FRANKLIN COUNTY, Missouri — The Gray Summit man who pleaded guilty last June in connection to the cold case of a woman whose body was found in 1987 was sentenced Thursday to a decade behind bars.
Kirby R. King, 68, was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for the 1987 strangulation death of Karla Jane Delcour. He pleaded guilty in June to involuntary manslaughter and felonious restraint, reduced from second-degree murder as part of a plea deal. He was originally charged in 2019 with second-degree murder.
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office said Delcour's case went unsolved for decades after her body was found on June 24, 1987, in a wooded area along North Service Road two miles west of St. Clair. She was in decomposition and bound at the wrist and around her neck. A medical examiner determined her death was a homicide caused by strangulation.
Investigators at the time retraced her steps to St. Clair and determined she had been killed on or around June 21 at a home on Iron Hill Road. They spoke to several potential witnesses or suspects, but charges were never filed.
Her case remained unsolved until Franklin County Cold Case investigators reopened it in 2018. After traveling to re-interview suspects and witnesses in Missouri, Texas and Arizona, they arrested and charged King in late 2019.
Pelton said last month that the work of investigators both past and present "serves as a shining example of the importance of never giving up and the profound impact that can be made by pursuing justice relentlessly.
"This case will be remembered as a testament to the unwavering commitment for truth and justice. Well done and thank you for bringing justice to Karla and her family."
Kirby was taken into custody and will be held in Franklin County Jail until he is sent to the Department of Corrections to serve his sentence.
