Twenty years after Tinyes murder, killer's family moves

Twenty years after one of their sons was convicted of the grisly murder of a teenage neighbor, John and Elizabeth Golub have finally moved off the Valley Stream block where they became pariahs.

And the father of the murdered 13-year-old girl said now that the two-decade grudge match appears over, he too may soon leave the block.

Richard Tinyes, whose daughter Kelly Ann was murdered in the Golubs' basement down the street in 1989, said Sunday that "it's time" to leave the block.

"We'd like to move," he said. "It's a thought in our heads and we're thinking about going. We're just glad they're out of here right now."

Neighbors watched Saturday as movers hauled furniture from the Golub house and loaded it into a truck. John and Elizabeth Golub would not comment to reporters. In 1990, their eldest son, Robert, was convicted of killing Kelly Ann. The Tinyeses still believe the Golubs' other son, John J., participated in the killing.

John J. Golub's attorney, John Lewis of Farmingdale, said he did not know to where John and Elizabeth Golub are moving.

"They want to get their anonymity back," Lewis said.

For two decades, the Golubs remained in the house where Robert Golub beat and strangled Kelly Ann, then hid her body in the basement.

As Robert Golub, now 42, was convicted and sent to serve a 25-years-to-life prison sentence, the family stayed at 81 Horton Rd. - four doors down from Kelly Ann's parents at No. 101.

But at the Golubs' two-story Tudor-style home Saturday, an old refrigerator, a pink couch and other furniture sat in the driveway. Boxes filled two vehicles registered to John Golub. The home is listed on real estate Web sites at $379,000, with one site, Trulia.com, saying the price had dropped by $20,000 in May.

The real estate agent for the home, Raymond M. Sung, hung up when a reporter called.

After the slaying, resentment between the families has been in sharp relief: Taunts. Lawsuits. Police complaints. Tinyes said Sunday John Golub harassed his wife and would "give her the finger" when they crossed paths.

Neighbors loyal to the Tinyeses once issued a news release formally asking the Golubs to leave. Several neighbors reached Sunday said they had nothing to do with the Golubs and don't know where they are going.

"I never spoke to them," said John Casey, who lives between the two families. "Never."

For years, Tinyes and his allies on the block contended that other Golub family members were accessories in her death. Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced in March she will re-examine the case to see if there were accomplices.

A neighbor, Laura DeLuca, 29, recalled Kelly Ann dancing on her stairs the day before she disappeared. DeLuca, a close friend of the Tinyeses, said the move is bittersweet because it might mean evidence is being lost that could tie others to the crime.

Tinyes said Sunday that while he's glad the Golubs appear gone, he remains focused on proving Robert Golub had help killing his daughter.

"With all that's going on, what was lost was it was Kelly," he said. "We're looking for justice for Kelly. We're not looking to fight on the block, we're looking for a normal life."