Trial begins in 1986 killing of Norwalk girl strangled while walking home from school
The case remained cold for decades until advancements in DNA technology led police to arrest Marc Karun in 2019.
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Dozens of Norwalk police officers—past and present—were in Stamford Superior Court Monday to see the start of a trial for a crime that haunted the community for generations—the murder and sexual assault of an 11-year-old Norwalk girl as she walked home from school nearly 40 years ago.
Marc Karun, now 60, is charged with murder, kidnapping and murder with special circumstances in the death of Kathleen Flynn, known as Kathy, a sixth grader at Ponus Ridge Middle School. If convicted, Karun faces the possibility of life without parole. A jury of 12, plus five alternates, was selected for his trial.
Prosecutors opened their case against Karun on Monday morning with testimony from Esther Flynn, Kathy's mother. Flynn recalled how on Sept. 23, 1986, Kathy went to school but never returned. She told the jury what Kathy was wearing that day—a whale watcher t-shirt, paisley jeans and pink sneakers—shoes that Kathy had bought with money earned at their family's restaurant. Flynn explained that Kathy had started walking home with friends using a paved path on school grounds that connected to Hunters Lane. Flynn said she usually then picked her daughter up at a nearby intersection. On that afternoon, they were planning to go shopping for a new purse for Kathy, Flynn said. But Kathy wasn't at the intersection or at home.
Flynn testified that she called the friends Kathy usually walked with and learned that one of them was picked up that day and the other was sick and hadn't gone to school. She then called the police, who responded quickly to their home. Officers took Kathy's pillowcase and clothing so their dogs could use her scent to help track down the missing child, Flynn said. Her then 14-year-old son, Kathy's brother, also brought police to the school path that Kathy used, Flynn recalled.
Flynn told the jury that around 2:30 a.m. the next day, she got a call from police that they'd found a girl's body in the woods around the path. She said her husband and her brother went to the scene and positively identified the child as Kathy.
Jurors then heard from a series of former officers about the "all hands on deck" search for Kathy. Retired Officer Thomas Noonan was the first to find a key piece of evidence in the case. Noonan said he located a white cloth bag in the woods on school grounds. He testified that when he unzipped it, he saw children's schoolbooks and a notebook that had Kathy's name written inside. Noonan told the jury that the image was "seared" into his mind.
Former Officer Joseph Kubik was the next witness. He recalled that he responded to the location of the bookbag with his K-9 Rex, who sniffed the bag and started trying to track the scent.
"And approximately 20 feet east, we located a pair of pink Reebok sneakers," Kubik told the jury.
Kubik also testified about finding Kathy's paisley pants during a later search. On Oct. 8, 1986, Kubik was raking the woods for potential evidence when he noticed a group of rocks—one of which wasn't embedded in the ground like the others, Kubik said. He told the jury he turned the rock over and discovered the pants. Kubik said he measured and the spot was 92 feet and 1 inch from where Kathy's body was found in the early morning hours of Sept. 24, 1986.
Retired Detective Michael Bauer was the one who found Kathy's body. Bauer told the jury he was part of the initial search of the woods and first located a pair of socks—one was on the ground, the other was hanging from a branch. Then about 60 feet away, Bauer noticed some "disturbed foliage," he told the jury. He said it was a mound of brush that didn't seem natural. He testified that he pushed a log away and saw the face of a girl.
Jurors saw pictures of all the evidence found in the woods and of Kathy's body. Retired Detective Stephen Tyska testified that Kathy's body was covered with sticks, twigs, branches and rocks. He told the jury she was wearing a t-shirt, one gold earring, a necklace and a bracelet. Tyska also pointed out ligature marks on Kathy's wrists and neck.
During cross-examination of the officers, Karun's attorney, Frank O'Reilly, asked whether they wore gloves or personal protective gear while searching for evidence in the case, to which they said no. But during questioning by State's Attorney Paul Ferencek, one officer said it wasn't a requirement to do so back in 1986.
Karun was 21 at the time of Kathy's death and was on investigators' radar early on because the crime resembled a previous sexual assault in which Karun was charged. In that case, the charges were reduced after the victim decided not to testify. That was just weeks before Kathy was killed.
On Monday afternoon, former Detective James Belmont testified about interviewing Karun as a potential suspect and being unable to corroborate his story about where he was on Sept. 23, 1986.
In the years after, Karun was convicted of multiple sexual assaults, which police said resembled Kathy's case. The likeness of those crimes, coupled with advancements in DNA technology, led police to arrest Karun in June 2019 in Maine, where he was living.
It's taken years for his case to go to trial, in part, because of superseding federal charges brought against Karun. Police said they found dozens of guns and nearly 15,000 rounds of ammunition at his home in Maine when they arrested him in connection with Kathy's death. Karun wasn't allowed to own any firearms because of his prior felony convictions. In 2024, he pleaded guilty to the federal gun charges, which allowed the homicide case to move forward.
The trial is expected to take up to three weeks.
In the run-up to the trial, Judge John Blawie denied requests for video and still cameras in the courtroom. Court rules state that in homicide trials involving sexual assault, the cameras will only be approved if the victim's family consents. At a hearing on the request, Ferencek told Blawie that Kathy's family did not.
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