Mo. man pleads guilty to killing woman in 1987 whose wrists and neck were tied with cord

UNION, Mo. (TCD) — A 35-year-old cold case has come to a close after a 67-year-old man pleaded guilty to killing a young woman in 1987 whose body was found in a remote wooded area.

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office announced June 2 that Kirby King entered the plea for felonious restraint and manslaughter for the death of 22-year-old Karla Delcour. Prosecutors initially charged King with second-degree murder.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, Delcour’s body was found June 24, 1987, in a wooded area about 2 miles west of St. Clair. Her wrists and neck were both bound and her body was in “state of decomposition.” The medical examiner ruled she died from ligature strangulations.

Investigators concluded Delcour was killed on or around June 21, 1987, at a home near Iron Hill Road in Union. No one was charged at the time despite investigators speaking with several witnesses and potential suspects. Her case eventually went cold. In 2018, Franklin County Cold Case detectives reopened the case and traveled to several states over the course of the investigation.

King was arrested Dec. 23, 2019.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, investigators interviewed King at the start of the investigation, and he reportedly later revealed he had a hand in Delcour’s death.

King will be sentenced July 12.

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