Two people were killed and six others were injured after a shooting at a house party in Douglas County, Georgia on Saturday that had more than 100 teenagers in attendance, police said.
Officials said the shooting stemmed from a confrontation at the house party in Douglasville, a city about 20 miles west of Atlanta.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) asked that anyone with information about the assailant to contact its office as information about the incident is “very limited,” the agency said in a news release.
Wounded partygoers were seen in neighboring yards after the shooting, according to CNN affiliate WXIA. The owner of the home told WXIA they held a Sweet 16 party for their daughter and they chose to end the party at 10:00 p.m., claiming some of the attendees were smoking marijuana.
It’s unclear whether there were any adults present at the time of the shooting, which the owner told WXIA happened in a cul-de-sac outside the home.
DCSO said the incident remains a “very active investigation.”
Convicted former attorney Alex Murdaugh’s decision to take the stand at his double murder trial was not entirely surprising given his family’s legal legacy stretching back to the early 1900s in coastal South Carolina.
But legal experts say it was ultimately a costly maneuver for the scion of the well-connected Murdaugh clan, which prosecuted crime for three successive generations across the state’s rural low country.
“Being a skilled attorney, I think he thought he could outsmart the jurors,” attorney and legal affairs commentator Areva Martin said.
“He had to testify. There were too many lies,” CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson said Saturday. “Obviously the jury felt that he was conning them.”
Murdaugh’s biggest lie perhaps was denying for a year and half that he was anywhere near his wife, Maggie, and 22-year-old son, Paul, when they were fatally shot on the family’s Islandton property on June 7, 2021.
On the stand, Murdaugh maintained he didn’t kill them but found their bodies after returning from a brief visit to his sick mother that night.
A key piece of evidence came from PaulMurdaugh, who recorded a video moments before he was gunned down and killed. It showed a family dog near the kennels on the property. It also captured his father’s voice in the background, placing Alex Murdaugh at the scene of the crime.
The video, which Murdaugh didn’t know existed before the trial, eliminated his alibi. The longtime lawyer took the stand in a courthouse where a portrait of Murdaugh’s grandfather had adorned a wall before the trial. He sought to explain why he lied about his whereabouts.
“He had never faced accountability in his life and had always been able to escape that – and that was more important to him than anything,” lead prosecutor Creighton Waters told CNN.
“That’s why I was always convinced that he would testify in this case. That he was assured that he could talk his way out of it one more time. Not out of all the trouble but certainly talk his way out of this. Obviously the jury saw otherwise.”
Within moments of taking the stand, Murdaugh acknowledged his voice is heard in the video that appeared to be taken at the dog kennels where the bodies were found, saying he lied to investigators about being there earlier that evening because of “paranoid thinking” stemming from his drug addiction.
Over the course of the trial, numerous witnesses identified Murdaugh’s voice in the background of the footage. But Murdaugh was emphatic that he “didn’t shoot my wife or my son. Anytime. Ever.”
Craig Moyer, a juror who helped convict Murdaugh on Thursday, told ABC News it took the panel less than an hour to reach a unanimous decision.
The video was crucial.
“I could hear his voice clearly,” Moyer told ABC. “And everybody else could too.”
Murdaugh was “a good liar,” Moyer said, “but not good enough.”
Moyer told ABC he “didn’t see any true remorse or compassion” from Murdaugh. On the stand, Murdaugh “didn’t cry,” Moyer said. “All he did was blow snot.”
Waters said he simply wanted to get Murdaugh talking during cross examination. And he did.
“We have to remember this guy was an experienced lawyer,” Waters said. “He’s a part-time assistant solicitor and there’s 100 years of prosecution legacy in his family… I felt like he believed he could look at that jury and really convince them. But I felt if I got him talking he would eventually lie and they would get to see that in real time.”
Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian defended the decision to let Murdaugh testify, saying his credibility was under question because of financial wrongdoings. He said the defense team plans to appeal the sentence within 10 days.
In a separate case that has not yet gone to trial, Murdaugh faces 99 charges stemming from a slew of alleged financial crimes, including defrauding his clients, former law firm and the government of millions.
“Once they got that character information – ‘he’s a thief, he’s a liar’ – then this jury had to think that he’s a despicable human being, and not to be believed,” Harpootlian told reporters after sentencing, referring to evidence about the financial crimes introduced at the murder trial. Murdaugh, he added, always wanted to take the stand.
Harpootlian told CNN it was “inexplicable that he would execute his son and his wife in that fashion, in my mind.”
Another defense lawyer, Jim Griffin, said putting Murdaugh on the stand showed the jury his client’s “emotions about Maggie and Paul, which are very raw and real.”
Still, putting Murdaugh on the stand was a risky move, according to legal experts.
“His testimony was very poor. In fact, I think it was borderline atrocious,” jury consultant Alan Tuerkheimer told CNN. “Jurors don’t like it when witnesses are being questioned and they don’t answer and what he kept doing continually was going beyond the scope of the questions.”
Tuerkheimer added that Murdaugh “kept trying to interject his own narrative. He was evasive, I thought he prevaricated a lot and his testimony was self serving and jurors do not like that. He should have stuck to quick yes or no answers when he was being crossed.”
Tuerkheimer also questioned the effectiveness of Murdaugh frequently referring to his dead wife and son as “Mags” and “Paul Paul.”
“It’s effective if it’s genuine and it just did not come off as genuine. Look, lawyers love to testify. They use words to persuade people. And once he was on the stand, he just couldn’t contain himself,” Tuerkheimer said of Murdaugh.
“And when he was using those terms in trying to endear himself with the jury, they just didn’t think that it was authentic. They rejected it and it was a Hail Mary that he had to testify. And, like most Hail Marys, it didn’t work.”
On Thursday, after more than a month and dozens of witnesses, the jury convicted Murdaugh of two counts of murder in the June 2021 killings, as well as two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
The next day, after his sentencing, Murdaugh – wearing a brown jumpsuit and handcuffs – was escorted out of a courthouse that once symbolized his family’s history of power and privilege in the region.
“For him the chance of convincing one or two jurors that he might be a liar, he might be a thief, but he’s not a killer, was worth taking that risk,” defense attorney Misty Marris told CNN Saturday. “But in my opinion, the testimony was what actually sunk him.”
A star snake breeder is murdered. Turns out the human closest to him was more cold-blooded than any snake. “48 Hours” correspondent Peter Van Sant reports.
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For a year and a half, Alex Murdaugh denied he was anywhere near where his wife, Maggie, and 22-year-old son, Paul, were brutally killed.
But it was one of his victims – his son – who would provide key proof after his death that legal experts say exposed his father’s web of lies and ultimately led to his conviction in the double homicide.
“It is ironic, in the end, that it was the victim, Paul Murdaugh, who solved his own murder,” Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Florida’s Palm Beach County, told CNN Thursday night.
Murdaugh, a now disgraced former South Carolina attorney, was found guilty Thursday of fatally shooting his wife and son and, a day later, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He has maintained his innocence.
The key proof came from a video, which Paul recorded on Snapchat and sent to several of his friends moments before he was gunned down and killed. It appeared to show one of the family’s dogs at the kennels on their property. It also captured Alex Murdaugh’s voice in the background – and placed him at the scene of the crime.
The video, which Murdaugh didn’t know existed before the trial, marked the crumbling of his alibi and left him no choice but to take the stand and explain why he lied multiple times to authorities about his whereabouts, legal experts told CNN.
Murdaugh, while denying he killed his wife and son, testified he lied about where he was because of paranoid thoughts stemming from his yearslong drug addiction to opioid painkillers, as well as his distrust of investigators. While on the stand, he also confessed to more lies, admitting in court he had stolen millions from his law firm and clients over roughly two decades.
He told the jury that despite his repeated past deceptions, he was honest about one thing: he did not kill his family.
“This was a circumstantial evidence case but what people have to understand is that circumstantial evidence is just as powerful as direct evidence,” South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who was part of the prosecuting team, said Friday. “I think the kennel video hung him.”
“The jury saw how he was trying to manipulate them, saw how he was lying and they read through it, and they heard the kennel video and they made the right decision.”
Craig Moyer, one of the jurors who helped convict Murdaugh, told ABC News in his first public interview that it took less than an hour for the group to reach a unanimous decision.
The video is what convinced him.
“I could hear his voice clearly,” Moyer told ABC. “And everybody else could too.”
Moyer said he was surprised Murdaugh admitted he lied about the video, but, he added, he still did not believe the defendant was being truthful about what happened on the night of June 7, 2021.
Murdaugh was “a good liar,” Moyer said, “but not good enough.”
“When he took the stand – that is, Alex Murdaugh – that was his opportunity to state his claim. It was a very hard sell, however,” said criminal defense attorney and CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson. “As much as you deny, deny, deny being at the kennels, you took the stand because it came out that you were there. Cell phone data put you there, car data put you there, in addition to the fact that your own voice put you there, by virtue of what your son recorded.”
“I think by virtue of what that juror said, clearly he was of the view that … (Alex Murdaugh) was continuing to lie, the evidence was clear and that he was guilty,” Jackson added.
‘All he did was blow snot’: Juror on whether Murdaugh was crying on the stand
The video was recorded by Paul at 8:44 p.m. on the night of the killings, according to testimony during the trial.
Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey testified he estimated Maggie and Paul’s time of death to be around 9 p.m. – though he said it’s possiblethe pair could have been shot any time between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
After admitting he lied to authorities about where he was that night, Murdaugh said he did briefly go to the kennels and left roughly around 8:47 p.m.
