GUILTY NY - Karl Karlsen charged in murders of wife (1991) & son (2008), Calaveras County

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http://centurylink.net/news/read/ca...ap-wifes_fear_leads_to_new_look_at_husband-ap

WATERLOO, N.Y. (AP) — The more Cindy Karlsen learned about her husband, Karl, the more suspicious she became.

There was the $700,000 life insurance payout he received after the 2008 death of his grown son, who was crushed when the pickup truck he was working under suddenly slipped off its jack. There was the $200,000 life insurance payout he received when his first wife died in a house fire nearly two decades earlier. And finally for Cindy Karlsen, there was the $1.2 million policy that her husband had now taken out on her life.

That's what prompted her to work with police, leading to second-degree murder and insurance fraud charges against Karl Karlsen in the death of his 23-year-old son, Levi. And New York and California authorities are now taking a new look at the circumstances of the 1991 death of his former wife, Christina Karlsen..........

A week later, Karlsen would spend 9½ hours being interrogated by police. Seventy-five times, Karlsen denied killing his son, said his lawyer, Lawrence Kasperek. Eventually, he signed a statement acknowledging he had knocked the truck off its jack and walked away........

In an interview with The Post-Standard of Syracuse a month after his arrest, Karlsen said his ex-wife's death, his son's death and even a 2002 fire at his Seneca County farm that killed his Belgian draft horses, for which he collected $80,000 in insurance money, were all just coincidences.

More in 3p. article......
 
WOW-I wonder what the biggest kick was for him, the money or the killing? This is also another excellent example of why you should always listen to that intuition.
 
Read about this case earlier... appalling. His own son.
 
I think there should be a rule that if someone takes a life insurance policy out on you, you should be made aware of it and agree to it.

Really....

This was my parent's biggest fear when I was married...good for her for listening to her inner fear!
 
909fde58-2513-4558-80e8-4d4ca8774fcd_zps98cc8943.jpg


http://www.syracuse.com/news/index....ife_in_1991_california_fire.html#incart_river

Karl Karlsen, the Seneca County man who pleaded guilty in November to killing his son by dropping a truck on his chest, could face the death penalty in California after being charged today with murdering his first wife there 23 years ago.

Karlsen has been charged with killing Christina Karlsen on New Year's Day 1991 in a fire "for financial gain."

Murder for financial gain is considered a "special circumstance" under California law that would qualify Karlsen for the death penalty if he is convicted.
 
http://www.fltimes.com/news/article_bc98b99a-30b3-11e4-9162-0019bb2963f4.html

The charge comes about eight months after Karlsen was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the 2008 death of his 23-year-old son, Levi, at Karlsen’s Yale Farm Road home in the Seneca County town of Varick. Karlsen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in that case.

Karlsen, 54, is serving that sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility. He isn’t eligible for parole until 2027.
 
http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/news/article_bd5c8e86-3489-11e4-9584-0019bb2963f4.html

Christina Karlsen died on Jan. 1, 1991, when the home she shared with her husband and children on Pennsylvania Gulch Road near Murphys burned. Kerosene had spilled in a hallway and ignited.

Christina was trapped in a bathroom by the flames and could not escape because a broken bathroom window had been boarded shut. She was 30 years old.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-man-killed-son-charged-wife-death-article-1.1922241

The night of the fire, Karl Karlsen helped the three children escape from the flames, Erin Karlsen said.

Once outside, the four watched the house burn. Karl Karlsen never went back in to find his wife... "(He) didn't make an effort to save her. He just stood there," she said. "I didn't understand that my mother was behind that wall dying."
 
Wow - first time that I have read this. Could not have been easy for Cindy to take that risk and push the police to investigate. Brave woman.
 
​Karlsen pleads not guilty in wife's 1991 death
Karl Karlsen, 56, pleaded not guilty to killing Christina Karlsen Monday in Calaveras Superior Court, a little more than a quarter century after Christina died in a house fire near Murphys.

Karlsen is scheduled to appear at 1:30 p.m. on May 9 in Calaveras County Superior Court, when a date will be set for a preliminary hearing on charges that he killed his wife.
http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/news/article_230335a4-0815-11e6-b0f6-33b99680f93a.html?
 
Nearly three years after Karl Karlsen admitted murdering his son in Seneca County, a judge in California will decide if Karlsen stands trial for allegedly killing his first wife.

A preliminary hearing was held last week in Calaveras County, Calif., on the first-degree murder charge Karslen faces. He is accused of setting a fire that caused the death of Christina Karlsen in 1991.

