Saturday, 11/30/63. 7:00 P.M.:
Mark Goddard enters the courtyard. His wife, waits in the car. Mark Goddard is a TV actor. Marcia Goddard is Karyn Kupcinet’s best friend.
They’re worried about her. She had dinner at their house Wednesday night. She acted very weird.
Her eyes were pinned-out. She said she took a Miltown. She told them a crazy story.
She said she found a baby on her doorstep. The cops came and took him away. The story was wholly fantastic.
Goddard walked up to Karyn’s apartment and knocked on the door. He saw a light on inside. He got no answer. He tried the door. It popped open.
Goddard got scared. He went back to the car and brought Marcia up. They entered the apartment. The TV was on. The sound was down low.
They saw a body on the couch. It was nude and stretched out facedown.
Marcia screamed. Mark ran to the manager’s apartment. The manager called the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station.
The dispatcher radioed a patrol car. The manager grabbed a neighbor with some medical skills. The man entered the apartment and confirmed the victim was dead.
The patrol cops arrived. They examined the victim and noted signs of decomp. Fluids dripped from the mouth, nose, and eye sockets. The purge had turned her face blue-black.
The patrol cops talked to Mark and Marcia Goddard. They observed the immediate scene.
They noted:
“Several magazines lying on the porch outside the deceased’s front door, dating to 11/28/63. Immediately inside the front door and approximately 8″ from the west end of the couch was an overturned glass container with numerous cigarettes inside and sixteen Kent cigarettes strewn about the floor at the end of the couch. A white metal coffee maker (pot) was lying on its side approximately io feet north of the couch. The television was observed to be playing at a moderate volume on Channel 4. A lamp table on the east wall of the living room was observed to have the lower drawer standing open, and a coat-closet door was open in the northeast corner of the living room. The bedroom was observed to have numerous articles of clothing and bedding strewn about the floor, and three dresser drawers were standing open. The rear door was observed to be secured from the inside with a hook-and-eye type fastener.”
The patrol cops talked to Mark and Marcia Goddard. They revealed:
Karyn was a close friend. They met her in ’61. Her father was Irv Kupcinet. He was a columnist and TV host in Chicago. “Kup” was big-time. He was “Mr. Chicago.”
They saw Karyn Wednesday night. She said she saw a shrink. The shrink said she was in bad shape. Karyn was seeing an actor named Andy Prine. Andy costarred on the Wide Country show. The romance was dead. Karyn was very depressed.
8:45 P.M.:
Sheriff’s Homicide arrives. Representing the squad: Lieutenant George Walsh, Sergeant Bobby Chapman, Sergeant Jim Wahike.
They talked to Mark and Marcia Goddard. They observed the immediate scene.
They noted:
“Location consisted of a living room, an attached dining area, kitchen, hallway, one bedroom and bath.
“A red bathrobe was observed on an overstuffed chair on the east side of the living room. This bathrobe appeared to have been taken off and placed in the chair in a disorderly fashion…
“The living room closet door was observed to be open. Expensive items of clothing, including a mink stole, were immediately visible. Other items, such as a pair of women’s shoes and a teddy bear, were also observed lying on the floor in the vicinity of the doorway leading into the hall, bathroom, and bedroom.”
Dirty dishes in the kitchen sink. Three coffee cups. An empty cake box on a hallway book stand. A serving knife on top of it.
An orderly bathroom. A negligee on a hanger. A brassiere on the left side of the washstand.
The bedroom:
Twin beds shoved together. Disheveled sheets and bedcovers.
On the beds:
One nightgown, one shower cap, one hairbrush, one towel, one red-checked blouse.
A dressing table. A bath towel wadded up on a chair. A pile of women’s clothes on the floor.
Chapman and Wahlke searched the apartment. They found a weird book. It was open to a very weird page. The text said you should dance in the nude to free your inhibitions.