He later visited his mother and found Maggie and Paul’s bodies when he returned home, Murdaugh testified.
Murdaugh told the court that as his longtime addiction evolved, it often caused him to go into “paranoid thinking.” Those paranoid thoughts were triggered on the night of the homicides, he said, when investigators tested his hands for gunshot residue and asked him about his relationship with his wife and son. Murdaugh claimed that was why he lied.
“All those things, coupled together after finding them, coupled with my distrust for (the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) caused me to have paranoid thoughts,” he testified. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I don’t think I was capable of reason. And I lied about being there, and I’m so sorry that I did.”
“Once I told the lie, I told my family, I had to keep lying,” he told the court.
Former prosecutor Sarah Ford told CNN that Murdaugh “really had no choice other than to take the stand and clarify” the video at the kennel.
“And the jury did not buy that clarification. He was lying long before he walked into that courtroom, long before he took the stand and that jury believed that he was lying to them on that stand,” Ford said.
After his sentence, Murdaugh was released to the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
He was processed Friday evening at a reception and evaluation center in Columbia, the department said in a news release. As part of that process, he had his head shaved, a standard procedure for inmates processed into the system, department spokesperson Chrysti Shain said.
Murdaugh will next undergo medical tests and a mental health and education assessment, the release added.
Over the next month and a half, department officials will take into account the results of his tests and assessments as well as his crime and sentence in deciding which maximum-security prison he will be sent to, the department said.
Disgraced former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was sentenced Friday to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, one day after a jury found him guilty of murdering his wife and son. Nikki Battiste reports from Walterboro, South Carolina.
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Two Michigan State students wounded in the mass shooting on campus in February have been discharged from hospital, according to the university’s police department.
The tweet did not identify the students who were released but said they were previously listed in serious condition.
One student remains hospitalized in critical condition and one is in fair condition, the MSU Police and Public Safety Department said.
One other student was discharged last week. Troy Forbush wrote in a Facebook post on February 26 he had a “brush with death” after being shot in the chest.
He credited the “incredible doctors” who saved his life with emergency surgery. He said he spent a week in the ICU and three more days being cared for by the “superhero staff.”
“My world has been turned upside down so suddenly but I refuse to be a number, a statistic. Alongside my family, friends, community, university, & state government officials, we will enact change,” he wrote.
It’s still unclear why the gunman – a man with no known ties to MSU – targeted the university. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound the night of the killings, authorities said, and had a note threatening other shootings hundreds of miles away in New Jersey.
Investigators found a gun, knife and masks at the family home of Bryan Kohberger, the man charged with murdering four University of Idaho students last November, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.
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A jury in South Carolina found the disgraced former attorney Alex Murdaugh guilty of murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul in 2021. Norah O’Donnell anchors this CBS News Special Report with the breaking news of the verdict. Read more here.
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The jury began to deliberate Thursday in the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced attorney accused of fatally shooting his wife and son at their South Carolina hunting property in 2021.
The 12 jurors will deliberate until they come to a unanimous verdict on two counts of murder and two weapons charges. Murdaugh, 54, has pleaded not guilty in the deaths of his wife Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh and son Paul Murdaugh.
Earlier Thursday, Murdaugh’s defense team delivered closing arguments and said law enforcement was too quick to pinpoint him as the main suspect in the killings by the dog kennels on the sprawling estate.
“We believe that we’ve shown conclusively that (the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) failed miserably in investigating this case,” attorney Jim Griffin said. “And had they done a competent job, Alex would have been excluded from that circle (of suspects) a year ago or two years ago.”
Over about two hours, Griffin also mocked the prosecution’s theory of motive, explained away Murdaugh’s lies, accused investigators of fabricating evidence and criticized the supposed timeline as unconvincing.
In a rebuttal, prosecutor John Meadors took offense at the defense’s accusations of wrongdoing.
“I find it offensive that the defense … is claiming law enforcement didn’t do their job, while he is withholding and obstructing justice by not saying ‘I was down at the kennels.’ ”
The deliberations come after a six-week trial heavy on brutal gore, phone forensics, a mysterious blue tarp, extensive financial wrongdoing and the defendant’s own lies.
Prosecutors called 61 witnesses over three weeks of testimony to show Murdaugh was the only person who had the motive, means and opportunity to kill his wife and son on their property known as Moselle in Islandton, South Carolina, on the night of June 7, 2021.
With little to no direct evidence, such as bloody clothing or eyewitnesses, prosecutors have hinged their case on consequential video placing Murdaugh at the crime scene that night despite his repeated assertions otherwise.
The defense case was highlighted by Murdaugh himself, who offered dramatic testimony over two days last week in which he flatly denied killing his wife and son. At the same time, he admitted he had lied to investigators about his whereabouts just prior to the killings due to paranoia from his drug addiction. He further admitted to stealing millions of dollars from his former clients and law firm and lying to cover his tracks.
The stranger-than-fiction case has brought national attention – including Netflix and HBO Max documentaries – on Alex Murdaugh, the former personal injury attorney and member of a dynastic family in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather served as the local prosecutor consecutively from 1920 to 2006.
Murdaugh was a partner at a powerful law firm with his name on it. But that prominence belied underlying issues, and the killings of his wife and son were followed by accusations of misappropriated funds, his resignation, a bizarre alleged suicide-for-hire and insurance scam plot, a stint in rehab for drug addiction, dozens of financial crimes, his disbarment and, ultimately, the murder charges.
He separately faces 99 charges related to alleged financial crimes that will be adjudicated at a later trial.
See what happened when Alex Murdaugh took the stand
Griffin’s closing arguments, taken together, sought to undercut the prosecution and raise reasonable doubt about the case.
He said the agency failed to investigate hair found in Murdaugh’s wife’s hand, take fingerprint evidence, examine footwear and tire impressions, or test DNA on the victims’ clothes.
“They had decided, ‘Unless we find somebody else, it’s going to be Alex,’” he said.
“It’s totally illogical, irrational and insane … for someone to kill their loved ones when their criminal conduct is exposed,” he argued.
Griffin acknowledged Murdaugh had lied about being at the dog kennels where his wife and son were killed on the night of the murders. He said the lies were to hide his drug addiction and financial problems – not because he killed his family.
“Because that’s what addicts do. Addicts lie,” Griffin said. “He lied because he had a closet full of skeletons, and he didn’t want any more scrutiny on him.”
Griffin said that once Murdaugh’s years of financial fraud were exposed in September 2021, investigators began fabricating evidence about blood spatter on Murdaugh’s clothes and a blue jacket with gunshot residue.
“I hate to say this, but the evidence is crystal clear, from that moment they started fabricating evidence against Alex. That’s an awful charge,” he said. “I don’t make that claim lightly.”
Griffin attacked the prosecution’s assertion that the guns used in the killings were “family weapons,” saying there was no firm evidence to support that. He also criticized the prosecution’s proposed timeline of the killings, noting that it was mainly made up of information about whether Paul’s and Maggie’s phones were being used.
“There’s no direct evidence of him doing anything,” he said.
He further noted that the prosecution’s timeline indicated Paul and Maggie were killed at about 8:49 or 8:50 p.m. and that Murdaugh left the property for his mother’s house at 9:07 p.m., leaving only about 17 minutes to clean up the bloody scene.
“He would have to be a magician to make all that evidence disappear,” Griffin said.
See where jurors walked through Murdaugh crime scene
In the prosecution’s telling, the motive was Murdaugh’s attempt to distract and delay investigations into his growing financial problems. The means were two family-owned weapons, prosecutors argued. And the opportunity was Murdaugh’s presence at the crime scene, as revealed in a pivotal video and confirmed by his own testimony, minutes before the murders.
“This defendant … has fooled everyone, everyone, everyone who thought they were close to him,” prosecutor Creighton Waters told the jury. “Everyone who thought they knew who he was, he’s fooled them all. He fooled Maggie and Paul, too, and they paid for it with their lives. Don’t let him fool you, too.”
Waters first laid out a decade-long timeline of Murdaugh’s financial wrongdoing to show his motive in the killings.
For one, the chief financial officer of his law firm testified she had confronted Murdaugh about missing funds on the morning of June 7, 2021.
Second, Murdaugh was facing a lawsuit from the family of Mallory Beach, a 19-year-old woman who was killed in February 2019 when a boat allegedly driven by Paul, and owned by Murdaugh, crashed. A hearing in that civil case was scheduled for June 10, 2021, and had the potential to reveal his financial problems, prosecutors argued.
Next, Waters worked to show that Murdaugh had been at the kennels that night and had lied about it.
Murdaugh had long denied that he went to the kennels that night, but a video taken on Paul’s phone at 8:44 p.m. includes audio of Murdaugh’s voice in the background. After about a dozen friends and family members identified his voice on the video, Murdaugh took the stand and admitted he was there and that he he’d lied to police.
“Why in the world would an innocent, reasonable father and husband lie about that, and lie about it so early? He didn’t know that (video) was there.”
Further, Waters said Murdaugh had the “means” to commit the murders, in particular the weapons in the crime. Maggie was killed by a Blackout rifle and Paul was killed by a shotgun, and Waters said both were family weapons.
Finally, the prosecution walked through Murdaugh’s series of lies about the case, particularly about his presence at the kennels. Murdaugh, he said, “lies convincingly and easily and he can do it at a drop of a hat.”
