• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About the author and her website
  • References
  • Archives
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Contact Page

Defrosting Cold Cases

Research website by Alice de Sturler

  • My Research Method
  • How to search for cases
  • Cold Case Database
  • Case of the Month: What we lost
  • Book Reviews
You are here: Home / Unsolved / Kristina S. Hickey (1969 – 1984)

Kristina S. Hickey (1969 – 1984)

October 15, 2019 By Alice

Kristina S. HickeyIntroduction

Kristina S. Hickey (1969 – 1984) was murdered in Park Forest, Illinois, 1984. She was 15 years old and still in high school.

On January 15, 1987, Christopher Abernathy was convicted for Kristina’s murder. On February 11, 2015, after 30 years of incarceration, Abernathy was exonerated by DNA and set free. But who killed Kristina? Her case remains unsolved.

Wrongful Conviction

On January 15, 1987, Christopher Abernathy was convicted for Kristina’s murder. On February 11, 2015, after 30 years of incarceration, Abernathy was set free. He had the help of the Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield. Then-State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez acknowledged that Abernathy had been wrongfully convicted and said none of the DNA found at the scene was his.

His story is awful. Just do a quick online search on his name and you can read all about it. But with Abernathy out of the equation, we are left with a cold case as we have no idea who killed Kristina Hickey.

There is an online petition to re-open the investigation into this case. I sincerely hope that she will not be forgotten. So let’s explore the case again.

The Crime

On Oct 5, 1984, Kristina’s remains were found in the shopping center Park Forest Plaza by two boys. She had been reported missing by her mom the day before. Kristina’s wallet and purse were found later in a field behind the Plaza. It is unknown if authorities found any traces on those items that can be used to identify her murderers.

Kristina had been brutally beaten, was sexually assaulted, and stabbed multiple times. Her throat had been slashed. The disturbed dirt around her body told police that she fought hard for her life and died where she was found. She was buried Oct 9, 1984.

The information that follows comes from the trial transcripts of Abernathy’s 1989 appeal. The description of the attack is gruesome. I want to explain why I have included it here in this post. The authorities think that they deal with men who are angry with women and who may have committed similar crimes. As we are now looking again for Kristina’s killers, we need to check for similarities in solved and unsolved crimes. hence the need to know how Kristina died and what trauma she had to suffer.

October 3, 1984

In the evening of Oct. 3, 1984, around 630pm, Kristina left home to walk to Rich East High School. Kristina was a sophomore and sang in the school choir. That evening she was to perform at a choir concert. “She was wearing a pink and white striped dress, pink and white jewelry, a mauve raincoat, a grey corduroy purse and grey shoes.” Her mom, Patricia Hickey, had offered to drive her however the teen said that she’d rather walk. Her school was less than a mile from their home and she was used to walking. The last interaction between mother and daughter was mom telling the teen to come straight home after the concert.

The concert lasted until 9pm. At 915pm, Mr. Ulreich, the choral music director at Rich East High School, testified that he saw Kristina making a telephone call. She was using the telephone outside the office of the athletic director. Who did she call? Was that call traceable?

One of the security officers from Marshall Field’s (a store in Park Forest Plaza) was Nancy Kruez. She had not been called to testify but she had informed authorities that “the parking lot lights and the exterior building lights of the Marshall Field’s store were inoperative on October 3, 1984, and that the area was extremely dark.” Kristina was found in some bushes east of Marshall Field’s entry door.

Kristina S. Hickey The Attack

Alan Kulovitz, an evidence technician with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, testified that “Kristina’s dress had been torn and folded in such a way that the left side of the chest, from the navel to the shoulder, was exposed while the right side was covered. The left side of the dress did not have blood on it, an indication that it had been folded back before the chest wound was inflicted.” He said that the bra’s left cup was cut, the strap was cut, and the bra was pushed up towards her neck. Her underwear and panty hose were pulled down to her ankles.

Kristina’s arms were behind her back. Her right arm was held in place with the belt from her own coat. Underneath her body police found several personal items from her purse.

Around Kristina’s body were many disturbances in the dirt from the fight. As she was fighting while on her back, her right foot buried itself in the dirt. This is another indication (together with the lividity) that she died where she was found.

Kristina’s Wounds

Kulovitz told the court that Kristina had “a gaping wound in the center of the throat area and a stab wound in the center of the chest just to the right of the left breast.” He saw from the chest’s blood patterns that Kristina had not (been) moved after that knife attack. There were two stab wounds to the chest. One was superficial. The other was deep.

Kristina had bruises on the back of her left arm, ankle, and an abrasion on the back of her right arm. She had a single, deep slashing wound of approx. six inches on her neck, slashed from side to side. Her throat, the trachea, and the esophagus were cut.

There were five abrasions over the right side of Kristina’s face. Whether they were made manually or with an object is unknown.

The Autopsy

The autopsy was performed by Dr. Eupil Choi. He is a pathologist employed by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. The autopsy took place on Oct 6, 1984.

