Robert Grey Reynolds - Karyn Kupcinet Strangled Hollywood Beauty

Karyn Kupcinet

Strangled Hollywood Beauty

Robert Grey Reynolds Jr.

Smashwords Edition 2014

On December 9, 1963syndicated columnist Dorothy Kilgallen (July 3, 1913-November 8,1965) reported in her Voice of Broadway column that lovely andvivacious actress, Karyn Kupcinet (March 6, 1941-November 28,1963), was murdered by quite astrange young man . Figure 1 Actress Karyn Kupcinet Thiswas the certainly the opinion of Kupcinets Hollywood friends.Karyn was the only daughter of Chicago newspaper columnist andtelevision moderator Irv Kupcinet (July 31, 1912-November 10,2003). Her mothers maiden name was EstherJoan Essee Solomon(December 7, 1914-June 16, 2001). Figure 2 Essee and Irv KupcinetKaryns given name was Roberta Lynn Kupcinet. A petite beauty,5-feet-3 1/2 inches tall, 105 pounds, she was found strangled todeath in her apartment on Saturday night, November 30, 1963.Homicide officers in Hollywood worked in teams to discover theidentity of Kupcinets killer. Her apartment was a modest one. Itwas situated close to the renowned Sunset Strip on Hollywoodssouth side. Rented for $135-a-month, it had four rooms. The actresslived alone. The apartment complex comprised 18 units. It was builtin the old California or Monterrey style. The apartments weresituated along a quiet, tree-lined street. There was a doublecourtyard that opened on to the street. A majority of the otherapartments were occupied by young actors and actresses. Most ofthem had faces that were familiar but their names were not yetwell-known. Kupcinet had been in Hollywood for two and half yearsbut had lived at this residence for only four months. She hadrepainted part of the apartment herself. Karyns former boyfriend,Andrew Lewis Prine (born February 14, 1936), was one person who wasquestioned by investigators. Figure 3 Andrew Prine Kupcinet datedPrine until a short time before her death. The couple broke upfollowing a disagreement. Prine starred in the televisionseries Wide Country . Figure 4 Wide Country/NBC TV Hetold

detectives that he that hedid not know about the slaying. Prine admitted that he hadtelephoned Kupcinet several times on Wednesday evening, November27 th .His calls were made to discuss theirdifferences. Authorities investigating themurder believed Prine could have been the last person to hearKaryns voice. Figure 5 Andrew Prine and KarynKupcinet Their last conversation occurred around midnight, at thetime of his second call. Prine claimed that he was out on a dateuntil he received a call from Karyn. He said that he did not seeher at all during the night. Andrew Prine was divorced from actressSharon Farrell (born December 24, 1940). Figure 6 Sharon Farrell One issue ofcontention between Prine and Kupcinet occurred when Karyn becamepregnant with Prines baby during the summer of 1963. Her pregnancywas aborted in Tijuana in July 1963. Karyn was driven to Mexico byher friends Mark and Marcia Goddard. Kupcinet and Prine laterresolved not to see one another sooften. Officers considered the early hoursof Thursday morning, November 28 th , as the most probable timefor the strangling to have occurred. Freelance writer Edward S.Rubin (born 1941) and actor Robert F. Hathaway (born 1939) werealso questioned. Kupcinets body was undiscovered for three days.Actor Mark Goddard and his wife, Marcia Rogers Goddard, came by theapartment on the evening of November 30 th . Goddard was later a star of the television series Lost InSpace. In 1963 Goddard was freelancing. He had acted one of thelead parts in Robert Taylors Detectives . On November28 th , the last day of KarynKupcinets life, she had dinner with Mark and Marcia Goddard attheir home on Coldwater Canyon Drive in Beverly Hills. It waslocated near Mulholland Drive. Karyn arrived an hour late, gettingthere at 7:30 p.m. Marcia and Mark informed two L.A. CountySheriffs officers that Kupcinet had only toyed with her food during supper. They also noticed that theirfriends lips appeared to be numb, and she had turned her head at odd angles .Another oddity that the Goddards identified was that Kupcinets eyepupils looked to be constricted . The couple discussed heraltered appearance with her, and Karyn began to cry. She respondedto their concern by placing her arm around Mark. An unsubstantiated story alsobecame a topic of conversation during the dinner. Specifically,their guest mentioned that a baby had been abandoned. Karyn foundit on her doorstep earlier that day. She promised to call theGoddards soon when she left their house, at around 8:30 p.m. Mark and Marcia attempted to contactKaryn for several days before they found her body. Figure 7 Karyn Kupcinet's FormerApartment Building Their phone calls went unanswered. The hyoid, au-shaped bone at the base of Karyn Kupcinets tongue, was fracturedby the intense force used by her strangler. This fact was disclosedby autopsy surgeon, Dr. Harold Kade. The hyoid bone fracture wasaccompanied by additional injuries to Kupcinets thyroid gland(left side), thyroid cartilage, tongue (base of tongue), a deepsoft neck hemorrhage, epiglottis and larynx. The most morbiddetails of the autopsy report disclosed hemorrhagic fluid exudes and bubbles forth from the nostrilsand mouth but no blood is visible in the ear canals. Numerousyellowish-white, rod-like fly eggs are present in the scalp hairbut no motile maggot forms are evident. AChicago Tribune article, Find KupsDaughter Dead ,added additional details of the death scene. Police reported thatKaryns body was found in bed. There were injuries to her head thatindicated she was beaten there. The Los Angeles Times wrote thatpolice were deliberating a theory that the actress death was asuicide. Investigators found a spoon, coffee cup and an emptybrandy snifter in the bedroom. This hypothesis surmised that KarynKupcinet had taken an overdose of pills. Just before her death shehad appeared on the Jerry Lewis television show. Lieutenant GeorgeWalsh of Hollywood detectives elaborated about what investigatorssaw inside the actress apartment. He said it was all torn up. The officers founda coffee mug on a low table and three more mugs inside thekitchen. An empty coffee pot was found lying on its side on thecarpet and some cigarettes were strewn on the floor. The cigaretteswere usually kept in a large brandy snifter. There must have been a tremendous struggle. Karyn was getting ready forChristmas before she died. A Christmas wreath was pinned on herapartment door. A replica of an Academy Award Oscar stood on hermantelpiece. Near Karyns WELCOME mat were a number of newspapers,magazines and a copy of Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. Anotherpile of clipped magazines was near a stand across the room. Themagazines were shredded and cut up with scissors. A cup of coffeewas on the stand. Officers discovered anote of a cryptic nature. It read, Im nogood. Im not really that pretty. My figures fat and will never bethe way my mother wants it. Why must I be so alone? Whats the useof living with nothing to believe in? Theres nothing only phonymotives, selfish egoists, selfless people, fat heads and drunks andI want out. I like President Kennedy, Bertrand Russell, Theodore Reiks, Peter OToole, Sydney J. Harris,Albert Finney . In the aftermath of themurder, Andrew Prine became depressed. His friends worried abouthim. He spent Christmas 1963 with his mother in Florida. Hereturned to California having not dated anyone. In early Decemberdetectives examined letters from persons who had threatened KarynKupcinets life. In light of the physical injuries to her throat,they considered the strangler was probably someone who used onlyone hand to strangle the actress. Prine gave detectives somealphabet letters that he said were pasted on the door of hisresidence. The cut out letters were also found on Karyn KupcinetsMonterrey Village apartment door, at North Sweetzer Avenue in WestHollywood.