A star snake breeder is murdered. Turns out the human closest to him was more cold-blooded than any snake. “48 Hours” correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. Watch Saturday, March 4 at 9/8c on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
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Prosecutors on Tuesday planned to call up to seven further witnesses to rebut parts of Alex Murdaugh’s defense in his murder trial, according to attorneys in court.
The first rebuttal witness was Ronnie Crosby, an attorney who worked with Murdaugh and testified for the prosecution three weeks ago.
“He was a theatrical-type presence in the courtroom and he could get very emotional during closing arguments in front of a jury,” Crosby testified Tuesday.
Once the rebuttal witnesses are complete, the jury will be allowed to view Murdaugh’s property in Islandton, particularly its dog kennels near where the bodies of Murdaugh’s wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, and son Paul Murdaugh were found. Closing arguments will follow after that.
The rebuttal comes more than a month into the murder trial and a day after the defense rested its case following testimony from 14 witnesses.
The most important defense witness was Murdaugh himself, as he admitted he had lied about his whereabouts on the night of the murders and that he had in fact been at the kennels shortly before the murders took place. He blamed his lies on “paranoid thinking” stemming from his addiction to painkillers.
“I don’t think I was capable of reason, and I lied about being down there, and I’m so sorry that I did,” Murdaugh said.
Prosecutors, who called 61 witnesses in the case, have argued he killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and distract from the financial misconduct allegations, some of which the state says were about to come to light before the fatal shootings. Murdaugh indeed confessed to much of that financial misconduct – yet denied killing his family.
“If I was under the pressure that they’re talking about here, I can promise you I would hurt myself before I would hurt one of them, without a doubt,” Murdaugh said on the stand Friday.
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two weapons charges in the June 7, 2021, killings. He is separately facing 99 charges related to alleged financial crimes that will be adjudicated later.
In their case, prosecutors sought to poke holes in Murdaugh’s account of the night of the killings, using cell phone data, video and other evidence to suggest he tried to manufacture an alibi.
In the absence of direct evidence connecting Murdaugh to the killings – no murder weapon, bloody clothing or eyewitnesses – key arguments in his trial have revolved around the timeline of events and Murdaugh’s whereabouts the night of June 7, 2021.
In particular, prosecutors used video filmed at the dog kennels shortly before authorities say the killings took place to show Murdaugh was at the scene just minutes before the fatal shootings. Multiple witnesses testified that Murdaugh’s voice can be heard in the background of the video, which was filmed on Paul’s phone starting at 8:44 p.m. In his testimony, Murdaugh admitted he was indeed there and had lied about it.
Murdaugh testified last week that he went down to the kennels at Maggie’s request, but then returned to the house and laid down on a couch. When he got up, he said, he drove to visit his ailing mother at her home in nearby Almeda, before returning to his property later that night. Police say he called 911 at 10:07 p.m. to report finding the bodies.
The defense has painted Murdaugh as a loving father and husband being wrongfully accused of the killings after what it says has been a mishandled investigation and crime scene.
Among the witnesses called by Murdaugh’s attorneys were his former legal partner who testified the scene was not properly secured, and a forensics expert who said his analysis suggests two shooters carried out the killings.
Murdaugh’s only surviving son, Buster Murdaugh, also testified last week, saying his father was “destroyed” and “heartbroken” following the killings.
To show the killings could have taken place after Murdaugh left the kennels, the defense has tried to establish that Maggie and Paul’s time of death could have fallen in a much longer time window than prosecutors have presented.
More than a week ago, Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey testified that he estimated the time of death to be around 9 p.m. – just minutes after Murdaugh’s voice was captured on the video – based in part on armpit checks he conducted to feel how warm the bodies were.
Harvey, who said he arrived on scene at 11:04 p.m., also testified that rigor mortis – the stiffening of a body’s joints and muscles following death – had not yet set in, and that it typically starts developing one to three hours following death.
However, when asked by the defense if the pair could have been shot anytime between 8 or 10 p.m., Harvey said yes.
A forensic pathologist, Jonathan Eisenstat, testified Monday that armpit temperature checks are “just not a valid method to try to make a determination of time of death,” calling the technique “just a guess.”
Instead, he said, someone arriving on scene should first check the ambient temperature of the area where the body is found and then take a rectal temperature to get as close to a core body temperature as possible.
Harvey testified earlier that he did not take rectal temperatures that night. During cross examination, prosecutors asked if the coroner had an idea of when the killings occurred since he did not take exact temperatures.
“You really do not have a general idea as to when that incident actually occurred?” Deputy Attorney General Attorney Don Zelenka asked Harvey.
“Yes sir, that’s true,” Harvey said.
The defense has also tried to portray the investigation into the case as shoddy, arguing that the crime scene was not secure or handled carefully. One witness, Mark Ball, one of Murdaugh’s former law firm colleagues, testified no barricades or police tape were set up to block several visitors from entering the property the night of the killings.
The defense rested its case in the double murder trial of former lawyer Alex Murdaugh, who is accused of killing his wife and one of his sons. The defense’s final witness was one of Murdaugh’s brothers. Nikki Battiste has the latest.
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Four members of the same family charged in connection with the gruesome killing of Hong Kong model Abby Choi appeared in court Monday, after police said they found what are believed to be parts of her dismembered body, public broadcaster RTHK reported.
Choi’s ex-husband Alex Kwong, 28, his brother Anthony, 31, and their father, Kwong Kau, 65, are charged with her murder. Alex Kwong’s mother Jenny Li, 63, is charged with perverting the course of justice, RTHK reported.
All four were denied bail, the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Court ruled Monday, according to RTHK. They are yet to enter a plea.
On Sunday, investigators identified a skull, several ribs and hair in a large stainless steel soup pot believed to be Choi’s remains, police said. Other body parts, including Choi’s torso and hands, remain missing.
It follows a police investigation that began Wednesday after Choi, 28, was reported missing. Two days later, parts of her body were found at a house in the city’s Tai Po district, police said. A meat slicer, an electric saw, and some clothing were also found at the home, police said.
Choi’s ex-husband was arrested on Saturday at a ferry pier on one of the city’s outlying islands, police said. His brother and his parents were arrested on Friday.
A fifth suspect, a 47-yer old woman, was arrested on Sunday in connection with the case, police said.
Choi, a model and social media influencer with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram, recently appeared as the digital cover model for luxury magazine L’Officiel Monaco and attended this year’s Paris Fashion Week.
The court adjourned the case until May 8 to allow for further police investigation, RTHK reported.
A young mother is killed in her bed, her toddler unharmed. Unsolved for 40 years, how the unusual crime scene helped close the case. “48 Hours” correspondent Erin Moriarty reports.
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On a wintery night near Rochester, New York, retired Detective Marc Liberatore shows “48 Hours” how he helped bring one of the coldest cases in America to trial. On Feb. 19, 1982, police officers arrived at the Brighton home of Jim and Cathy Krauseneck and encountered a horrific scene.
The body of a 29-year-old mother Cathy Krauseneck dead in bed with an ax lodged in her head.
Det. Mark Libertore: It was a single blow to the head. And she died instantly according to the medical examiner.
Jim Krauseneck told police he arrived home from work and found his wife’s body. His 3-and-a-half-year-old daughter Sara was there and unharmed. Minutes later, he showed up at his neighbor’s house — seemingly traumatized — with Sara in his arms. The neighbor called 911 after Jim told her he thought Cathy was dead.
NEIGHBOR TO 911: Her husband’s here and he can’t even talk.
911 DISPATCHER: OK. I’ll have someone right over there …
Dispatch immediately sent first responders. Brighton Police Lieutenant Bill Flood arrived to get a statement from Krauseneck.
Det. Bill Flood: He was moaning, he was crying.
Jim, Cathy and Sara Krauseneck
Annet Schlosser
Krauseneck, a Kodak company economist, said he’d left for work that morning at the usual time – around 6:30 a.m. He said he’d been gone all day. Cathy had planned to stay home to take care of Sara.
Det. Bill Flood: You could tell that little girl had been left alone … it looked obvious to us that she had dressed herself.
It seemed obvious to Detective Flood that Sara was confused about what had happened. Sara said she’d seen a “bad man … sleeping in mommy and daddy’s bed with an ax in his head.” Asked if the man was black or white, she said he was “many colors.” But Flood thinks Sara hadn’t seen a man at all; that it was her mother in bed, covered with blood.
Gary Craig: And what does a 3-and-a-half-year-old do?
Gary Craig: The murder in and of itself is baffling and hard to believe … But you add this element where Cathy’s daughter has been left in the house … with her murdered mother … It’s inconceivable that somebody could do that.
Liberatore and his partner Steve Hunt of the Brighton Police Department, say the first investigators at the scene found no significant forensic clues like fibers or fingerprints. And in 1982, DNA had not yet become an investigative tool. But there was something about the scene that struck them immediately. It looked like someone had pushed the pause button on a burglary.
Det. Steve Hunt: And there was a door leading into the house that had a pane of glass broken out and there was a maul, which is like a heavier ax, on the ground leaning up against the wall right next to that.
At first glance, it looked like someone had pushed the pause button on a burglary. But investigators say the scene lacked one of the most important hallmarks of a burglary: nothing was taken.
Monroe County Court
The ax found at the door, and the one in Cathy’s head, both belonged to the Krausenecks. In the dining room, there were valuable items scattered.
Det. Steve Hunt: And on the floor was Cathy’s purse, with the contents … strewn about.
There was a tea set on the floor, too.
