Linden Serial Killer Linked to 1965 Murder of Hazlet Woman

By Carly Baldwin

Hazlet Township, NJ – For 50 years, the brutal rape and murder of 18-year-old Mary Agnes Klinsky of West Keansburg had gone unsolved.

But on Wednesday, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office announced that DNA evidence recovered from where Klinsky’s body was found has linked Robert Zarinsky, a convicted serial killer who died in prison for the murder of another Monmouth County women, to her 1965 murder.

Young woman’s body found off Parkway in 1965

The body of 18-year old Raritan High School senior, Mary Agnes Klinsky, of the West Keansburg section of Hazlet, was discovered by a Garden State Parkway road crew around 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 16, 1965.

Klinsky’s body was located near the Parkway southbound entrance, in an area now known as Exit #116. Her naked body, displaying extreme physical trauma, was found face down in the grass behind the guardrail. The victim’s jewelry was still on her body, and a ring from Raritan Township High School with the initials “MAK” helped investigators learn her identity.

An autopsy revealed that Klinsky died as a result of multiple skull fractures from significant blunt force trauma to her head. The post-mortem examination also found evidence of her being sexually assaulted prior to her death, prosecutors said.

DNA profile of her killer couldn’t be established at the time

Evidence was secured from the crime scene and during the autopsy, but the scientific technology at the time did not detect a DNA profile of the suspect. Over the years, numerous potential suspects and witnesses were questioned and cleared by both Monmouth County authorities, and the New Jersey State Police.

But recently, with the advances in amplifying and detecting DNA profiles, evidence from the Klinsky murder investigation began to be re-examined. Using biological evidence preserved from 1965, a DNA profile of the suspect was determined. It was this DNA profile that linked Zarinsky to Klinsky’s murder, police said.

Further corroborative evidence was established to support Zarinky’s motive and whereabouts surrounding the time of Klinsky’s death, Monmouth County prosecutors said Wednesday.

Already in prison for murdering another woman

Zarinsky, originally from Linden, was well-known to law enforcement authorities in Monmouth County and across the region.

He was convicted in 1975 for the 1969 murder of 17-year-old Rosemary Calandriello, of Atlantic Highlands. Further, while serving a life sentence for Calandriello’s murder, Zarinsky was indicted for the 1968 murder of 13-year-old Jane Durrua, of Keansburg.

Zarinsky died in 2008 at South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton while awaiting trial for Durrua’s murder.

“If Robert Zarinsky was alive today, he would be prosecuted for the homicide and sexual assault against Klinsky,” said Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni. “The dogged determination of our investigators and those at the New Jersey State Police has provided closure for the Klinsky family. After more than half a century, they know who killed their sister.”

And as for Mary Agnes Klinsky? She can now rest in peace, her family told police.

Photo: Robert Zarinsky in his Monmouth County mugshot. By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42334785