A Connecticut judge declared a mistrial Monday in a decades-old murder case following shocking allegations that an 11-year-old rape and murder victim may have been placed in a contaminated body bag nearly 40 years ago.
The case involves Marc Karun, 60, who was standing trial for the 1986 murder and kidnapping of Kathleen Flynn, a sixth-grade student who was attacked while walking home from her Norwalk middle school. Karun, formerly a Norwalk resident, was taken into custody in 2019 at his residence in Stetson, Maine.
The bombshell revelation came Thursday during proceedings in Stamford when prosecutors revealed they had just received an email from former Norwalk police lieutenant Robert Fabrizzio. In his message, Fabrizzio reported that a state crime laboratory official had informed him shortly after Flynn’s death that her body had been placed in a previously used body bag, raising serious questions about potential evidence contamination.
According to Fabrizzio, the laboratory official who shared this information was Henry Lee, the renowned forensic expert famous for his involvement in the O.J. Simpson case and numerous other prominent criminal investigations nationwide. Lee, who was running the crime lab during that period, passed away last month at 87 years old. Attempts to reach Fabrizzio for comment were unsuccessful.
Judge John Blawie ruled Monday that he had no alternative but to declare a mistrial due to evidence integrity concerns, though he indicated the case would continue and not be dismissed entirely.
Prosecutor Paul Ferencek, who brought Fabrizzio’s email to the court’s attention last week, released a statement saying his office would collaborate with the state crime laboratory and medical examiner to investigate whether Fabrizzio’s allegations have merit.
“We’re obviously disappointed by this turn of events, especially for the family members of Kathy Flynn, who have waited forty years for justice and some degree of closure,” his statement said.
The body bag allegations caught crime laboratory officials off guard, according to Rick Green, who speaks for the lab and its supervising agency, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. Green stated that forensic experts from the facility maintain confidence in their courtroom testimony.
Defense attorney Francis O’Reilly, representing Karun, refused to provide comment. Karun continues to be held on $5 million bail.
Authorities in Norwalk accused Karun of murdering Flynn on Sept. 23, 1986. He subsequently received convictions for sexually assaulting or kidnapping four additional female victims during the 1980s and spent approximately a decade behind bars.
Investigators said improvements in DNA analysis technology, combined with similarities between Karun’s previous attacks and Flynn’s murder, resulted in his 2019 arrest. A state forensic laboratory expert testified recently that DNA analysis of material collected from under Flynn’s fingernails indicated the genetic material was 22,000 times more likely to have come from Flynn and Karun together than from the girl and an unrelated individual, according to Hearst Connecticut Media.
Following Karun’s arrest, law enforcement discovered close to 90 rifles and handguns at his Maine residence. As a convicted felon, he was prohibited from possessing firearms, officials said. Karun entered a guilty plea to federal weapons charges in 2024 and faces sentencing in that matter this July, based on federal court documents.