Det. Steve Hunt: Everything was standing straight up like it was set there neatly.
And a black garbage bag next to it. Inside, was a faint shoe print as if someone had stepped in it to hold it open. But despite many apparent signs of a burglary, Liberatore and Hunt say the most important one was missing.
Det. Steve Hunt: Nothing was taken.
Det. Mark Liberatore: There’s an officer involved in this case from the 1980’s … who hits the nail on the head: We in Brighton do not handle a lot of homicides. We do handle a lot of burglaries … And this was not a burglary.
Investigators suspected the burglary was simply staged to cover up the real crime — Cathy’s murder — and they began to focus on her husband.
Gary Craig: Let’s face it, I mean, more often than not … it’s the husband, it’s domestic … so police are going to go there.
But could Jim Krauseneck have committed such a brutal murder and left his baby daughter alone in that house? “48 Hours” spoke to friends and family who said the couple had seemed happy.
Cathy and Jim had grown up in the same small town in Michigan, but on opposite sides of the tracks. Cathy’s father was a trucker; Jim’s owned a successful carpet store. They met in high school, began dating in college, and married after graduation.
Jim and Cathy Krauseneck cut their wedding cake on May 3, 1974.
Annet Schlosser
Susie Jackimowicz: It was a fancy wedding.
Cathy’s cousin Susie was just a kid.
Susie Jackimowicz: Like a princess wedding kinda deal. Jim was pursuing an economics degree in Colorado when they had Sara in 1978.
Cathy Behe: She was just so excited about her daughter, just so excited about her.
Cathy Krauseneck’s friend, Cathy Behe, says she was a warm soul who lived for love, but remembers feeling that the last time they saw each other – just six months before the murder – something just didn’t seem right.
Cath Behe: Not the vivacious Cathy that I remembered.
Erin Moriarty: What was the next thing you heard?
Cathy Behe: I got a call from my sister, and she told me about Cathy being murdered.
If Cathy and Jim were having trouble, they kept it to themselves. But police grew suspicious when they discovered a pamphlet in the couple’s car that offered services including marriage counseling. And there was more. When they went to Kodak, they learned that Jim Krauseneck had gotten his job under false pretenses, claiming to have a Ph.D. when he’d never actually completed the program. There was also Krauseneck’s behavior. Newspaper reporter Gary Craig says initially, he was cooperative.
Gary Craig: He was willing early on to give statements.
Krauseneck had spoken to investigators that night and the next morning, even agreeing to another meeting that afternoon. But when the time came …
Gary Craig: He was gone.
Erin Moriarty: Less than 24 hours after he found his wife murdered?
Gary Craig: Yes.
Krauseneck’s parents had driven from Michigan and returned there with Jim and Sara. Police say Jim left town without telling them.
Det. Mark Liberatore: I wouldn’t consider it normal … but this is America and he’s free to do so.
When Rochester authorities followed them to Michigan, Krauseneck continued answering their questions and even provided hair and blood samples. Ten days after the murder, he hired a lawyer.
By this point, police were focused squarely on Jim Krauseneck. But they had a problem. They needed to establish exactly when the murder had happened. Had Jim even been home at the time? Remember, he told police he left for work at about 6:30 a.m.
Gary Craig: Back in 1982, the time of death gave a very broad range. And the science was that you really could not pinpoint.
Autopsy findings reportedly narrowed the time of death to between 4:30 a.m. and as late as 7:30 a.m. — an hour after Krauseneck claimed to have left the house. With no direct evidence against him, nor any clear motive, authorities didn’t want to try their luck with a jury. The investigation went cold.
Sara and Jim Krauseneck
Sharon Krauseneck
Krauseneck and Sara eventually moved out west. He would briefly wed twice more before marrying his current wife, Sharon, 23 years ago — Never dreaming that his past would come looking for him.
A SURPRISE VISIT
In 1997, Sharon James ran into Jim Krauseneck, an old friend, at a trade show when sparks flew.
Sharon Krauseneck: And he asked me out. And from then on, for two years, we dated.
They both lived near Seattle. Krauseneck and his daughter Sara had moved there 10 years earlier but couldn’t leave the past behind.
Sharon Krauseneck: He was devastated with the death of Cathy.
Sharon says Jim told her about Cathy’s 1982 murder but didn’t offer details.
Sharon Krauseneck: And I didn’t want to pry because he would start getting emotional.
Erin Moriarty: What was it that made you fall in love with him?
Sharon Krauseneck: Jim is … so honest. He’s so loving … I wanted to be a part of his family.
They married in 1999.
Sharon and Jim Krauseneck married in 1999.
Sharon Krauseneck
Erin Moriarty: You like to spend a lot of time together?
Sharon Krauseneck: Oh, absolutely. … people will say we call each other everything but our names. We’ll call each other lovey-dovey, honey … and they say well, you act like newlyweds.
As the years rolled by, Sharon had no idea that more than 2,000 miles away in Rochester N.Y., someone else would set her sights on Jim Krauseneck: Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley.
DA Sandra Doorley: Cathy really needed to have justice.
In 2015, the FBI had provided resources to help Brighton police with their investigation.
Det. Steve Hunt: I mean you look at all those boxes of paperwork and evidence. … It’s daunting.
Detectives Mark Liberatore and Steve Hunt of the Brighton Police Department took the lead. Pouring over the file, they, too, became convinced the evidence pointed to one person: Jim Krauseneck. So, on April 16, 2016 …
Sharon Krauseneck: We were just having a lazy Saturday morning. And then all of the sudden, the doorbell rang.
DET. MARK LIBERATORE: Hi. … Mark Liberatore, how are you?
Erin Moriarty: You wanted to surprise him?
Det. Mark Liberatore: Yes.
Det. Steve Hunt: Absolutely.
DET. STEVE HUNT: You’re probably a little bit surprised why we’re here.
Erin Moriarty: Did Jim at that point think maybe I’d better call a lawyer?
Sharon Krauseneck: No, no not at all.
On the contrary. She says her husband welcomed them in and allowed them to record the conversation:
JIM KRAUSENECK: Hopefully you’ve got some good news.
DETECTIVE: We just want to kind of revamp everything, go through everything again with you.
She says they sat around the kitchen table talking for more than an hour.
Sharon Krauseneck (upbeat): They said … “we think we know who killed Cathy and we need your help.” And in that type of a tone.
DET. STEVE HUNT: I’m sure you think about this, “who could possibly have done this?”
JIM KRAUSENECK: I did, for a long time.
But then, Sharon says, detectives Liberatore and Hunt suddenly turned up the heat.
DET. MARK LIBERATORE: Did you have anything to do with this?
JIM KRAUSENECK: I didn’t kill Cathy.
DET. MARK LIBERATORE: I disagree.
JIM KRAUSENECK: Well then —
DET. MARK LIBERATORE: I think you did.
Det. Steve Hunt: You could see his heart pounding through his shirt.
Erin Moriarty: That would be a very scary thing … that somebody is accusing you of killing someone.
Det. Mark Liberatore: I would say scary … if you did it.
Erin Moriarty: Was that the first time then you started hearing details of what happened to Cathy?
Sharon Krauseneck: Yes
“Jim … is a decent, loving human being,” Sharon Krauseneck exclusively tells “48 Hours” correspondent Erin Moriarty. “There is no way, absolutely no way Jim would ever, ever have done anything like that.”
CBS News
Sharon says it also was the first time she’d heard any suggestion that her husband was involved.
Erin Moriarty: Did you ever ask him point-blank?
Sharon Krauseneck: No, I didn’t. I didn’t have to.
Erin Moriarty: You didn’t have to know?
Sharon Krauseneck: No … I know. I know he did not murder his wife.
Erin Moriarty: Sharon, how can you be so sure? You only have Jim’s word for it.
Sharon Krauseneck: No … When you’re married to a man, you know his heart and you know his soul. … Jim could never, Erin, never in this world do something so horrific.
Erin Moriarty: You know, somebody listening to you would say, you sound a little naive. Didn’t you have some doubts? Didn’t you want to know more?
Sharon Krauseneck: I — you can call me naive I suppose.
But she insists that no one who has known Jim Krauseneck as well as she has — for as long as she has — could possibly have doubts.
Sharon Krauseneck: No, I’m not going to question him. I don’t doubt for a moment he was innocent.
But the detectives still hoped to find what investigators 40 years ago were never able to find: a smoking gun that tied Jim Krauseneck to the Brighton ax murder.
DA Sandra Doorley: You have to remember, back in 1982, there was no such thing as DNA testing. So, my first thought was, y’know, what can we test? … Are we going to find someone else’s DNA on any item within the home?
Det. Mark Liberatore: We sent … the evidence from ’82 back to the FBI lab.
The ax used to murder Cathy Krauseneck.
CBS News
The results: there was no DNA evidence that directly tied Krauseneck to the crime, but none tying anyone else to the murder, either. And although DNA evidence can degrade over time …
DA Sandra Doorley: The most important thing was finding the absence of someone else’s DNA within that home.
But to charge Jim Krauseneck, they wanted to prove his wife had died before had he gone to work. Jim claimed to have left the house at around 6:30 a.m., and Cathy had been fine.
Det. Mark Liberatore: We need a definitive time of death.
Back in 1982, the medical examiner was unable to narrow the time of death enough and, since then, other experts have agreed with her. In 2018, prosecutors turned to Dr. Michael Baden.
