[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Kelsey Grammer is opening up about one of the most painful times in his life — the murder of his 18-year-old sister, Karen Grammer.
Speaking to People on Friday, the actor revealed he gave a “graphic, impersonal review” of her murder in his upcoming new memoir Karen: A Brother Remembers. Although Kelsey was unsure whether to talk about the brutal death since the details are “not pleasant or comforting,” he felt “there is something beneficial in knowing [the truth].” Plus, the Frasier alum believes “it is ammunition to keep Freddie Glenn” — her murderer — “in jail.”
Brace yourselves, Perezcious readers. The story of what happened is horrifying. Kelsey shared that on June 30, 1975, Karen told her brother she planned to come home to Florida from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to visit after the Fourth of July. Kelsey never expected that would be the last time he spoke to his sister. The Cheers star later learned she went to the Red Lobster at around 11:00 p.m. to wait for a co-worker to finish their shift hours after they talked. Glenn and two others, who planned to rob the restaurant, came up to Karen with a gun drawn and told her to come with them. According to Kelsey’s account of what the police report said, she asked:
“For what?”
Ultimately, the three men grabbed Karen, tied her up, and took her to one of their apartments. There, they took turns raping her before driving Karen to an alley where Glenn stabbed her 42 times. Kelsey writes in an excerpt from book obtained by People that her killer nearly “decapitated her.” That’s how brutal the murder was:
“The coroner noted that through a gaping wound in her neck, he could see all the way into Karen’s lung. I had been right in saying he almost decapitated her. Freddie Glenn punched holes in my sister’s body with unimaginable brutality. There were defensive wounds on her hands.”
Despite her extensive injuries, Karen tried her best to get help in her final moments. The Broadway star recalled:
“She had fallen backward from the trailer door after knocking for help. It was her last hope and disappointment after crawling 400 feet from the place where she had been stabbed. Bloody fingerprints mark the trail of her final moments at exactly 3’6” along the office and walls of the trailer park. She had been on her knees, crawling her way. Seeking help with her last ounce of life.”
Oof. Karen fought until the very end. But sadly, Kelsey said the man who opened the door was not the Good Samaritan he and Karen hoped for:
“In my imaginings, the man who found Karen at his doorstep was a ‘good Samaritan’ of sorts. I stand corrected and disappointed that that man did not attempt to help her but simply called the police after leaving her body as it lay…eyes vacant, staring at the sky, her legs still on the steps, her head on the ground and a clenched fist above her head with a single finger pointing — somewhere or nowhere — just pointing.”
Kelsey added:
“What I had hoped were a final, few moments of kindness from some stranger, were nothing of the sort.”
Absolutely devastating…
Kelsey later reported his sister missing and was the one to identify her body one week later. Meanwhile, Glenn was sentenced to life in prison a year later for the murder of Karen and two others. He was denied parole four times, and the next hearing is in 2027. While the Emmy winner has said he forgives Glenn, he understandably doesn’t want to see him out. He told People:
“You don’t want to eat yourself to pieces because you can’t forgive somebody. But it’s hard to forgive a person who consciously decided they wanted to murder somebody you love. This wasn’t just some temperance issue with him. It was deliberate. I can give you forgiveness, but you’re not going to get out of paying for it.”
We can’t imagine how hard reliving Karen’s death must have been for Kelsey. We applaud his strength and vulnerability. You can get his book on May 6.
For more information on violence against women, go to https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-for-survivors.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via Good Morning America/YouTube]
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