There were many abrasions and skin bruising on the left side of the neck and collar bone and over her left jaw. These bruising are “consistent with someone kneeling on her shoulder and neck but could also have resulted from being struck with some object. The bruise on the left jaw, which was three inches wide, was consistent with her head being slammed against a hard surface.” Dr. Choi found blood between the scalp and the skull. This means that her head was indeed struck against a hard surface.

As for what killed Kristina, Dr. Choi testified “that the chest wounds were inflicted first and that Kristina died very quickly after the transection of her neck. The wounds were inflicted with a sharp instrument like a knife.”

Dr. Choi testified that he found “areas of bruising on the external aspect of her genitalia and on the labia. Samples taken from her vagina tested negative for the presence of spermatozoa.” On cross-examination, Dr. Choi said he does not know if Kristina had been sexually penetrated. On redirect, he explained that “some object did bruise the interior of Kristina’s vagina although he did not know the nature of the object.”

Hope

In 2001, the Illinois State Police tested human cells found under Kristina Hickey’s fingernails. The results were inconclusive.

In 2014, the Illinois Innocence Project got permission to test eight pieces of evidence for DNA. Included were a swab from Kristina Hickey and her concert dress. This dress had been torn down the front and folded over to expose part of her chest. DNA from that dress is from an unknown man. The wrongful conviction lawsuit from Abernathy states the DNA from the crime scene came from two unidentified men.

Rest in peace, Kristina S. Hickey.

Contact Information

If you have any information please contact the Cook County Sheriff’s Office at (312) 603-6444. Their cold cases page is here. At the time of writing, Kristina’s case was not on that page.

Thank you for sharing!

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Miscarriages of Justice, Unsolved Tagged With: DNA, Illinois, Knife Attack, Kristina S. Hickey, Park Forest, Wrongful Convictions

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Defrosting Cold Cases 2009-2019 - Defrosting Cold Cases says:
    November 22, 2019 at 10:04 am

    […] Abernathy falsely confessed to the rape/murder of Kristina S. Hickey. Her case remains unsolved. […]

Primary Sidebar

Dina Fort

Author Notes

On this website, I write about old, unsolved cases. Most are from the pre-DNA era and are in need of renewed media attention. I only do research and leave the active investigation of these cases to the professionals.

My posts are about homicides, missing and unidentified people, wrongful convictions, and forensics as related to these cases.

On book reviews: I only review select works of true crime, crime fiction, and historical fiction/mysteries. The stories have to fit my website's theme and research. It remains my prerogative to not review a book.

My database has over 300 cases listed by the victim’s last name. You will find a brief description there as well. The database will always be free to the public to use. You cannot buy ad space on my website, ever.

All writing suggestions that come in by email are added to my to-do list in the order in which they were received. Please be patient. My to-do list is very long but no case gets dropped and I will get back in touch.

Defrosting Cold Cases is NOT an organization. It is my brainchild.

If you have any questions about my website please check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, the about page, and the tabs in both menu bars. If you still cannot find the answer there, please contact me.

Thank you,

Alice de Sturler

Copyright

If you use my work, please add a link back. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. Thank you!

Protected by Copyscape

Categories

Top Posts & Pages

  • Cold Case Database
  • How to search for cases
  • Gina Renee Hall partial remains found
  • Eric Haider Update
  • Arrest in 1993 Kimberly Dunkin Case

Subscribe to DCC by email

Enter your email address to get new posts notifications in your inbox

RSS Defrosting Cold Cases

  • What we lost
  • The Ethics of Forensic Genealogy part 2
  • Once Two Sister by Sarah Warburton
  • Toronto John Doe 1989
  • Paul Bernard Quinters (1967 – 1993)

William Thomas Zeigler

Category: ALL POSTS

On March 31, 2016, an evidentiary hearing was held to request touch DNA testing. On July 18, 2016, Judge Whitehead denied that request.

On November 23, 2016, an appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court. On April 21, 2017, the Florida Supreme Court denied the request for touch DNA analysis.

On May 8, 2017 a motion for a rehearing with the US Supreme Court was filed. It was denied November 13, 2017.

In the summer of 2019, the appeal for DNA testing to the Florida Conviction Integrity Unit was denied.

Richard Lapointe

Category: ALL POSTS

In March 2015, the Connecticut State Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Richard lapointe. On Oct 2, 2015, International Wrongful Conviction Day, Richard was set free. The judge ruled that he cannot be retried for the 1987 rape-murder of Mrs. Bernice Martin. Richard Lapointe died on Aug 4, 2020 of Covid19 complications.

In 1987, someone killed Bernice Martin. I hope that she will not become a forgotten file.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright: Please add a link back if you use my work. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. If you need help with this, just contact me. Thank you, Alice de Sturler

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2009–2021 - Defrosting Cold Cases - All rights reserved · Hosting & WordPress: 3J WordPress Write Data

wordpress counter

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.