For over 50 years, Baden — a forensic pathologist — has been hired to work on a “who’s who” of whodunnit cases, from the assassination of JFK to the reported suicide of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, often raising eyebrows and generating controversy.
In this case, using the same file from 1982, Baden said in his analysis, it appeared Cathy died at about 3:30 a.m. That would be hours before Jim Krauseneck said he left for work that day.
DA Sandra Doorley: You know, some people may say that we were looking … for an opinion.
Erin Moriarty: That you were just looking for somebody who would pick a time of death that was before Krauseneck left the house in order to secure an indictment.
DA Sandra Doorley: Absolutely.
Erin Moriarty: But if, in fact, Dr. Baden had agreed with the other medical examiners … would you have hired him?
DA Sandra Doorley: Absolutely not.
Jim Krauseneck was indicted on Nov. 1, 2019, and surrendered to authorities in Rochester, N.Y., a week later. The then-67-year-old pleaded not guilty.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office
Armed with Dr. Baden’s opinion on Cathy’s time of death, along with what they believe is evidence of a staged burglary, prosecutors went before a grand jury. Jim Krauseneck was indicted on Nov. 1, 2019. He voluntarily surrendered to authorities a week later.
Erin Moriarty: Do you have any doubt about Jim Krauseneck’s guilt in his wife’s murder?
DA Sandra Doorley: I have absolutely no doubt.
Erin Moriarty: None?
DA Sandra Doorley: None, whatsoever.
But Jim Krauseneck’s attorneys say there’s a mountain of doubt in this case because Jim Krauseneck is not the Brighton ax murderer.
Bill Easton: There was someone who could be responsible for it.
A serial predator had been living in the neighborhood who actually confessed to killing Cathy.
ED LARABY: CAREER CRIMINAL
Attorneys Bill Easton and Michael Wolford are trying to save James Krauseneck.
Bill Easton: There really is no evidence that Jim Krauseneck killed his wife. … He is the most reserved, humble, gentle person.
A man both believe had zero motive for murder.
Michael Wolford: They had a wonderful relationship. They had a wonderful family.
And so, his lawyers insist that Feb. 19, 1982, was a typical morning, in a home defined by love, until a stranger slipped in and took it all away.
Bill Easton: Jim Krauseneck went to work … someone came in and killed Cathy Krauseneck. We think that someone was Ed Laraby.
Ed Laraby — a monster just down the road.
Gary Craig | Reporter: He was just a violent son of a gun and terrible, terrible human being.
Edward Laraby had a reputation and record as a violent sexual predator.
Monroe County District Attorney’s Office
From Rochester’s back streets to New York’s toughest prisons, Ed Laraby had a reputation and record as a violent sexual predator.
Michael Wolford: Laraby hunted women. … He was a psychopath.
Before dying in prison in 2014, Laraby was locked up for a total of 32 years on charges that ultimately included attempted murder, robbery and his sick specialty — rape. But all too often, Laraby was released back on the streets.
Rachel Rear: And every time he was free, he would rape again. … He liked to laugh at women and humiliate them.
Erin Moriarty: You probably know as much about Ed Laraby as anyone.
Rachel Rear: I think so.
Erin Moriarty: Right?
Rachel Rear: Yeah.
Rachel Rear wrote “Catch the Sparrow,” a harrowing story, painfully close to home.
Rachel Rear: It’s about the murder of my stepsister in 1991.
Stephanie Kupchynsky, 27, was a music teacher and violinist when her life tragically intersected with Ed Laraby’s.
Rachel Rear: It’s mind-boggling to me that he was ever free.
In 1991, freshly paroled after serving a sentence for robbery, Laraby had come back to the suburbs of Rochester … his familiar hunting ground.
Rachel Rear: He got the job at Newcastle apartment complex which is where my stepsister lived.… Laraby himself said that they were foolish to hire him.
It wasn’t long before Stephanie went missing.
Rachel Rear: It was like she evaporated.
LOCAL NEWS REPORT: Stephanie Kupchynsky’s death rattled many when she disappeared from her apartment in 1991. Her remains found 7 years later.
Edward Laraby confessed to the 1991 murder of Stephanie Kupchynsky, 27.
Rachel Rear
The remains of Stephanie Kupchynsky lay scattered in a shallow stream bed. She had been strangled.
More than a dozen years later, Laraby, by then convicted of other crimes and back in prison, admitted he was her killer.
Erin Moriarty: What made him confess to Stephanie’s murder?
Rachel Rear: What ultimately made him confess was that he was dying.
Laraby, who was suffering from ALS, came up with a bucket list of a dying man: pizza, sandwiches, and he was angling for an agreement to be buried off prison grounds. So, in 2012, Ed Laraby confessed.
Rachel Rear: He went into Stephanie’s apartment … And then she screamed … And then he choked her … And she died. And he confessed to killing her.
But Ed Laraby didn’t stop with Stephanie Kupchynsky.
Rachel Rear: Once he confessed to Stephanie’s murder and realized that he could get things in exchange for confession, all of a sudden then he started wheeling and dealing and making more deals.
Ed Laraby contacted the FBI claiming he was a serial killer, and one of the victims he listed was a Rochester housewife murdered on a February morning in 1982: 29-year-old Cathy Krauseneck.
Michael Wolford: Laraby lived very close by … And she was someone that he was going to prey on.
The idea that decades earlier Ed Laraby might have murdered Cathy doesn’t come as a surprise to investigators and those who know him best.
Det. Mark Liberatore: Everybody from back in that time frame is familiar with Ed.
Rachel Rear: He would’ve been out of prison at the time that Cathy was killed.
Free, violent and just down the road. Police went to question him, shortly after Cathy’s murder. But Ed Laraby wasn’t talking back then. They filed their report, and then backed off.
Erin Moriarty: And is it fair to say the police dropped the ball in that case? … Because you’ve got a sexual predator within minutes of the house and they … they don’t do anything more than visit him once?
Gary Craig: Oh, I think it’s very fair to say that. … To have apparently ignored Ed Laraby in 1982, whether he did or didn’t do it, is clearly — was just a major lapse in the investigation.
Det. Mark Liberatore: I don’t know that I’d used the phrase drop the ball … And unfortunately … the officer and the sergeant who approved that report are both deceased.
Still, the FBI and detectives Liberatore and Hunt don’t believe Ed Laraby murdered Cathy.
Det. Steve Hunt: He was a bad man, he was.
Erin Moriarty: That’s one way to put it.
Det. Mark Liberatore: He’s a bad man, but he’s not our bad man.
Erin Moriarty: This is a guy who has a long history of hurting women and he’s confessing to killing Cathy Krauseneck.
Det. Steve Hunt: Yeah, but his confession —
Det. Mark Liberatore: Inappropriately —
Det. Steve Hunt: — was way off base.
Det. Mark Liberatore: — way off.
Erin Moriarty: Why are you so sure it’s not Edward Laraby?
DA Sandra Doorley: Because his confession didn’t match up to the facts, as simple as that.
Cathy Krauseneck
Annet Schlosser
Laraby said Cathy had dark hair when in fact she was blonde, that she was heavyset when she wasn’t. Even Rachel Rear, who knows all too well the damage Laraby can do, doesn’t believe he killed Cathy.
Rachel Rear: To me, I was like, it’s not his M.O. … I don’t think he was a serial killer. He’s a serial rapist.
After four decades of dead ends, law enforcement was convinced that Jim Krauseneck, not Ed Laraby, wielded that bloody ax.
Sharon Krauseneck: This man is an innocent man. … He’s been treated so unjust.
But come 2022, James Krauseneck, the successful businessman and father, headed to trial. The 40-year-old murder case could hinge on mere minutes, and prosecutors proving that Krauseneck was home when Cathy was killed.
PROSECUTOR PATRICK GALLAGHER (closing argument): You look at the evidence, it’s clear. She was killed in her sleep.
WHAT TIME DID CATHY DIE?
After four decades, as James Krauseneck finally came to trial, prosecutors were betting on Michael Baden, that forensic pathologist they had engaged, and his theory of when Cathy most likely died — about 3:30 a.m.
Michael Wolford: Well, they needed a Dr. Baden, who said basically that it happened at 3:30 in the morning. … That was different than any other medical examiner that was involved in this case.
One of them was Katherine Maloney, a forensic pathologist who would testify for the defense — something she had seldom done before.
Erin Moriarty: Can you pinpoint the actual time of death?
Dr. Katherine Maloney: No. Oh my goodness I wish I could … The best you’re going to do is — is a window of several hours.
Doctor Maloney thinks it’s possible Cathy could have died much later in the day.
Erin Moriarty: I mean, so you’re saying Dr Baden is wrong?
Dr. Katherine Maloney: I disagree with him. I think he’s wrong. … I think she likely died sometime between like 5 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Timing of the death seemed crucial. If Cathy was murdered in the dead of night, before Jim Krauseneck went to work, then prosecutors say her killer wasn’t an intruder — it had to be her husband.
Forty years after Cathy Krauseneck was killed in her sleep, her husband Jim Krauseneck stands trial for her murder.
Shawn Dowd/Pool
The stage was set for a gruesome drama in search of its final act.
NEWS REPORT: What makes this case so unique is it happened over 40 years ago.
Over those decades, hearts had been broken and relationships shattered.
Erin Moriarty: Really, how would you describe the last 40 years on your family?
Susie Jackimowicz: It’s been a terrible … It’s just god-awful.
Cathy Krauseneck’s father Bob Schlosser and cousin Susie Jackimowicz.
