For sale: Brighton home that was site of one of the most infamous crimes in Monroe County

The two story home tucked away on a quiet street in a tree-lined neighborhood has a little secret.  One of the most infamous crimes in Monroe County occurred at this home at 33 Del Rio Drive in Brighton. 

In 1982, Brighton housewife Cathleen Krauseneck was killed by an ax blow to her head while her 3 year-old daughter was home. The grisly murder rocked the community and remains unsolved.

MORE: Brighton cops tackle 1982 unsolved ax homicide

Now, the notorious home is on the market. Listed at $189,900, the 2,057-square-feet home built in 1945 has three bedrooms and two bathrooms in updated condition. The hardwood floors have been refinished, the roof is newer and the windows have been replaced. It is currently home to a family.

The house has been on the market for over three months, which is unusual for an updated home in the town of Brighton as the market for well-priced homes in good condition is very competitive, said Realtor Davide Salafia, with the Salafia Sold Team at ReMax Plus in Brighton.

Salafia, who is a Brighton resident, has shown the home to a prospective client without knowing that a murder took place at the house. Real estate laws vary from state to state and in New York sellers do not have to disclose suicides or murders, Salafia said, explaining that he had listed a home a few years back where a suicide took place. But if a Realtor is asked a question directly, the Realtor has the professional obligation of being honest and upfront.

What the home may suffer from is stigmatization, Salafia said. There will be a pool of buyers who will never consider buying a home where a tragic event took place, he said. The home is priced very well for the area, Salafia added, noting that the retail price should be in the $220,000 range. 

Even without disclosure, it's very easy for consumers to Google search the home and its address if they are interested in purchasing. There, they'll find details of what happened 35 years ago.

The homicide took place in the Evans Farm neighborhood — a quiet residential area filled with families. Cathleen Krauseneck was 29 at the time and the couple's 3-year-old daughter was alone with her mother's corpse for hours, until her father returned home from his job. 

James Krauseneck, who worked for Eastman Kodak Co. in 1982, told the police then that he found his wife dead around 5 p.m. His wife had been asleep when he left for work around 6:30 a.m. on the morning she was slain, he said.

In 1982, police said Cathleen Krauseneck may have been killed during a burglary. The ax and a maul, used for splitting wood, were found in the home. They'd earlier been in the family's garage, which had been left unlocked.

A window was shattered from the outside, with the maul apparently used to break the glass, police say. Police also found a sock that the killer may have used when holding the maul.

An autopsy determined she had been killed in the early morning hours. But no one was ever charged with the crime. James Krauseneck now lives in Mercer Island, Washington.

The murder occurred the year that Salafia was born. Many young families who have moved into Brighton likely will not recall the crime. There are buyers who will be interested in the property for its location and condition, Salafia said.  

Prior to the ax murder, another incident took the lives of two people at the house at 33 Del Rio Dr. Anthony Schifino, founder of Rochester Radio Supply Inc. and one-time owner of Avon Inn, and his wife Estelle, died of carbon monoxide poisoning at the home in 1977. The car engine had been accidentally left running in the garage.  

Homes with notorious incidents do sell. The Amityville Horror home of book and movie fame has changed hands several times, most recently listed in 2016 for $850,000. It’s where Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot his parents and four siblings in 1974. The Amityville Horror books and films were based on the haunting incidents of a family who lived there after the DeFeo murders.  

MCHAO@Gannett.com

Includes reporting by staff writer Gary Craig.