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The original was posted on /r/unresolvedmysteries by /u/CameFromTheLake on 2024-01-08 17:32:58+00:00.
Karen Michalski has been described by her family as beautiful and vibrant. An outgoing person with many friends, Karen was very involved with both her job at Gilford Instrument Laboratories in Oberlin and her local ski club. One of 14 children, Karen enjoyed a close relationship with her siblings. At the time of her death, Karen was living in an apartment in Lorain, Ohio.
On March 7, 1979, Karen traveled to Cleveland to meet a friend at a local convention. Later that evening, the two would join several other friends at a restaurant in Rocky River known as Victoria Station. After eating and socializing, Karen announced that she would be heading home to Lorain. She left close to midnight. However, instead of heading west back toward Lorain, Karen instead drove east through Lakewood on Detroit. She then turned right onto Beach and pulled into the driveway of a seemingly random home. Karen did not know anyone who lived in this area.
Neighbors across reported hearing a horn followed by a loud bang, which they initially belived to backfire. However, the police were called anyways and arrived on scene to find Karen slumped over in the driver seat. The driver’s side window was shattered and she had been shot in the back of the head with a shotgun. Investigators believe the killer would have to shoot her through the driver’s side door from close range. Neighbors around the scene were questioned and one came forward saying they had seen a light colored station wagon pulled behind Karen’s car in the driveway, effectively blocking her in. This car and its driver have never been identified.
Delving into Karen’s personal life revealed a few different love interests, some who were looked at as potential suspects. At the time of the murder, Karen had previously dated her married boss and her apartment contained various love-letters from him. However, he did pass a polygraph and had a solid alibi for the night of the crime. Police also focused on a different boyfriend of Karen’s, who failed to attend her funeral and days later went on a ski trip that had been previously planned for him and Karen with someone else. This man also moved out of state within a year of the crime. He, however, was also cleared after he passed a polygraph and had a credible alibi.
Another suspect emerged from a man who was in a traffic accident in the area the night of the shooting. The man drove a light-colored station wagon and inside it, a shotgun was found inside it. However, ballistics would later say the shells from this shotgun did not match those found at the scene of Karen’s death.
The night Karen was killed, a robbery had occured in Cleveland on East 55th and Superior Avenue and Euclid Avenue. The robbers were armed with a shotgun and shot two people. Some have theorized that Karen coincidentally ran into the robbers and resisted by honking the horn to draw attention, causing them to panic and shoot her.
In yet another strange detail, a note was discovered in Karen’s apartment. In it Karen writes that if anything were to happen to her to tell a former boyfriend that she was sorry and that she wished things could have been different. This former boyfriend was not considered a suspect by investigators.
Karen’s death has now gone unsolved for over forty years. Lakewood police have stated that with the passage of time, they hope any individuals who were afraid to come forward before may do so now.
Was Karen Michalski the victim of circumstance - armed robbers, a road rage incident? Or was the victim of a targeted attack?