CBS News
Cousin Susie Jackimowicz witnessed the shift in Cathy’s now 95-year-old father Bob Schlosser — who today believes Krauseneck is a killer, but for years was certain his son-in-law was innocent.
Bob Schlosser: I just didn’t think that he would — that he would do such a thing.
Erin Moriarty: I mean, had there ever been a real serious problem in their marriage that anybody had heard of?
Bob Schlosser: No, not that I knew of.
Jim and Cathy Krauseneck
Annet Schlosser
But investigators believe the marriage was secretly crumbling.
Det. Mark Liberatore: He snapped is what we believe. He just snapped.
Erin Moriarty: People look at Jim Krauseneck, he just doesn’t look like an ax murderer.
Bob Schlosser: What’s an ax murderer look like?
Schlosser believes that over time, Krauseneck began separating Sara from her mother’s family — the child who was home when her mother was murdered.
Bob Schlosser: We didn’t see Sara anymore.
Susie Jackimowicz: Not only was Cathy taken away, Sara was taken away.
Jim Krauseneck’s daughter Sara gives her father a hug in court.
Shawn Dowd/Pool
Sara’s a grown woman now, firmly standing by her dad as sure that he’s innocent, as prosecutors Constance Patterson and Patrick Gallagher are certain he’s Cathy’skiller.
Prosecutor Patrick Gallagher: No doubt at all.
Prosecutor Constance Patterson: Absolutely no doubt in my mind.
But as the trial moved forward, lawyers on both sides confessed they had a daunting challenge: time itself.
Patrick Gallagher: Dealing with — with memory issues, dealing with deceased witnesses.
Bill Easton: Witnesses can’t recall what happened 40 years ago.
So, investigators pursued evidence that didn’t rely on the frailties of memory. They homed in on the physical crime scene.
Prosecutor Patrick Gallagher: I wanted to not only prove that that Cathy was clearly killed in the early morning hours, but also prove that it was a staged burglary.
Det. Steve Hunt: There’s a lot of questions and things just didn’t make sense.
Authorities argued the scene was staged by someone who had no idea what a burglary looked like.
Det. Steve Hunt: The house wasn’t ransacked.
Det. Mark Liberatore: In fact, there was cash on the dresser in the room where Cathy was killed, that wasn’t taken.
The broken glass, the seemingly precise placing of that maul.
Det. Steve Hunt: They wanted us to believe that the maul was used to break that pane of glass.
That silver tea set, barely disturbed.
Patrick Gallagher: And when you looked at the pieces that don’t fit, the reason they don’t fit is because it was a staged burglary.
The faint shoe print (circled) investigators found inside a garbage bag at the Krauseneck crime scene.
Monroe County District Attorney
Then there was that faint shoeprint investigators found inside a garbage bag. Prosecutors thought the print told a story.
Patrick Gallagher: The only way that gets in there is when the bag is being opened, when items are being placed in that bag.
Erin Moriarty: And somebody is putting their foot on there, so they can hold it open?
Patrick Gallagher: So … You’re stepping on the edge of that bag … you’re holding one edge and you’re placing that silver in the bag.
Investigators say the print was from special footwear: a boat shoe.
Erin Moriarty: And why a boat shoe?
A crime scene photo shows a pair of boat shoes, like her husband was known to wear, by Cathy Krauseneck’s bed. Forty years later, detectives believe the faint shoe print in that garbage bag was made by those boat shoes, which were not tested.
Monroe County District Attorney’s Office
Patrick Gallagher: And, so, there’s a picture in that bedroom where you can see next to the bed … You can see these boat shoes.
Erin Moriarty: And whose shoes are those?
Patrick Gallagher: And those are James Krauseneck’s shoes.
Det. Steve Hunt: He’s a boat shoe wearing guy, and we don’t have murderers running around in February in the wintertime wearing boat shoes and killing people.
But the shoes Krauseneck wore back then were not tested to see if they were a match. And his lawyers say it’s not just the wrong theory — it’s the wrong man.
They say it’s Ed Laraby, that career criminal, who, before he died, had confessed to killing Cathy.
Bill Easton: He lives four-minute walk away.
But there’s the problem of Laraby’s M.O. Remember, he was a repeat sex offender.
Erin Moriarty: Was there any sign that Cathy had been sexually assaulted or that she had had any contact at all with her killer?
Det. Mark Liberatore: None whatsoever.
Erin Moriarty: Do you believe that there was tunnel vision in this investigation?
Bill Easton: I think it would almost be the dictionary definition of tunnel vision … There was this overwhelming … urge and desire to solve the crime, and it had to be Jim Krauseneck.
Susie Jackimowicz: I know he did it. I know it was him.
Come closing statements, cameras were allowed into the courtroom as lawyers made their final pleas:
BILL EASTON: The mystery of Cathy Krauseneck’s death remains to this day, and we submit it has not been resolved by this trial.
PATRICK GALLAGHER: Common sense tells you this was a staged burglary. … Those are the only reasonable inferences that can be drawn from this case.
BILL EASTON: There are no eyewitnesses. There are no earwitnesses. … There is no direct evidence. That was the case 40 years ago and that’s the case now.
But Gallagher reminded the jury of that time-stamp — 3:30 a.m. — that pathologist Michael Baden put as Cathy’s possible time of death.
PATRICK GALLAGHER: Common sense tells you she died early that morning.
Michael Wolford: As we said at the outset, there is no new evidence, simply a new opinion by Dr. Baden. … We don’t think that cuts it.
Forty years after that awful day, the case would now go to a jury.
Erin Moriarty: Were you worried?
Sharon Krauseneck: I was worried, yes. … And Jim being the husband … and that’s being the typical fall guy, the husband must have done it. … I was very fearful.
A JURY DECIDES
Jim Krauseneck’s fate will be determined by 12 strangers.
Sharon Krauseneck: They want to hold someone accountable for this … I was very fearful.
Because it’s Sharon and Sara’s future as well.
Sharon Krauseneck: On Friday night. The jury hadn’t finished their deliberations. And I was so thankful. I thought, “Oh … give us this weekend (cries).
Erin Moriarty: Did you think this could be the last weekend you could spend with him?
Sharon Krauseneck: I think deep down, I probably did.
James Krauseneck is led away in handcuffs after he was found guilty for the 1982 murder of his first wife Cathy in Brighton, New York.
Jamie Germano
Altogether, it takes the jury less than 10 hours of deliberations to reach a verdict: Jim Krauseneck is guilty of second-degree murder.
Sharon Krauseneck: I remember standing up. I saw this one deputy across from me and I said, “Oh, please … let me hug my husband. … he said “no.” No … I can’t.
BOB SCHLOSSER (to reporters outside courtroom) We got our justice. It took 40 years. … Thank God, we got it.
SHARON KRAUSENECK (walking through court lobby with Sara): He’s innocent. He’s innocent!
Michael Wolford: Unfortunately, there is a presumption of guilt. … if the husband is … living in the home and the wife is killed … he’s almost presumed guilty,
Defense attorney Michael Wolford says that Jim Krauseneck was convicted because of who he was, not what he did.
Michael Wolford: I think there was a gut reaction on the part of the jurors, that “well, he probably did it.”
But the jurors “48 Hours” spoke to insisted they decided this case on the evidence — evidence they admit had divided them at the start.
Jane | Juror: I just kept thinking someone else really could have done this.
Helen | Juror: The forensics did not point to anybody else.
The first time they voted, we were told six said guilty, three not guilty, three undecided.
Ivan | Juror: The most important thing to me … was the staged burglary scene.
They said that staged scene was a critical clue. And there was something else they seemed to agree on. That, in the end, it was impossible to say exactly when Cathy died.
Jane: We threw out all of that testimony … We — It meant nothing to us.
But their verdict means everything to Krauseneck’s heartbroken daughter Sara, who tells the judge at sentencing it adds insult to deep injury.
SARA KRAUSENECK (in court): I’ve been blessed with the most extraordinary parents. Sadly, they have both been taken from my life. My mother’s killer got away with her murder, and my father’s life has been taken by a failed justice system that convicted him of a crime he did not commit.
But Sara’s grandfather — Cathy’s father — wants to make sure Jim Krauseneck spends the rest of his life paying for her death.
BOB SCHLOSSER (to Jim Krauseneck in court): And Jim, I hope you live to be 100 years old and enjoy your new home!
And finally, it’s up to Jim Krauseneck himself to take one last opportunity to address the court.
JIM KRAUSENECK (in court): To this day it’s still very difficult for me to talk about the circumstances that surrounded her death. All I see is Cathy with an ax in her head, and Sara standing in the hallway, disheveled, with an empty and distant look on her face. I did not murder Cathy. I loved Cathy with all my heart and with all my soul.
The judge is unmoved, giving the 71-year-old Krauseneck 25 years-to-life behind bars.
Before his own life is over, there’s one more thing Cathy’s father wants to do.
For decades, Cathy has been buried in Jim’s family plot.
Bob Schlosser: I want to move my daughter’s remains … where her mother and brother are.
But to move her, Bob Schlosser needs Sara to agree and that may never happen. Sara and Sharon continue to support Jim, who intends to appeal his conviction.
Erin Moriarty: You’re going to stand by him no matter what?
Sharon Krauseneck: Oh, absolutely.
Sharon Krauseneck rejects the possibility that her husband has permanently traded his golden years for the hardened metal of a prison cell.
Sharon Krauseneck: We have a lot of hope. We have a lot of faith. … This is not our retirement. This is a hiccup. This is just a — just a — a pause.
