UNION, Mo. An article in a Missouri newspaper reports that a 67-year old man pleaded guilty in to strangling a woman and leaving her bound corpse in the woods thirty years ago.
Kirby R. King, reported on Monday that he pleaded guilty to involuntary homicide and felonious confinement in the death 22-year-old Karla Delcour. She was found with her wrists, neck and head bound together by a cord near St. Clair in Franklin County.
King, whose circles of friends overlapped those of Delcour’s, was interrogated in 1987 but never charged. Franklin County Sheriff’s Office opened the case again in 2018, and King was arrested by 2019 with a second-degree murder charge. Investigators haven’t said whether new evidence led King to be arrested 32 years after Delcour’s death.
In a statement released Friday, Franklin County Sheriff Steve Pelton stated that “the tireless efforts to unravel the truth and meticulously piece together the puzzle has not only provided closure for the victim’s families but also had a significant impact on our community.”
Investigators believe Delcour died at a residence in Union, on the 21st of June 1987. Four days later, her body was discovered 2 miles (3.2 km) west of St. Clair where she lived.
King’s lawyer Steven Waterkotte stated Monday that King “was pleased to put all this behind him.”
King’s sentencing will take place on July 12.
