A Search for Karyn Kupcinet - Paul Fecteau

Too Dark the Night: A Search for Karyn Kupcinet
by Kari Kupcinet and Paul Fecteau

Paul and Kari have begun writing the book, but their research continues. If you have comments or information you would like to share, please e-mail Kari at kari@paulfecteau.com or Paul at paul@paulfecteau.com .

Upcoming Events:

Sept. 12: Paul and Kari Kupcinet will discuss the murder of Karyn Kupcinet at 9:00 Central on AM 1440 KMAJ's morning show with Deb Goodrich. KMAJ is streamed at http://www.kmaj1440.com/

Précis

Our search for Karyn Kupcinet comprises two elements: a murder investigation and a haunting. Both commence on November 30, 1963, when a young actress is found dead in her apartment on the Sunset Strip. She has recently had a starring role in a popular television sitcom and a small role in a Jerry Lewis film. Karyn Kupcinet is the daughter of famed Chicago columnist and television host Irv Kupcinet. Eight years later, Karyn’s brother Jerry has a daughter. Kari inherits the investigation and the haunting.

The former seems ill-fated from the start. The Hollywood detectives assigned the case struggle. The suspects and witnesses they interview range from minor to major celebrities. Karyn’s boyfriend, actor Andy Prine, is a suspect, as is her neighbor, David Lange, brother of actress Hope Lange. David Lange’s alibi involves Natalie Wood and Glenn Ford. Stories get changed and changed again, leads lead nowhere, and the murder file becomes a cold case file. Two decades later, Kari gains access to it.

Kari’s fascination with the aunt she never met had begun long before. From her first steps, the family compares Kari to Karyn, and by her teenage years she feels a spiritual link. Kari reads Karyn’s diaries, and as Kari’s acting career burgeons with a role on The Young and the Restless, the parallels are undeniable.

Above all, Kari wants to solve her aunt’s murder. Her research reveals theories ranging from the simple to the stupefying. Some connect Karyn’s murder to that of President Kennedy days before, others to the Black Dahlia murder two decades before. Kari gets help from famed hardboiled writer James Ellroy. (For more about, Ellroy and the Kennedy connection, see Paul’s article Zapruder’s Stepchildren.)

Kari wonders if answers to Karyn’s murder lie in a series of haunting dreams with scenes seemingly from Karyn’s life rather than her own. In the long run, however, the answers Kari seeks come to her when she is wide awake, and they appear in her own intellect and character. She learns from Karyn’s experience, and steers her life on a path more promising than the road of heartbreak.