INVESTIGATIVE CASE DOSSIER: KARI LYNN NIXON MURDER: HOW ROBERT SHULMAN’S LONG ISLAND SERIAL KILLINGS SOLVED 1987 UPSTATE COLD CASE
- Victim: Kari Lynn Nixon (16 years old)
- Date of Disappearance: June 22, 1987
- Location: Au Sable Forks, Essex County, New York
- Perpetrator: Robert Shulman (Long Island Serial Killer; Postal worker)
- Investigation Duration: 7-year nationwide investigation (1987–1994)
- Investigating Agencies: New York State Police, FBI, Suffolk County Police Department
- Resolution Date: April 1994 (Remains recovered in Long Island based on Shulman’s confession)
- Judicial Outcome: Shulman sentenced to death (Commuted to Life Without Parole; died in prison 2006)
On the evening of June 22, 1987, sixteen-year-old high school student Kari Lynn Nixon walked out of a convenience store after buying groceries in the quiet Adirondack hamlet of Au Sable Forks, New York, and vanished into the summer twilight. Her disappearance triggered a seven-year nationwide search, with her photograph prominently featured in Soul Asylum’s famous 1993 music video ‘Runaway Train.’ In April 1994, the mystery came to a tragic and horrifying conclusion when Suffolk County detectives arrested postal worker Robert Shulman for a series of dismemberment murders on Long Island. Shulman confessed to abducting, murdering, and dismembering Nixon, leading state police to her buried remains.
The 1987 Upstate Disappearance & The Runaway Train Video
Kari Lynn Nixon lived with her family in Au Sable Forks in upstate New York. On the night of June 22, 1987, she walked three blocks from her home to the local Stewart’s convenience store to purchase soda and candy. Store clerks confirmed she departed on foot around 9:15 PM. She never made it home.
New York State Police launched extensive searches across Essex and Clinton counties, deploying bloodhound tracking dogs and dive teams into the Au Sable River. For years, false sightings were reported across North America. In 1993, alternative rock band Soul Asylum included Nixon’s photo in their Grammy-winning music video ‘Runaway Train,’ which broadcast missing children profiles to tens of millions of viewers globally.
The Long Island Serial Murders & The Arrest of Robert Shulman
Between 1991 and 1994, Suffolk and Nassau County police on Long Island discovered several dismembered bodies of young women discarded in garbage bags inside industrial dumpsters. Suffolk County Homicide Detective Robert Edwards and the Long Island Homicide Task Force traced blue sleeping bag fibers and distinctive surgical gauze found on the remains.
In April 1994, detectives placed 40-year-old Hicksville postal worker Robert Shulman under surveillance, collecting discarded trash that matched evidence from the dumpster victims. Shulman was arrested and confronted with overwhelming physical proof.
The Confession, Body Recovery & Dental Confirmation
During hours of intense interrogation, Robert Shulman broke down and confessed to murdering five women on Long Island. Unexpectedly, Shulman admitted that in June 1987, he was traveling through upstate New York on vacation when he encountered Kari Lynn Nixon walking along the road in Au Sable Forks. Shulman abducted Nixon, took her to a local motel, beat her to death with a baseball bat, dismembered her body in the bathtub, and transported the remains back to Long Island in the trunk of his car.
Shulman guided New York State Police and Suffolk County detectives to a wooded gravel pit in Medford, Long Island, where investigators unearthed Nixon’s skeletal remains. Forensic odontologists and state police DNA analysts confirmed the match to Kari Lynn Nixon, bringing an agonizing seven-year mystery to a definitive conclusion.
Judicial Trial, Death Sentence & Legal Legacy
In 1999, Robert Shulman was tried in Suffolk County Supreme Court, convicted of first-degree capital murder, and sentenced to death by lethal injection under New York’s newly reinstated capital punishment statute. In 2004, the New York Court of Appeals invalidated the state’s death penalty statute in People v. LaValle, commuting Shulman’s sentence to life imprisonment without parole. Shulman died in prison in 2006.
The Kari Lynn Nixon investigation demonstrated the critical value of nationwide missing child broadcast networks and inter-agency collaboration between rural state police barracks and metropolitan homicide divisions.
