State Police look anew at student's slaying in 1985

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Ovid, Seneca County (WSYR-TV / AP) – This Saturday marks 24 years since a young Minnesota woman was murdered in the Seneca County Town of Ovid.

Twenty-year-old Kristin O'Connell was visiting a friend she met while on vacation in Florida. She went for a walk, and was found dead later that day.

State police have developed a timeline with the hope it will help solve this case.

O'Connell left a trailer at 11:30 the night of August 14, 1985. At the trailer there was a small gathering with booze. O’Connell didn't want to be a part of it.

“She was never involved in drugs, she was not an alcohol drinker,” says State Police Investigator Jeffery Arnold.

It appeared as though she just wanted some alone time, and walked barefoot down County Route 139.

By 11:55 p.m. she had company.

“Whether they were talking to her, whether they were trying to convince her to get in the car, we don't believe they were trying to force her into the car. But that car was then seen pulling away and another car seen pulling up,” Arnold says.

It was just after midnight; O’Connell was making the 1/4 mile trip back up toward the trailer. State police say witnesses told them there were two men following her, about 50 yards back.

Her body was found in a nearby cornfield with her throat slashed at 5:10 p.m. the following day.

One week later, on August 23, 1985, the state police barracks in Auburn fielded an anonymous call.

“Don't interrupt me. Do you want the guy that killed that guy or, ah, that girl? Go ahead. You look at, ah, behind the Chevy - the green Chevy - on Main Street in Waterloo and you'll find him. And if you open the trunk - if you open the trunk you'll find what you want,” said the caller.

It prompted little action at the time. And the investigators working this case didn't know the call - a potential witness - existed until a year ago. It's a new lead they hope will help them to finally make an arrest.

The men who were spotted following O’Connell were described as young, between 16 and 17 years old and of thin build.

One was about six feet tall; the other a little shorter. Both had longer hair.

State police say they've been promised $40,000 in funds by Seneca County to enlist a Dutch forensic team that specializes in touch DNA techniques to solve cold-case homicides. But they say Wednesday that Health Department officials are blocking the test because the Amsterdam lab isn't certified in New York.

Anyone with information that might help police should call Investigator Arnold at 585-398-4123.
There's a video segment from last night's news here: http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/S ... 9RnNQ.cspx

I lived in FL when this happened, but the guy who Kristin was visiting lived right across the street from my mom. Her body was found within 1/4 mile of my mom's place. I can't begin to tell you how many nights I walked that very same stretch of road.
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Better late than never... They should definitely use an in-state forensic team... it makes all the difference with these cold cases.
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I've thought about this case so many times over the years. She was only 4 years younger than me. This happened back when we knew just about everyone who lived in Ovid (and the surrounding area for that matter). I could never wrap my head around the possibility of a local person committing a crime like that. There was a bar in town that was pretty popular at the time and had bands on the weekends. It could be that these guys were in town to go to that bar, which was on the same road. It's a county road, not a main route through town unless you're a local (unlike 96/96A/414). :shrug:
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Minnesota mom asks for public's help in solving daughter's slaying in Seneca County 25 years ago

Published: Friday, August 13, 2010, 1:57 PM Updated: Friday, August 13, 2010, 2:11 PM
Scott Rapp /The Post-Standard

On the eve of the 25th anniversary of her daughter’s slaying, Phyllis O’Connell today made an emotional public appeal to help solve the murder.

“I really want some closure. If anybody has some information….They have no idea what it’s like to lose a child. It’s the most devastating thing in the world,’’ O’Connell said.

Her daughter, Kristin O’Connell, 20, of Minnesota, was fatally stabbed and her throat was slashed after she left a friend’s house to take a walk about 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 14, 1985. Her nude body was found two days later in a cornfield off county Route 139, about a quarter mile from her friend’s house, in the Seneca County town of Ovid.

Phyllis O’Connell, who lives in Minnesota, asked for the public’s help at a news conference at the Waterloo state police barracks. At the conference, county District Attorney Barry Porsch announced his office is offering a $10,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of Kristin O’Connell’s killer(s).

Porsch said state police work on the case nearly every day.

“We feel this reward will lead to making an arrest in this case,’’ Porsch said.

You can reach Scott Rapp at [email protected] or 315-289-4839
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/ ... blics.html
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Finally!
Break in Ovid cold case investigation?

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- We're learning new information in connection with a local murder that's gone unsolved for more than two decades.

According to WCCO in Minnesota, there could be a break in the investigation into Kristin O'Connell's murder. 25 years ago, she was murdered while visiting a friend in Ovid. Witnesses say they last saw Kristin walking on County Route 139 on August 14th, 1985. She was found days later with her throat slashed.

Now, WCCO reports a Dutch husband and wife forensic team have Kristin's clothing, and they willl be doing "touch" DNA tests. This could lead to Kristin's killer.

Stay with CNY Central, we'll keep you up to date with any new developments in the case.
http://www.cnycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=608305
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