COLD CASE: THE MURDER OF KRISTIN O’CONNELL

September 2, 2013 by Preston Felton
Filed under Blog

COLD CASE: The Murder of Kristin O’Connell

The murder of Kristin O’Connell occurred in Ovid, New York on or about August 14, 1985. This case is actively being investigated by the New York State Police, private investigators, mother of the victim Phyllis O’Connell and friends of the O’Connell family. There have been many theories as to what happened. There are also suspects in this case actively being investigated.

We know from the underlying investigation that Kristin, age 20 arrived safely in Ovid, NY on Monday August 12, 1985 in the mid-evening hours. Kristin’s purpose in coming to Ovid was to visit with a young man she had met in Florida while vacationing. She felt that there was a romantic spark there. He had invited her to Ovid to visit him. There wasn’t a whole lot that went on the first night of Kristin’s stay. She was tired from the trip.

However, during the intervening days she met several other friends of the young man she went there to visit and actually spent more time with them, than with the person she came to visit. Shortly after her arrival she started to feel that the potential chance of a romantic interest seemed distant. During her stay she stayed in a mobile home adjacent the Golden Buck Restaurant inhabited by the young man. He had recently moved to that location. After spending the day with friends of the young man and visiting the Golden Buck on August 14, 1985, a group of young people retreated to the mobile home. A suggestion was made for some of the kids to smoke marijuana which they reportedly did. Kristin was not a pot smoker or drinker and this we are sure made her feel very uncomfortable. At this point it is reported Kristin got up off the couch and then walked out of the trailer. At approximately 11:30 P.M. Kristin was seen by eye witnesses walking on the road for approximately one hour.

After Kristin had been out on the road for a while two people in the trailer decided to go and look for her. The two kids who had been in the trailer claim they heard a scream but could not determine where it came from. They took no further action to look for Kristin and reportedly went home. Several days later her lifeless body was found in a corn field not far from where she was last seen. She had been stabbed and brutally beaten.

Kristin O’Connell was a beautiful and devoted college co-ed from the mid-west, simply visiting a young man she had a romantic interest in. She had hurt no one, nor caused anyone problems. She had simply made a visit to a small town in the beautiful Finger Lake region of upstate New York to visit a boy. A journey similar to that made by thousands of young people all over. She could have been anyone’s daughter, sister, grandchild or friend. The resulting tragedy devastated the O’Connell family. In the intervening years it is clear that someone, person or persons in and around Ovid, New York knows what really happened Kristin.

If you know what happened to Kristin or have information you think is pertinent to this tragic case please help us solve this case, please email us at info@feltongroupllc.com.

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Comments

7 Comments on "COLD CASE: THE MURDER OF KRISTIN O’CONNELL"

J.R. on Sat, 28th Sep 2013 3:06 pm

Kristin was a good friend of mine in collage. She was everything described above and more. What happened was a tragedy. She was such a trusting sole often at UW-Stout she would go on late night walks by herself.. My roommate Tim and I often would accompany her. I had more than one discussion with her about going for late night walks on her own….. I think about her and how her life was cut short and whoever did this to her was never caught. I pray that someday we find new information as to what happened. At least one person knows.. please come forward.. please!
Missy on Thu, 3rd Oct 2013 12:11 pm

I was a child living in Ovid at the time and I remember this like it was yesterday. My father was friends with a man that lived next to where her body was found. I remember being at the house and all the people investigating the murder. Has anyone contacted the local police department to ask them to submit the case to cold justice?
P.F. on Wed, 22nd Jan 2014 7:56 am

For the latest on this case. Here is the youtube link…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B85m2B9yiTw
Anonymous on Fri, 22nd Jun 2018 11:23 am

I believe they should focus on finding the green car. There are probably a lot of clues in that car. There was a tip left on FB that it was owned by a Transfer student from S.C. I would imagine it is in storage somewhere and the color has been changed. but this is going to be a big break in this case.
Shelby Melancon on Tue, 14th Aug 2018 8:15 am

I was wondering of anyone looked into the parents of any of the friends she was with at the party? There was a tip about the chevy, sounded like a parent (not going to name their child, “I told him not to do it”) what if it was the parents vehicle had the evidence (like blood in the trunk or something?) And they worked at a business in waterloo? Police was looking for a resident maybe it was a worker that loved in ovid. I’ve done some digging and Jim’s parents or some relative of his, lived 4 mins away right down the road. Closer to the cornfield I think, I was trying my best to look through satellite images.
Kerri Jaeger on Sun, 9th Sep 2018 7:58 am

Can they do any touch DNA with the victims clothes now
JB Rice on Thu, 1st Jul 2021 1:10 pm

There are new developments in this case. A cold case team has offered to help her with testing the evidence in the NYS certified lab- but NYS has said no!

36 years later and this family still has no answers. I live in this town and want to see it solved and help in any way possible.

The mother, Phyllis O’Connell is asking people to call, email the DA, NYS police and State senators to help push this more. There are embedded videos in the last article with an interview with the mother and the head of the cold case team.

Mother turns to cold case team to help solve daughter’s 1985 Ovid murder

https://www.fltimes.com/news/mother-turns-to-cold-case-team-to-help-solve-daughters-1985-ovid-murder/article_068bf236-9eff-5dd5-b117-50a67dd7c476.html?fbclid=IwAR3N99MhToB1vilTo1SIQhTfldV0tFWJZA_FdMS7GeNSIMLxy3Of11mrLEg#utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

New York State Police reject outside help with 1985 Finger Lakes cold case homicide

https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/new-york-state-police-reject-outside-help-with-finger-lakes-cold-case-homicide

35 years is long enough to wait for answers about your murdered daughter. Please read and share this article or use this link to find out how else you can help Kristin’s family find justice.