And Krauseneck’s lawyers say that forcing him to defend a 40-year-old case violated his constitutional right to a fair trial.
Erin Moriarty: Are you worried at all about that … if an appellate court ruled in favor … of Jim Krauseneck, and said that his rights had been violated … then it would all be for nothing?
DA Sandra Doorley: It wouldn’t be all for nothing. Cathy’s story was able to be told and that family was able to get justice … Justice has been done for Cathy.
Cathy’s family and Sara haven’t spoken since the trial.
Sara has moved out of the country.
Produced by Josh Yager and James Stolz. Marc Goldbaum and Charlotte Fuller are the development producers. Michael Loftus and Liz Caholo are the associate producers. Richard Barber is the producer-editor. Atticus Brady is also an editor. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
The US Marshals Service is teaming up with a Native American tribe based in Northern California for a new push aimed at addressing cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people, a growing crisis that tribes say has not received enough attention.
The Yurok Tribe was chosen as the first pilot location for the federal agency’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Initiative (MMIP), which is part of the Justice Department’s efforts to address disproportionately high rates of violence experienced by Native Americans, including Indigenous people, its website says.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs, a federal agency aimed at enhancing life for Native Americans, estimates there are more than 4,200 missing and murdered cases that have gone unsolved. The agency lists out many of the cases and photos of the missing on its website. But despite the numbers, cases involving Indigenous people have largely gone under the radar and advocates have been pushing for additional dedicated law enforcement resources and attention in the news media to the crisis, CNN previously reported.
Authorities say they have long faced a number of challenges that have prevented them from solving cases. Police say in some cases it involves family-on-family crime and relatives refuse to provide information because they don’t want the person responsible to go to jail. In other cases, there is limited evidence, CNN previously reported. Tribal communities generally don’t have doorbell cameras or exterior security cameras that help police investigate cases in urban or suburban areas.
The partnership with the Yurok Tribe, which was announced on Tuesday, will involve a collaboration between the tribe and USMS “to share information, identify goals, and develop strategies for improving public safety for Yurok Tribe, its members, and the broader community,” the USMS said in a press release.
The Yurok Tribe is currently the largest tribe in California with more than 5,000 members, according to the tribe’s website. The tribe has been a leader in fighting the crisis of missing and murdered Native American and Indigenous people and calling for programs to prevent future cases.
“The Yurok Tribe is extremely grateful to partner with the US Marshals Service on this important and timely initiative,” Joseph L. James, chairman of the Yurok Tribe, said in a statement. “The knowledge and tools we will gain from this unique partnership will significantly increase our capacity to keep our community safe.”
In January, the tribe received a $350,000 grant from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians to hire a full-time investigator for ongoing and cold cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous people, according to CNN affiliate KRCR. Tribal leaders also recently requested $200 million dollars from the state government to fight the crisis, KRCR reported.
The crisis spurred the FBI into action enlisting the agency’s intelligence resources best known for fighting crime and terrorism to create a master database last year of missing Native Americans in New Mexico and the Navajo Nation, CNN previously reported.
The database – which includes photos of the missing along with their age, gender and date of last contact – has been praised by advocates who insist that the cases of missing and murdered Native Americans don’t receive the attention they deserve from police, CNN reported.
The issue has also garnered the attention of President Joe Biden’s administration, which has rolled out a number of initiatives to address violence against Native Americans including a new unit within the Bureau of Indian Affairs to investigate the cases while coordinating resources among federal agencies and Indian country.
Members of the Yurok tribe and USMS recently met to discuss the partnership and the potential to work together on a wide range of activities – depending on the tribe’s priorities, the release said.
The targeted areas may include training on missing child investigations, data analysis, public outreach, sex offender registration and enforcement as well as investigative support for the tribe’s law enforcement officers, the release says.
“It is my sincere hope that by dedicating resources in Indian Country and partnering with the Yurok Tribe, U.S. Marshals will help address the problem of missing children from the Yurok Tribe and assist with other public safety initiatives, such as ensuring that registered sex offenders in the area are compliant with their statutory requirements,” US Marshals Service Director Ronald L. Davis said in a statement.
“We are fully committed to supporting the Yurok Tribe’s efforts to keep their communities safe,” he added.
Prosecutors grilled former attorney Alex Murdaugh, who insisted someone else was responsible for killing his wife and son. Prosecutors presented cell phone evidence as they tried to pin the blame on Murdaugh. Nikki Battiste shares more.
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Vanderbilt University’s Peabody School has apologized to students for using artificial intelligence to write an email about a mass shooting at another university, saying the distribution of the note did not follow the school’s usual processes.
Last Friday, the Tennessee-based school emailed its student body to address the tragedy at Michigan State that killed three students and injured five more people: “The recent Michigan shootings are a tragic reminder of the importance of taking care of each other, particularly in the context of creating inclusive environments,” reads the letter in part, as first reported by the Vanderbilt Hustler, a student newspaper.
At the end of the school’s email was a surprising line: “Paraphrase from OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI language model, personal communication, February 15, 2023,” read a parenthetical in smaller font.
Following an outcry from students about the use of AI to write a letter about community during human tragedy, the associate dean of Peabody sent an apology note the next day. Nicole Joseph, one of the three signatories of the original letter, called using ChatGPT “poor judgment,” according to the Vanderbilt Hustler.
On Tuesday, Vanderbilt said Joseph and assistant dean Hasina Mohyuddin, another signer of the email, have stepped back from their responsibilities while the school conducts a complete review.
“The development and distribution of the initial email did not follow Peabody’s normal processes providing for multiple layers of review before being sent. The university’s administrators, including myself, were unaware of the email before it was sent,” according to a statement Tuesday to CNN from Camilla P. Benbow, the Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development.
Since it was made available in late November, ChatGPT has been used to generate original essays, stories and song lyrics in response to user prompts. It has drafted research paper abstracts that fooled some scientists. Some CEOs have even used it to write emails or do accounting work.
While it has gained traction among users, it has also raised some concerns, including about inaccuracies, its potential to perpetuate biases and spread misinformation, and the ability to help students cheat.
Vanderbilt’s letter also included reference to “recent Michigan shootings,” though only one occurred.
“As dean of the college, I remain personally saddened by the loss of life and injuries at Michigan State, which I know have affected members of our own community,” Benbow said. “I am also deeply troubled that a communication from my administration so missed the crucial need for personal connection and empathy during a time of tragedy.”
Rachael Perrotta, editor in chief of the Vanderbilt student newspaper, said that students told her “they are outraged about this situation and confused as to what prompted administrators to turn to ChatGPT to write their message about the Michigan State shooting.”
In the winter of 1982 in Rochester, New York, Jim Krauseneck says he came home from work to find his wife, Cathleen Krauseneck, lying in bed, dead with an ax lodged in her head. For over 30 years, no one was charged with Cathy’s murder, until the Brighton Police Department collaborated with the FBI to reopen the case in 2015 with their sights set on Krauseneck as the primary suspect.
The ax used to murder Cathy Krauseneck.
CBS News
The unsolved murder of Cathy Krauseneck ended with the conviction of her husband in 2022. But Jim Krauseneck and his supporters argue the jury got it wrong.
1966-1974: The early years
Jim Krauseneck’s family owned a successful carpet store in Mount Clemens, Michigan.
USA Today/IMAGN
Jim and Cathy Krauseneck grew up in the small town of Mount Clemens, Michigan. Jim’s family owned a carpet store; Cathy’s father was a truck driver. They met each other in high school and started dating while attending Western Michigan University.
May 3, 1974: Jim Krauseneck and Cathy Schlosser wed
Jim and Cathy Krauseneck cutting the cake on their wedding day.
Annet Schlosser
Soon after marrying, the young couple moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, where Jim attended graduate school at Colorado State University. Cathy worked as an orthopedic therapist.
April 1978: Cathy gave birth to a baby girl, Sara
1979 to 1981: Jim taught at Lynchburg College
The Krauseneck’s moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, where Jim taught economics at Lynchburg College.
September 1981: New job, new city
Jim, Cathy and Sara Krauseneck
Annet Schlosser
Jim, Cathy and then 3-year-old Sara moved to Brighton, an upscale suburb of Rochester, New York. Jim started a new job as an economist for Kodak.
Feb. 16, 1982: Background check
Modern day photo of Kodak’s headquarters in Rochester, New York.
CBS News
Kodak reportedly discovered Jim Krauseneck did not complete his Ph.D. from Colorado State University.
Feb. 19, 1982 | Around 6:30 a.m.: Jim Krauseneck told investigators he left for work
Feb. 19, 1982 | 4:50 p.m.: Jim Krauseneck returns home
Evidence photo of the broken glass on the Krauseneck’s front door (lower right pane) and maul, a type of ax, on the ground.
Monroe County District Attorney’s Office
Jim Krauseneck told investigators he returned home after work. He said he found the garage door open and saw broken glass on the floor by the front door along with a maul.
Jim said he then ran upstairs to the master bedroom where he found Cathy in bed with an ax embedded in her head. Sara was unharmed in the next bedroom.
Feb. 19, 1982 | Around 5 p.m.: Jim Krauseneck runs to his neighbor’s home
Evidence photo of the ax handle.
Monroe County District Attorney’s Office
Jim Krauseneck’s neighbor told investigators Krauseneck came to her door “clutching Sara in his arms” with the “look of terror on his face.” The neighbor called 911, frantically telling the operator she believes a murder occurred across the street.
