Murder conviction wraps up 1987 cold case

An emory board, a magazine and subscription cards led them to believe she'd fallen asleep while reading and doing her nails.

It was the other things, though, that finally told detectives what they really wanted to know — who raped and killed the 33-year-old city employee.

After 18 years of dead-ends, it was the hairs and the semen left behind that led the detectives to Tyrone Kessler.

On Friday, after two weeks of viewing disturbing crime scene and autopsy photos and listening to forensic expert after forensic expert, a Pima County jury came to the same conclusion as the detectives:

Tyrone Kessler awakened his brand new neighbor, tied her up, gagged her, beat her, raped her and strangled her with both his hands and a vacuum cleaner cord.

He was convicted of first-degree murder and when Judge Deborah Bernini sentences Kessler next month, she has two options. She can sentence Kessler to life with or without the possibility of parole.

The Kessler case is the oldest "cold case" to go to trial, said Deputy Pima County Attorney Kathleen Mayer.

Mayer is the veteran prosecutor who tried the case alongside Keith St. John, one of the original detectives assigned to Young's May 1987 murder, and who helped crack the case in 2005.

St. John was working as an investigator with the Pima County Attorney's Office when he was assigned to the sheriff's cold-case unit two years ago.

He immediately thought of Kathy Young's slaying because of its "DNA potential."

"I remember talking to the family numerous times in 1987 and having to tell them I didn't know who killed Kathy," St. John said. "It was frustrating. It was hard for the family and it was hard for me. I knew Kathy was a good person who didn't deserve to die the way she did."

According to court testimony, Young spent her last Memorial Day weekend moving into and painting her new town house with the help of her mother, her brothers and their families.

That Tuesday she went to work and bought groceries. Her last two telephone conversations were with younger brother John and with her 6-year-old son, Michael, who was visiting relatives in Washington with Young's estranged husband.

The next morning, Young's mother, Anna Malloy, found her body after she failed to show up for work.

Back in 1987, Kessler lived next door to Young along with his girlfriend, their brand new baby, and the girlfriend's mother and grandmother.

When interviewed back then, Kessler said he didn't know Young. Eighteen years later, the Florida resident said he helped her move in some furniture. When confronted with the DNA evidence, his story changed again and he said he had had consensual sex with Young.

During the trial, defense attorney Larry Lingeman tried to cast doubt on the state's case by focusing on a few key areas.

First, he noted that the original pathologist believed Young died between 3 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. May 27 when his client was home with his girlfriend, Lingeman said.

Secondly, Lingeman questioned whether Young was sexually assaulted at all. The injuries she suffered to her genitals could have been caused during the beating, the defense attorney said.

Lingeman also said hair from an unknown man was found on Young's hand.

"How can that one fact alone not give you pause or hesitation?" Lingeman asked.

Young's death was a "gosh awful murder," but it could have been committed by anyone, Lingeman said, reeling off a list of possible suspects.

The worst thing Kessler did was cheat on his girlfriend, Lingeman said.

"Having sex doesn't make him guilty of murder, it makes him guilty of infidelity," Lingeman said.

Mayer said there is absolutely no evidence Young and Kessler were having an affair.

As for the hair found on Young's hand, Mayer reminded jurors Young had borrowed the futon and one of the blankets she was using had once been an airline blanket.

When one considers that most people lose 100 hairs a day, it shouldn't be surprising unknown hairs would be found inside Young's home and on her bed, Mayer said.

With today's technology, the DNA evidence "lights him up as the killer like a neon sign," Mayer said of Kessler.

As for the time of death, two forensic pathologists who reviewed Young's autopsy report and photos agreed she died at least 12 to 24 hours before she was found.

The state's pathologists also agreed Young's internal injuries were consistent with rape, Mayer said.

Young's family members, including her 85-year-old mother and brothers, declined to comment after the verdict.

However, Mayer said the family, who packed the courtroom throughout the trial, was "very happy justice has finally been delivered to them."