

No, for sure.

But in these murdered/disappeared wife cases from the 1960s, we know who the killer usually is. It has to be the jumping-off point for investigators until/unless they can prove otherwise.

 

[Brightchaser47]

Do we know anything about the estranged husband (line of work, etc)?

 

[truthfinder2019]

Do we know anything about the estranged husband (line of work, etc)?

I wonder if this public obituary is of a relative, 10 yrs old at the time of the facts (same name as in previous old article snip, same city)

Arnold Lee Hart, Jr., “Pooch”

Arnold Lee Hart, Jr., “Pooch”, age 57 years of Earlton, N.Y. passed away on November 29, 2015 after a brief illness.He was born on July 1, 1958, in Amsterdam, N.Y.

www.dailygazette.com

 

[geodob]

I grew up in the town where this happened and went to school with the stepson. Many rumors surround the murder, one is an ex-boyfriend did it, another is someone involved in a robbery she was part of at a local grocery store. Very small town, around 2000 residents and we all know how rumors are in small towns.

 

[Betty P]

I grew up in the town where this happened and went to school with the stepson. Many rumors surround the murder, one is an ex-boyfriend did it, another is someone involved in a robbery she was part of at a local grocery store. Very small town, around 2000 residents and we all know how rumors are in small towns.

She didn’t look like the kind of person to be involved in a robbery. Did she have a job? She lived in a fairly nice home. In 1968, it would have been unusual for a woman to be involved in robbing grocery stores.

Some of my ancestors were from Herkimer. It’s a beautiful area.

 

[Betty P]

This article says she worked at the local grocery store. She and her husband were divorced. He had 3 children from a previous marriage.

Dolgeville is a very small town and the area where she lived just north of it was rather remote.

Ep. 5 Donna Lee Hart — Capital Brew Marketing LLC The Capital Brew Podcast

The Unsolved Murder of Donna Lee Hart Donna Lee (Karla) Hart was just 24 years old when her life was tragically cut short on August 8, 1968, in her quiet home in Herkimer County, New York. More than half a century later, her murder remains unsolved. Despite periodic leads and the efforts of law en

www.capitalbrewmarketing.com

More articles:

At 94, mother waits for answers in daughter's unsolved 1968 Herkimer County murder

Donna Lee Hart was 25 when she was shot to death in August 1968. Her murder remains unsolved.

www.newyorkupstate.com