'48 Hours' to examine murder of Mount Clemens native Saturday night

A New York murder with a Michigan connection is getting national attention on a true crime TV show.

"48 Hours," starring Erin Moriarty, is airing "The Brighton Ax Murder" about the 1982 death of Cathy Krauseneck, who was killed by her husband, Jim Krauseneck. Moriarty will report on the murder and the case against the husband, and has an interview with his current wife, Sharon Krauseneck. The episode airs Saturday at 10 p.m. EST on CBS Television Network and Paramount+, according to a news release.

Who were Cathy and Jim Krauseneck?

Cathy and Jim Krauseneck were both born in Mount Clemons, Michigan. His family owned a carpet store and her father was a truck driver. The pair met in high school and began a relationship once they went to Western Michigan University together, according to an article by CBS News.

The two married on May 3, 1974, eight years before the brutal attack. After getting married, they moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, where Jim attended graduate school at Colorado State University and Cathy was an orthopedic therapist. In April 1978, the pair welcomed a daughter and named her Sara, according to the article from CBS News.

In September 1981, the family moved to Brighton, an upscale suburb of Rochester, New York, where Jim was starting a new job as an economist for Kodak. However, on Feb.16, 1982, Kodak allegedly discovered that Jim did not complete his Ph.D. at Colorado State University.

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The murder of Cathy Krauseneck

Krauseneck was murdered on Feb. 19, 1982, in Rochester, New York. Her husband, Jim Krauseneck, told police that when he came home he found her dead with an ax in her head according to a news release by 48 HOURS.

The case grew the name "Brighton Ax Murder."

Police believed that the case was suspicious and the crime scene was staged to look like a burglary. There was a shoe print on the scene of the crime that resembled a pair of boat shoes that Jim Krauseneck often wore.

Since there wasn't direct evidence that could be proven that Jim was indeed the murderer, the case went cold. Eventually, Jim and Sara Kraseneck moved out west according to an article by CBS News.

It took four decades for the husband to be charged with the murder. In 2019, authorities in Monroe County, N.Y., hired a forensic pathologist named Michael Baden to investigate the case. Baden believed that Cathy was murdered around 3:30 a.m., and prosecutors determined that Jim Krauseneck was at the scene, despite the claims that he was not, according to the news release from 48 HOURS.

Ultimately, he was found guilty because of the evidence found by Baden.

Who is Sharon Krauseneck?

Sharon Krauseneck is the current wife of Jim Krauseneck, the pair met in 1997 after Jim Krauseneck have been briefly married twice before he married her.

Sharon and his attorneys said that he was not at the scene and was not guilty of the crime.

In a preview for the episode, Sharon Krauseneck told "48 Hours" correspondent Moriarty that "Jim.... is a decent, loving human being".

"There is no way, absolutely no way Jim would ever, ever have done anything like that.," said Sharon Krauseneck to Moriarty.

Krauseneck said she never asked her husband point blank about the murder of the first wife.

"When you’re married to a man, you know his heart, and you know his soul,” Sharon Krauseneck told Moriarty. “Jim could never, Erin, never in this world do something so horrific.”

Where are Jim and Sharon Krauseneck now?

Jim Krauseneck was convicted of the murder in 2022 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. His daughter Sara, wife Sharon and family announced they planned to appeal the case.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ax murder with ties to Michigan featured on '48 Hours'