Navigating Independence and Unease

On the night of August 14, 1985, twenty-year-old Kristin O’Connell left a party in Ovid, NY to go for a walk. Two days later, her nude body was discovered near a cornfield along a rural county road; she had been stabbed in the chest and her throat was cut. 

The unsolved murder of Kristin O’Connell has baffled local New York investigators for decades. At the time of her murder, Kristin had traveled from Minnesota to New York to visit a young man she’d met a few months earlier while on Spring Break in Florida. According to witnesses, Kristin wasn’t wearing shoes when she left the party and she wasn’t carrying a purse. Several witnesses reported having seen Kristin walking that night between 11:30 pm and 12:15 am, when she was seen talking to one or possible two men in a car. Roughly ten minutes later, several people reported hearing a loud scream coming from the area where her body was discovered.

In the decades since Kristin’s murder, police have interviewed dozens of witnesses and followed up on thousands of leads, yet the case remains no closer to being solved than it was in the days following the discovery of the body.

Please sign the Petition to override the decision to not permit 'touch DNA' to potentially solve this cold case! visit https://www.change.org/p/family-demands-dna-testing-by-othram-labs-in-the-kristin-o-connell-cold-case

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References

Allen, Matha. 1985. "Slain woman's parents seek comfort from her letter." Star Tribune, August 18: 35.

Associated Press. 1987. "Psychics seeking slues to 1985 murder in Ovid." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), August 22: 12.

—. 2009. "DNA may solve '85 slaying." Press and Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY), August 13: 1.

Democrat and Chronicle . 1985. "Police ask help in Ovid murder." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), August 20: 11.

Democrat and Chronicle. 1985. "Lab to test items from slaying." Democrat and Chronicle , August 19: 7.

Ebert, Alex. 2009. "A Burnsville mother won't let her daughter's murder case go cold." Star Tribune, August 13.

Gillis, Jackie. 2023. What happened to Kristin O'Connell? March 2. Accessed March 2, 2025. https://www.mytwintiers.com/news-cat/local-news/what-happened-to-kristin-oconnell/.

Lighty, Todd, and John Hartsock. 1985. "Brutal slaying shakes Seneca town." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), August 18: 1.

Pfifer, Jim. 1996. "Police suspect imprisoned man for 1985 murder in Ovid." Star-Gazette, January 28: 1.

Pittman, Mark. 1985. "Minn. woman found dead in Seneca." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), August 17: 1.

Ritter, Carol. 1985. "4 deaths, few answers in Seneca." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), August 22: 14.

—. 1986. "Parents on pilgrimage of grief." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), August 16: 1.

—. 1985. "Slaying no longer the talk of Ovid, but investigation, reaction continue." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), September 25: 11.

Shaw, David. 2009. "Police seek help on cold case." Finger Lakes Times, August 13.

—. 1986. "Kristin O'Connell's murderer thwarts police." Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), February 21: 1.

—. 1986. "Murder case takes police out of state." Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), January 8: 14.

—. 1985. "Cops place an ad in hunt for killer." Syracuse Herald-Journal, August 29: 1.

—. 1985. "Police hope TV reenactment of killing will help solve case." Syracuse Herald-Journal, September 13: 15.

—. 1985. "Slaying's legacy: a bounty and fear." Syracuse Herald-Journal, August 30: 95.

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