Feb. 19, 1982 | Around 5:03 p.m.: Authorities start arriving at the scene
Valuables, including a silver tea set, were scattered across the floor in the Krauseneck family’s home.
Monroe County District Attorney’s Office
Although police were unable to find significant forensic clues like fingerprints, they did find what they say was evidence of a staged burglary. There were valuable items scattered across the dining room floor, including Cathy’s purse and a tea set.
Investigators say nothing was taken and both the ax and the maul belonged to the Krausenecks.
Believing a burglary could have been staged to cover up Cathy’s murder, investigators began to focus on Jim Krauseneck.
Feb. 19, 1982: The crime scene
A shoe print (circled) was discovered inside a trash bag found at the crime scene.
Monroe County District Attorney
Detectives discovered a faint shoe print inside a trash bag near the silver tea set.
Feb. 19, 1982 | Later in the evening: Brighton Police Det. Bill Flood interviews Sara Krauseneck
Sara Krauseneck, left, and Det. Bill Flood.
Annet Schlosser/Bill Flood
Sara, 3-and-a-half years old, mentioned seeing a “bad man,” but she first said the man had a hammer in his head. Then she said an ax. She also described the man’s face as “many colors.” Detective Flood believed Sara was not seeing a “man” at all… but rather her dead mother, covered in blood.
Feb. 20, 1982: Cathy’s autopsy is conducted and Jim heads to Michigan
Jim Krauseneck
USA Today/Imagn
Jim Krauseneck spoke to investigators again and agreed to another meeting with investigators in the afternoon. But when the time came, Jim and Sara had left to be with family in Michigan.
Meanwhile, the medical examiner concluded Cathy Krauseneck’s cause of death was from the ax wound to the head.
During the autopsy, the medical examiner reportedly found no evidence of sexual assault and narrowed Cathy’s time of death somewhere between 4:30 a.m and 7:30 a.m. Authorities could not prove Jim Krauseneck had been home at the time she died.
With no direct evidence against Jim Krauseneck nor any clear motive, the case went cold for decades.
Jim and Sara Krauseneck moved out west. He would briefly wed twice more before marrying his current wife Sharon.
1997: Jim Krauseneck meets his current wife, Sharon
Jim Krauseneck married Sharon James in 1999.
Sharon Krauseneck
While at a trade show, Krauseneck runs into Sharon James, an old friend. The two date for the next two years and marry in 1999.
2014: A Rochester career criminal “confesses” to Cathy’s murder
Edward Laraby
Monroe County District Attorney’s Office
Before dying from ALS, Edward Laraby, a career criminal who had been locked up on charges of attempted murder, robbery and sexual abuse, wrote a confession claiming he killed Cathy Krauseneck. Authorities said Laraby’s confession was riddled with errors that didn’t match up to the facts of the case. Laraby mischaracterized Cathy as a brunette and heavy set. He said he sexually assaulted her and then killed her. But investigators at the scene found no evidence of sexual abuse. Due to these inconsistencies, prosecutors and authorities do not take action.
2015: The case is reopened and the FBI gets involved
In April 2015, at the direction of former Brighton Police Chief Mark Henderson, a thorough review of the case, including travel to interview potential witnesses, persons with knowledge and suspects, was to be conducted.
In June 2015, then-Police Chief Henderson and then-Captain Catholdi attended a meeting of the FBI Buffalo Cold Case Group and presented the Krauseneck case to the group. After a Q & A period in which several ideas on how to proceed were discussed, the entire case file was given to the FBI to be digitized.
Chief Henderson contacted Cathy Krauseneck’s family to let them know the new status of the case.
April 2016: Investigators interview Jim Krauseneck again
Jim Krauseneck
Sharon Krauseneck
Brighton, N.Y., investigators Mark Liberatore and Steven Hunt pay Jim Krauseneck a surprise visit at his home in Gig Harbor, Washington, for an interview. During the interview, Det. Liberatore asks Krauseneck outright if he had something to do with his wife’s death. After Krauseneck told him he didn’t kill Cathy, Liberatore said he disagreed and thinks he did do it.
2018: Authorities contact pathologist Dr. Michael Baden
In 2018, prosecutors turned to forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who has been hired to work on a “who’s who” of whodunit cases, from the assassination of JFK to the reported suicide of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, often raising eyebrows and generating controversy.
AP Newsroom
Seeking another opinion on when Cathy Krauseneck could have been killed, the Brighton Police Department and the Monroe County District Attorney’s office asked pathologist and former New York Chief Medical Examiner Michael Baden to review the evidence.
October 2019: Dr. Baden reports his findings
Dr. Baden’s report.
CBS News
After reviewing the Monroe County autopsy, toxicology reports, the scene, autopsy photographs and police reports, Dr. Baden stated that it appeared that Cathy died around 3:30 a.m. Prosecutors believe that means Jim Krauseneck would have been home during the time Cathy was killed.
November 2019: Jim Krauseneck indicted and arrested
Jim Krauseneck was indicted on Nov. 1, 2019. He voluntarily surrendered to authorities a week later.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office
The grand jury indictment was signed on Nov. 1 and a week later Krauseneck surrendered to authorities at the Hall of Justice in Rochester, NY. The then-67-year-old pleaded not guilty.
Sept. 6, 2022: The trial begins
In September 2022, Jim Krauseneck was tried for the 1982 murder of his first wife, Cathy.
Shawn Dowd/Pool
Forty years after Cathy Krauseneck was killed in her sleep, her husband Jim Krauseneck stands trial for her murder. Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley insists she has “absolutely no doubt that Jim Krauseneck killed Cathy that day.” Defense attorney Bill Easton says his client is innocent and told “48 Hours,” “There really is no evidence that Jim Krauseneck killed his wife.”
September 2022: Expert shoe witness called to the stand
A crime scene photo shows a pair of boat shoes, like her husband was known to wear, by her Cathy Krauseneck’s bed. The shows were never tested. Forty years later, detectives believe the faint shoe print in that garbage bag was made by those boat shoes.
Monroe County District Attorney’s Office
Prosecutors called an expert witness who testified the footprint found inside the trash bag was from a special footwear – a boat shoe. A pair was captured in one of the 1982 crime scene photographs of the bedroom. But the shoes Krauseneck wore back then were not tested to see if they were a match. Jim Krauseneck’s lawyers say investigators have the wrong theory and the wrong man.
Sept. 22, 2022: Closing arguments
Jim Krauseneck’s daughter Sara gives her father a hug in court.
Shawn Dowd/Pool
The morning after closing arguments are heard, the court hands the case to the jury, who will determine whether Jim Krauseneck is guilty or not guilty of Cathy’s murder. The jurors’ decision will also affect the futures of his wife Sharon and his daughter Sara, who was 3-and-a-half years old when her mother was killed. Sara, now 44, attended the trial to support her father.
Sept. 26, 2022: A verdict
James Krauseneck is led away in handcuffs after he was found guilty for the 1982 murder of Cathy Krauseneck in Brighton, New York.
Jamie Germano
A jury finds Jim Krauseneck guilty of second-degree murder of his first wife Cathy. Deputies immediately take him into custody.
Nov. 7, 2022: Jim Krauseneck sentenced
Sara and Jim Krauseneck read their statements in court ahead of Jim’s sentencing.
Shawn Dowd/Pool
During sentencing, Sara, the girl left in the house at the time of her mother’s murder, read a statement in which she expressed her disappointment in the verdict.
“My mother’s killer got away with her murder, and my father’s life has been taken by a failed justice system that convicted him of a crime he did not commit,” she said.
In his statement before sentencing, Jim Krauseneck, 71, spoke to the court for the first time. Krauseneck read a note in which he reaffirmed his love for Cathy and his innocence.
“In closing, I did not murder Cathy. I love Cathy. With all my heart and with all my soul,” he said.
The judge sentenced Krauseneck to 25 years in prison.
November 2022: Jim Krauseneck plans to appeal
While Krauseneck was found guilty by a jury, his supporters, including his daughter Sara, his wife Sharon, and his immediate family are still sure of his innocence and convinced that he was convicted of a crime he did not commit.
In her statement at court, Sharon Krauseneck said they plan to appeal the jury’s guilty verdict “so that justice can truly and honestly be served.”
Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden spoke via video call Wednesday with John Hao, a fan of Harden’s and one of the Michigan State University students wounded in a mass shooting on campus last week.
A video shared with CNN by Harden’s management team shows the NBA star giving words of encouragement to Hao, who remains hospitalized.
“Everything will work itself out. You’re strong,” Harden says during their conversation. “Keep pushing and keep fighting.”
Hao was among those shot at Michigan State’s campus in East Lansing on February 13. The shooting killed three students and wounded at least five others, officials said.
A bullet severed Hao’s spinal cord and critically injured his lungs, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down, according to a verified GoFundMe started for his family.
Hao is pursuing a career in sports management, and Harden is his favorite basketball player, a representative of Hao’s family told CNN. Gifts from Harden to Hao include a pair of game-worn sneakers.
CNN has sought comment from Harden’s agent and the 76ers.
Classes and athletic events have resumed at Michigan State. In its first home game since the shooting, the men’s basketball team claimed an emotional victory over the Indiana Hoosiers on Tuesday, as the crowd wore white to honor those lost or wounded.
The US has had more than 80 mass shootings in 2023 as of Thursday, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that defines mass shootings as those in which four or more people were shot, not including the shooter.
