Arthur Kinlaw

Serial Killer

Arthur Kinlaw: Murders Across New York and New Jersey

Overview

Arthur Kinlaw is an American convicted murderer whose crimes involved vulnerable women in New York and New Jersey during the early 1980s. He was convicted in 2000 of murdering two unidentified women and later became the accused killer of Dawn Rita Olanick, a 17-year-old Long Island teenager whose unidentified remains were known for four decades as "Princess Doe." Investigators have described circumstances in which Kinlaw exploited women, attempted to involve them in prostitution, or exercised control over women who depended upon him for housing. Kinlaw's known crimes were especially difficult to investigate because two of his victims remained unidentified. One was recovered from the East River in 1984, while another remained buried beneath a concrete patio at Kinlaw's former Bellport residence until 1999. The lack of confirmed identities complicated efforts to reconstruct the victims' lives, locate their families, and determine precisely when they were killed.

The Murder of Dawn Rita Olanick

Dawn Rita Olanick was a 17-year-old girl from Long Island, New York. She had lived with her mother and sister and attended school in the Connetquot Central School District before leaving home in 1982. Authorities believe Olanick encountered Kinlaw after leaving her family's residence. According to prosecutors, Kinlaw attempted to persuade or force the teenager into prostitution. When she refused, he transported her away from New York and killed her in northwestern New Jersey. On July 15, 1982, a cemetery worker discovered the teenager's body in a wooded section of Cedar Ridge Cemetery in Blairstown Township, Warren County, New Jersey. She had suffered severe injuries to her face and head, leaving her unrecognizable. Investigators could not determine her identity, and the case became one of New Jersey's most widely publicized unidentified-person investigations. She was given the name "Princess Doe" and was buried in the same cemetery where her body had been abandoned. Kinlaw contacted investigators from prison in 2005 and provided a written statement in which he admitted responsibility for killing the unidentified girl. Although his admissions contained information about the crime, prosecutors could not immediately bring the case to court because they still did not know the victim's name. Without an identification, investigators had difficulty verifying important parts of his account and establishing the teenager's movements before her death. The mystery was finally resolved through forensic genetic genealogy. DNA obtained from the victim's remains was compared with genealogical information, leading investigators to members of the Olanick family. Additional DNA testing confirmed in April 2022 that Princess Doe was Dawn Olanick. In July 2022, New Jersey authorities charged Kinlaw with first-degree murder. Prosecutors alleged that he killed Dawn after she resisted his effort to involve her in prostitution. ...

Confirmed Victims: (4)

Dawn Rita Olanick Age: (17), Date of Death: June 24, 1982

Arthur Kinlaw Murdered Dawn Olanick: Prosecutors - Law