Karyn Kupcinet
 

Does anyone know about the murder of actress Karyn Kupcinet 3 days or so after Jack Ruby shot Oswald in 1963?

Some people believe that it was a warning or vendetta to Chicago's Irv Kupcinet of the Chicago Sun-Times and talk show fame. Some researchers believe because his daughter was so high profile, they took her out to hurt him and anyone else pursuing the Kennedy Assassination.

It seems Jack Ruby and Kup grew up near each other in Chicago's "West Side." They both were violent boys, but Kup made out so much better than Ruby. They had a mutual friend, a mob/intel lawyer named Paul Dorfman. Before the gunsmoke was totally dissipated in that police station garage, Kup was on the phone to this man. Dorfman lived in Dallas and didn't even know yet that Ruby had shot Oswald.

Had Kup been spending the week looking into the Chicago-Ruby connection, while his daughter lay dead in her West Hollywood apartment? She wasn't discovered for 3 days. She had a broken hyoid bone in her neck. The coroner said she died as a result of being grabbed from behind by a powerful man, who used only one hand to strangle her: his left.

Some months later, a newspaper reporter named Jim Koethe, who had met with some others in Ruby's apartment the night of Oswald's shooting, was found dead of a karate chop to the neck as he was getting out of the shower. He might not be in the same league, but he was a reporter as was Irv Kupcinet.

In my opinion Karyn Kupcinet was killed in the same manner. She was found face down on her couch, flecks of blood on her face and a pillow, and having bled from the mouth, all consistent with a sudden blow to the neck.

Kathy C

Sources: The NY Times Obit Nov. 30/Dec. 1, 1963; Crossfire by Jim Marrs; "The Glamour Jungle" in James Ellroy's Crime Wave; Seth Kantor; People Magazine 1976, "Unsolved Celebrity Murders," Tony Randall on cover; and John Austin of The Hollywood Syndicate.

Are people deliberately staying away from this post because of the "attachment"? It is a small photo of Karyn Kupcinet. I thought it was OK to post photos. If it's not, I wish someone would tell me why people stay away from this post in droves. I am new to this Forum and don't know what's acceptable.
Kathy C

HI Kathy and Welcome to WS. The forums are pretty slow right now due to the holidays. The picture is fine.

Hi,
I have heard of this case and read about it in the 1991 book "Getting Away With Murder" by Ed Baumann and John O'Brien. I remember her boyfriend was a suspect at one point, and something about threatening letters she and her boyfriend had received were investigated and it appeared (at that time at least) they were sent by Karyn herself. I don't remember alot of details so my recollections could be off but yes, I have heard of this unsolved murder and remember her father's newspaper column.

Karyn Kupcinet book
 

Dear Joellegirl, Thanks for giving me a title of a book to read about Karyn Kupcinet. I'm always searching for things about her and memorabilia. James Ellroy wrote about her in Crime Wave, though I don't agree with his conclusions.

There's an article currently on the Internet from Chicago Magazine about the Kupcinet family. Her mother was so shallow and would yell at her if she gained weight, and encouraged her to take amphetamines. I have followed this case for decades.

Kathy C

Glad I could help. "Getting Away With Murder" is out of print but is sometimes on Amazon.com used section. I bought it new in 1991. It is a good book and has stories of 57 unsolved crimes/murders in the Illinois/Wisconsin /Indiana area. At least one has been solved since but I believe the rest haven't. It has a chapter (and a picture) on Karyn Kupcinet (because of her Chicago connection), the three young women who vanished from the Indiana Dunes in 1966, Evelyn Hartley, missing babysitter from LaCrosse Wi in 1953--the case I have been following for years, and Valerie Percy ,Grimes sisters , Helen Brach and many many more.

Book
 

Dear Joellegirl,

I looked up that book today re Kupcinet and it returned a weird story of these German children who were molested and killed. It said Irv Kupcinet raised a lot of money for them in the '50's. And then it said maybe it was hush money from the Jewish Sector.

I'll keep plugging away on it. Thanks a lot.

Kathy C

It is a fascinating story. I have seen her name listed only once in Assassination books that I have, and no details were included.

Perhaps others have tried to access the photo and got the same message that I got:

"you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:
Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation."

Rest assured, I was not trying to edit your post - only trying to see the picture that you posted.

I haven't been on this Forum long enough to know how to fix what you descibed. It's a little photo of Karyn Kupcinet in early '62. I don't get that message when I clicked on the attachment. I'll have to do some detective work and find out what's the problem. Thanks for writing.
Kathy C

http://websleuths.com/forums/attachm...ttachmentid=12Karyn Kupcinet posted by Kathleen Collins

Please let me know if there's any problem with the above link -- a little photo of Karyn Kupcinet.

Kathy C

I got the same message as Richard when I clicked just now.

I get the same message as Richard did too. What might work better is if there is a website on Karyn with a picture of her. Then send the link to the website. Hope this helps.

I did a google search and found several sites-including this one that has a picture of Karyn

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/kupcinet.htm

The problem might be that I'm using someone else's computer. I managed to get into my photo files but no one else can. Will fix it when I return home.

Kathy C

I remember hearing about this murder. Kup was a well-known columnist in the area.

Do you live near Chicago? When she died, 1500 people went to her funeral. I was wondering if you ever heard that or if you remember hearing about any suspects in the case.