Whatever Happened to Jim Krauseneck, Convicted in the Brighton Ax Murder Case?

The name Jim Krauseneck is one that true crime fans won’t soon forget, and that’s because his crime was swept under the rug for more than four decades before finally coming to light in 2019 when he was indicted and arrested.

You see, Jim's wife, Cathy, was brutally murdered on Feb. 19, 1982. An ax was lodged in her head while she lay in bed, causing immediate death. Their daughter, Sara, was only 3 years old at the time and was unharmed.

Jim left for work around 6:30 a.m. that day, and when he returned home around 5 p.m., he ran to a neighbor for help, claiming his wife was dead. Of course, he left out the part that he had killed her. While the scene initially appeared to be a burglary attempt, investigators later said it was staged.

Cathy was just 29 years old when she was murdered. And after decades, Jim was finally taken to trial for her murder in September 2022 and sentenced in November of the same year. So, where is Jim now?

Jim Krauseneck died at age 71 in May 2023 while serving a 25-year sentence. After years of Cathy’s murder case going cold, investigators eventually circled back to Jim.

By then, he had already lived a full life with his daughter and remarried twice. He evaded the law for a long time, leaving authorities stumped, but the truth eventually came to light.

Jim maintained his innocence even during sentencing in front of his daughter, but a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder for Cathy’s death in September 2022.

After the verdict was read, he was immediately taken into police custody, according to CBS News, to begin serving his lengthy sentence.

Just six months later, in May 2023, Jim died in prison of cancer. He had received the diagnosis while incarcerated. According to the Democrat & Chronicle, as his condition worsened, he was transferred from a maximum-security prison to one with better medical care.

In the few months between his sentencing and death, he reportedly lost 80 pounds.

Though Jim didn’t serve his full sentence, many believe he faced the karma he deserved.

“Even though Jim did not serve his full sentence, we believe karma was done when he died an undignified death behind prison walls,” Cathy’s sister, Annet Schlosser, said. “The entire world knows that he killed my sister, and he died knowing that,” she added, per the Democrat & Chronicle.

Despite the evidence and verdict, Cathy and Jim’s daughter, Sara, maintained her father’s innocence. At his sentencing, she expressed her belief that her mother’s murderer had gotten away.

More than two years after Jim’s death, Cathy’s story was revisited once again on Dateline NBC on Aug. 8, 2025, in an episode titled "The Bad Man." The show features a new team of investigators who have stepped “in to take a fresh look at the case,” according to the episode’s synopsis.

Given advancements in technology and forensics, they’re able to uncover new things that “shed new light on Cathy’s final hours and lead to an unexpected breakthrough.”

The episode not only dives into these new details but also features interviews from experts who can weigh in on the murder and help make more sense of how it happened.