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Lyng, Stephanie October 25,1977; Illinois 39 YO
Topic Started: Aug 6 2006, 10:22 AM (910 Views)
oldies4mari2004
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http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/l/lyng_stephanie.html
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oldies4mari2004
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Stephanie Anne Lyng


Above: Stephanie, circa 1977


Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: October 25, 1977 from Palatine, Illinois
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: September 2, 1938
Age: 39 years old
Height and Weight: 5'8, 140 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, green eyes.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A yellow nylon windbreaker, a blue knit shirt and blue jeans.


Details of Disappearance

Stephanie was last seen after leaving a neighbor's house to meet a carpet installer at her home in Palatine, Illinois on October 25, 1977. She left at 9:15 a.m. to keep the 10:00 a.m. appointment. She was driving her blue 1975 station wagon at the time. The carpet installer arrived at Stephanie's house on time, but she never showed up. That same day, her teenage daughter, the oldest of Stephanie's four children, reported her missing. When Edward J. Lyng, Stephanie's husband, returned home at 10:00 p.m. and was informed his wife had gone missing, he appeared unconcerned and said she would probably return shortly.
Four days after Stephanie was last seen, her vehicle was found in a parking lot at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois. There were a few spots of blood splattered on the car; testing determined the blood was Stephanie's type. The car also had some plant buds and seeds in it; a plant taxonomist determined the plants came from a wet, marshy area. There were no indications as to her whereabouts at the scene and no evidence that she had flown anywhere.

The Lyngs' marriage had been troubled; Edward was having an affair and he drank heavily. Stephanie had filed for divorce shortly before her disappearance. She had told her attorney she was afraid Edward would kill her. He disappearance was investigated by a grand jury in 1977 and 1982, but no indictments were issued until 1992, when Edward was charged with her murder.

Prosecutors theorized Edward planned Stephanie's murder and dug her grave several days in advance. His former secretary and girlfriend, Christina Rezba Knutson, had originally given him an alibi for the time Stephanie disappeared, but she later recanted. At Edward's trial, Knutson testified that she heard Edward confess Stephanie's murder. Edward allegedly stated he had beaten and stabbed her to death in their home to prevent her from taking their assets and children in a divorce settlement. Knutson admitted she helped him leave Stephanie's car at the airport. She said Edward buried Stephanie's body in a damp area near a culvert, but returned to the gravesite later, dug up her corpse, and mutilated it to prevent identification. Edward maintained his innocence and accused Knutson of making up the story to get revenge on him for ending their relationship.

Edward was convicted of his wife's murder in 1994 and sentenced to 14 to 50 years in prison. After his murder conviction, he was convicted of solicitation to commit murder, and was sentenced an additional 50 years' incarceration; Edward had attempted to hire people to kill two witnesses against him. In 1996, his daughters were awarded a $66.4 million judgement against their father for their mother's wrongful death. Edward's daughters described him as an emotionally abusive parent and stated they were afraid he would hire someone to harm them if he should retain his assets, estimated at $4 million. He will probably never be released from prison.

Stephanie's remains are believed to be somewhere in Lake County, Illinois, but they have never been found.



Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Palatine Police Department
847-359-9000



Source Information
The Doe Network
The Daily Herald
The Chicago Sun-Times



Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004.

Last updated July 23, 2006; casefile added.