The hearing started Monday, and testimony ended Friday afternoon. Among those testifying were Seneca County Undersheriff John Cleere and members of Karlsen’s family.
http://www.fltimes.com/news/karlsen...cle_9b2afdf2-56bf-11e6-9927-dfcffbc397d8.html
 
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/home/4830076-151/no-plea-yet-for-karlsen

Karl Karlsen did not enter a plea during his sixth arraignment hearing Friday afternoon.

Karlsen, 56, has been accused of igniting a house fire in 1991 to kill his wife, Christina Alexander Karlsen, and collect $200,000 from a life insurance policy he took out on her weeks before her death on New year’s Day 1991.

Most of Friday’s arraignment hearing was dedicated to a “demurrer for uncertainty to the information” submitted by Karlsen’s defense attorney, Scott Gross, on Nov. 4, the same day as Karlsen’s previous arraignment hearing.

During the hearing, Gross argued that the documentation submitted to the court on Karlsen’s previous conviction in Seneca County, New York, was missing essential and pertinent information.

Karlsen’s next arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 9 at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 1.
 
He ought to be thrown in the lions den at the zoo.
 
Karlsen enters plea of not guilty

http://www.uniondemocrat.com/localnews/4890418-151/karlsen-enters-plea-of-not-guilty?referrer=bullet3

Karl Karlsen submitted a plea of not guilty at his seventh arraignment hearing Friday afternoon in Calaveras County Superior Court.

The entire proceeding lasted no more than five minutes.

A trial date was not set. Instead, both the prosecution, represented by District Attorney Barbara Yook, and the defense agreed to waive time in the upcoming trial.

A pre-trial conference is set for 1:30 p.m. Jan. 6 in Department 1.
 
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/localnews/4961850-151/no-trial-date-set-in-karlsen-murder-case?referrer=bullet3

An official trial date was not set during a trial-setting conference Friday afternoon in Calaveras County Superior Court in the Karl Karlsen murder case.

At his final arraignment hearing on Dec. 9, Karlsen, 56, entered a plea of not guilty to the accusation that he purposely ignited a house fire in 1991 to kill his wife, Christina Alexander Karlsen, and collect her life insurance policy. He had taken out a $200,000 life insurance policy in the weeks before her death on New year’s Day 1991.

District Attorney Barbara Yook began the proceedings by addressing Judge Grant Barrett, asking that a motion setting conference be set on Friday, Feb. 3 so that the prosecution could address a “995 response” that will be submitted by the defense.

A California Penal Code 995 motion is a request by the defense for the presiding judge to dismiss one or more counts of the criminal complaint filed against the accused.
 
I think there should be a rule that if someone takes a life insurance policy out on you, you should be made aware of it and agree to it.

Really....

Aren't the insured and the beneficiary required to sign? Of course, if it is not witnessed, what good is it? Any life insurance agents know? Do the laws vary state-to-state?
 
Karlsen lawyers make procedural motions

http://www.uniondemocrat.com/home/5040733-151/karlsen-lawyers-make-procedural-motions

Karl Karlsen’s defense submitted a motion to dismiss one or more counts of the information presented during the preliminary trial at Karlen’s trial setting conference Friday afternoon.

Counsel will convene again on Feb. 24 in response to the motion and to consider setting a trial date.

Gross began by submitting the 995 Motion to the judge and the prosecution, which a motion “to set aside information” presented against the defendant during the preliminary trial.

While Yook confirmed the Feb. 24 date to discuss the motion, Gross added that he will filing additional motions before that date.

“The number of motions the defense is going to file are all in the process,” Gross said. “One at a time they will be filed.”
 
Karlsen Trial Dismissal Motion Denied

http://www.ledger.news/news/karlsen-trial-dismissal-motion-denied/article_e7a247fa-004a-11e7-a11b-2339c2427817.html

A man accused of killing his wife in an intentional fire more than 25 years ago in Calaveras County is headed for trial.

Calaveras County Superior Court Judge Grant Barrett denied a motion to dismiss the case by Karlsen’s attorney during a hearing Feb. 24.

He will be back in Calaveras Superior Court for a trial-setting conference March 24.
 
Karlsen continues in trial setting conferences

http://www.uniondemocrat.com/localnews/5179610-151/karlsen-continues-in-trial-setting-conferences?referrer=fpblob

At the beginning of Friday’s trial setting hearing, Karlsen’s defense attorney Scott Gross requested a “brief chamber conference” with Judge Grant Barrett, District Attorney Barbara Yook and Deputy District Attorney Jeff Stone.

Barrett acknowledged that the meeting was “regarding scheduling” and noted that “several pretrial motions will be addressed” in the coming weeks before the next scheduled trial setting conference.

He instructed the council to “meet and confer in the interim and exchange information informally” before the next scheduled trial setting hearing at 1:30 p.m. April 14 in Department 1.
 

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