The Au Sable Forks Disappearance & 7-Year National Search
On June 22, 1987, sixteen-year-old high school student Kari Lynn Nixon walked to a local convenience store to buy groceries in the small Adirondack town of Au Sable Forks, New York. She purchased milk and candy, walked out into the summer evening, and vanished. The New York State Police, FBI, and local volunteer brigades conducted massive searches throughout Clinton and Essex counties.
The Nixon family launched an international awareness campaign. Kari’s photograph was featured in music videos (including Soul Asylum’s ‘Runaway Train’) and across thousands of posters. For seven years, state police investigators followed hundreds of false sightings spanning across the United States and Canada.
The Long Island Serial Murders & Robert Shulman’s Capture
In the mid-1990s, Suffolk County Police homicide detectives were investigating a gruesome series of dismembered female victims discovered in dumpsters across Long Island. In April 1996, detectives matched vehicle records and forensic trace evidence to 42-year-old postal worker Robert Shulman of Hicksville, Long Island.
Upon searching Shulman’s residence, New York State Police and Suffolk County detectives discovered bloodstains and forensic evidence confirming multiple homicides. During extensive custodial interrogations, Shulman admitted to killing multiple women, unexpectedly confessing that while visiting upstate New York in June 1987, he had abducted and murdered Kari Lynn Nixon.
Skeletal Recovery, STR DNA Verification & Capital Sentencing
In May 1996, Shulman led New York State Police investigators to a remote cemetery in the hamlet of Keeseville, New York, where he had buried Nixon’s body. Forensic anthropologists and state police forensic scientists recovered the skeletal remains and confirmed her identity through dental records and early STR DNA comparison.
In 1999, Robert Shulman was convicted in Suffolk County Supreme Court of first-degree murder for multiple victims and was sentenced to death (later commuted to life imprisonment without parole following state constitutional rulings). Shulman died in state prison in 2006, bringing conclusive forensic resolution to the long-standing upstate cold case.
New York State Police Evidence Inter-Agency Coordination
The resolution of Kari Lynn Nixon’s disappearance required seamless operational collaboration between the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) in upstate Ray Brook and Suffolk County Police homicide detectives on Long Island. When Robert Shulman was arrested for serial homicides in suburban New York, state police interrogators traveled over 300 miles to conduct specialized behavioral interviews.
The recovery of Nixon’s remains in Keeseville and subsequent forensic anthropological verification brought an end to seven years of agonizing uncertainty for the Nixon family, while providing crucial aggravating evidence during Shulman’s capital murder sentencing in Suffolk County Supreme Court.
Forensic Serology & Trace Biological Mapping on Long Island
Suffolk County crime laboratory criminalists conducted exhaustive luminol and blood-spatter mapping within Robert Shulman’s residence, uncovering latent blood patterns beneath freshly painted drywall and floor linoleum. The microscopic blood evidence corroborated Shulman’s custodial statements and established the physical timeline of his predatory attacks.
The case serves as a prime example of how interstate and upstate-downstate law enforcement partnerships are vital for identifying serial offenders who commit homicides across geographically disparate regions.
Case Timeline & Forensic Milestones
| Date / Period | Investigative Milestone | Forensic Details & Key Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| June 22, 1987 | Disappearance in Au Sable Forks | 16-year-old Kari Lynn Nixon vanishes walking home from store |
| 1987 – 1993 | Nationwide Manhunt | Case featured in Soul Asylum’s Runaway Train video; hundreds of leads pursued |
| April 1994 | Robert Shulman Arrested | Suffolk County Police arrest Long Island dismemberment serial killer |
| April 1994 | Remains Located | Shulman confesses to 1987 abduction and leads police to Medford grave |
| March 1999 | Death Sentence | Shulman sentenced to death in New York |
| 2006 | Death in Custody | Shulman dies in state prison while serving life without parole |
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Frequently Asked Questions About This Case
Who was Robert Shulman?
Robert Shulman was a Hicksville, Long Island postal worker who operated as a serial killer, murdering and dismembering at least five women between 1987 and 1994, including Kari Lynn Nixon.
How was Kari Lynn Nixon’s body discovered after 7 years?
Her remains were recovered in Medford, Long Island, after Robert Shulman confessed to the 1987 upstate abduction following his 1994 arrest for the Long Island serial murders.
What role did the music video ‘Runaway Train’ play in the case?
The 1993 video by Soul Asylum featured Kari’s photograph, generating massive national awareness and keeping her disappearance active in the public consciousness until the killer’s capture.