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monkalup
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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Ell
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Heart of Gold
[ *  *  * ]
Convicted murderer lashes out
at daughters during sentencing
BY DAN ROZEK
Daily Herald Legal Affairs Writer
Edward Lyng never testified during
his two-week murder trial, but
Thursday at his sentencing hearing
the Palatine businessman defiantly
proclaimed himself innocent of
murdering his estranged wife in
1977.
Looking haggard and tired after a
month in jail, Lyng blamed a vengeful
former girlfriend for his murder
conviction, charging she falsely implicated
him in Stephanie Lyng's
disappearance and death.
"I stand convicted of this terrible
crime based on the testimony of a
woman scorned," said Lyng, 59, referring
to Christine Rezba Knutson,
who testified against him. "She ruined
my life."
After listening to Lyng's lengthy,
sometimes rambling statement, Associate
Judge Nicholas T. Pomaro
responded by sentencing Lyng to a
15- to 50-year prison term.
"There were 12 people sitting
here who believed you committed
this crime," Pomaro said, referring
to the jurors who convicted Lyng
last month of murdering his wife.
"I'm at least the 13th person who
believes you committed this crime."
The sentence is near the lower
end of the range — 14 years to Me
— that Lyng faced under sentencing
laws in effect when Stephanie
Lyng vanished on Oct. 25,1977. Her
body has never been found.
Lyng will be eligible for parole in
about 10 years, defense attorneys
Patrick Tuite and Ronald Menaker
said
Lyng, wearing a full beard and
khaki jail fatigues that were in
sharp contrast to the stylish suits
he wore during his trial, sat calmly
as he was sentenced.
His attorneys called the sentence
"fair under the circumstances," but
insisted Lyng was wrongly convicted
of a crime he didn't commit.
That echoed the tone of Lyng's
own statement the first time Lyng
has ever talked publicly about the
charges filed against him.
The wealthy Palatine businessman
repeatedly castigated Knutson,
calling her "an aggressive
woman" who concocted phony testimony
to punish him for ending their
five-year affair and spurning her
marriage proposals
Knutson, a Mundelein resident,
testified that Lyng admitted killing
his wife to prevent her from divorcing
him. And Knutson acknowledged
providing a false alibi for
Lyng for years, but said she did so
because Lyng had threatened her.
"I'm convicted on the uncorrobo-
Lyng says wife abandoned him
BY DAN ROZEK
Daily Herald Legal Affairs Writer
Before he was sentenced
Thursday for killing his estranged
wife, Edward Lyng broke his silence
in court and portrayed himself
as the victim in this 17-yearold
murder mystery.
Lyng spoke openly about feeling
abandoned by his wife, betrayed
by his daughters and
framed by his former girlfriend.
It was a disjointed and sometimes
emotional 15-minute
statement that included several
exchanges with Associate Judge
Nicholas T. Pomaro.
"I loved my wife," said Lyng,
who contended that Stephanie
Lyng had abandoned him and
their four young daughters in
1977.
"My loved has eroded, though,
because she's hurt me by her
absence, she's hurt her daughters
by her absence," he said.
Lyng berated his daughters —
now grown — for testifying
against him during his trial last
month and for apparently believing
he killed their mother
"I'm ashamed of them, that
they never asked me if it was
true," Lyng said. "Any bridge for
reconciliation is irrevocably
burned."
Lyng acknowledged that he
Stephanie
Lyng
Edward
Lyng
has character flaws but said that
didn't make him a murderer
"If I was convicted of abuse of
alcohol 20 years ago, I'd accept
that. If I were convicted of being
adulterous 20 years ago, it would
be true," Lyng said "If I were
convicted of being something
less than a good father, that ,
would be true. But I've been convicted
of murder and that's not
true."
The former seminary student
recounted how he and Stephanie
Lyng were happily married for
years, how they shared the same
beliefs and ideals
But Lyng said by the mid-
1970s the couple had changed,
with Stephanie Lyng becoming
"more liberal."
"I haven't changed, she
changed. We grew apart," Lyng
said. "Certainly my drinking did
not make things any easier for
her"
rated testimony of a woman who repeatedly
solicited me after I broke
off the affair," Lyng said "I've
learned about unrequited love
It's a terrible thing to love someone
and not have that love returned."
Although he still loves his four
grown daughters, Lyng said he was
"ashamed" of them for believing
that he had a role in then* mother's
death. Lyng, however, acknowledged
trial testimony from his
daughters and others that he
drank heavily, was an indifferent
father and had other personal
flaws.
Despite his flaws, Lyng insisted
he tried to raise his daughters properly
after his wife vanished. He said
he lavished money on them, providing
them with cars, traveling with
them abroad and paying for their
college educations
Prosecutors declined to comment
on the sentence, but spoke against
Lyng for not accepting responsibility
for the killing and for crediting
himself with raising his daughters
after their mother vanished
"It seems the person foremost in
his mind is himself," said special
prosecutor Patrick O'Brien, who
with Cook County Assistant State's
Attorney James McKay prosecuted
Lyng. "There's no way he can put a
price on taking their mother from
them."
Only the Lyngs' youngest
daughter was in court Thursday
and she declined to comment.
Stephanie Lyng's mother, however,
said she was relieved the ordeal
was over
"The judicial system works," said
Dorsey Connors Forbes, a Chicago
Sun-Times columnist and former
television commentator.
Prosecutors sought a "substantial"
prison sentence for Lyng, saying
the murder was carefully
planned and coldly committed.
"This man killed his wife almost
17 years ago; we still don't know
where her body is," McKay said.
"Her family is depnved of the right
to give her a decent burial."

Source : Daily Herald April,4,1984
Ell

Only after the last tree has been
cut down;
Only after the last fish has been
caught;
Only after the last river has been
poisoned;
Only then will you realize
that money cannot be eaten.
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monkalup
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
[ *  *  * ]
one of the original newspaper articles

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k235/fir...pg?t=1176176553
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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monkalup
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
[ *  *  * ]
Palatine Police Department
John Koziol - Chief of Police
847-359-9000

NCIC Number: M-065701119

dentals
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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