A 'hell on Horton Road'

It hardly matters anymore to Richard and Victoria

Tinyes that the Golubs will be leaving Horton Road in Valley Stream.

After 17 years of channeling all their anger and grief into what happened

to their 13-year-old daughter in the basement of their neighbor's home, they

have nothing but indifference for the news that the Golubs' trim Tudor-style

house is finally for sale.

Nor are they bothered that Robert Golub, who in 1990 was convicted of

strangling and stabbing Kelly Ann Tinyes in that basement, will be eligible for

parole in just eight years.

What has been impossible for them to overcome is their belief that other

people were involved in their daughter's death.

"That's what's really killing us," Richard Tinyes, 52, said. "We just want

to get to the truth of the whole thing."

In interviews last week, Richard and Vicky Tinyes talked about the

financial and emotional struggles that followed Kelly's murder, and what it has

been like to live four houses away from the family of the man who killed their

daughter.

"It's been hell," Tinyes said. "It's been hell on Horton Road."

On March 3, 1989, someone inside the Golub home called Kelly as she was

baby-sitting her younger brother, Richard Jr., and invited her over.

Inside the house, John J. Golub, 14, was smoking marijuana with two

friends, police said then. His older brother, Robert, 21, an unemployed

bodybuilder, was in a separate room. Their parents, John and Elizabeth, were

away.

Kelly's body was found in the basement the following day and Robert Golub

was charged with murder. Police found no evidence that the younger Golub or his

friends knew Kelly had entered the house. The Golub family has always

maintained Robert's innocence. They could not be reached for this story.

For years, Richard Tinyes has offered a $100,000 reward for further

information on the crime.

And, last week, he and his wife met with Nassau District Attorney Kathleen

Rice and appealed to her to reopen the investigation. A spokesman for her

office said the case file is under review.

Robert Golub was convicted in 1990 and is serving a sentence of 25 years to

life. For both families, the case generated enormous amounts of unwanted

publicity.

Richard and Vicky Tinyes could go nowhere without being recognized. People

driving past their house slowed down and stared. They were even recognized on

vacation in Aruba.

"It was hard for people to deal with us," Tinyes said. "I could see it in

their eyes."

Vicky, 51, who worked in a doctor's office several blocks away, never

stopped working. "I don't know how we went on, but we did," she said.

But Richard, who ran Victoria Collision, an autobody shop in Valley Stream,

could not keep up with the business. He stopped going to the shop as often,

lost customers and fell behind in taxes. The business closed in 1999. "The

stress was too much," he said.

On Horton Road, things were worse. Neither family could avoid the other on

the narrow, one-way street.

By Richard Tinyes' count, the two families filed more than 100 police

complaints against the other, most for harassment or menacing. None resulted in

convictions.

"I wanted to kill them, but what was I going to do?" Richard Tinyes said.

"I had a wife to take care of and a son who needed me."

If there could be a benefit, Tinyes said, it was that he and his son grew

closer after the murder.

The family stayed on Horton Road to avoid uprooting Richard Jr. Instead,

they talked openly with him about his sister and kept him busy, they said.

Richard Tinyes said he and his son built go-carts together and traveled in

a motor home along the East Coast to race them.

"He won about a million trophies," Tinyes said.

For his parents, it hasn't been so easy - even as the Golubs' house was

being listed on the market for $525,000.

Richard Jr. is now 25, married and lives in Lynbrook with his wife. He is

an operator of heavy equipment and a member of a local union. Through his

parents, he declined to comment for this story.

Chronology of the Golub case

1989

March 4: Body of Kelly Ann Tinyes, 13, found in Golub family home.

March 23: Robert Golub, 21, sought in the murder, surrenders and pleads not

guilty.

1990

April 3: Jury convicts Golub of second-degree murder, saying DNA evidence

is key. Golub later gets 25 years to life.

April 5: John Golub, Robert's father, says family unable to move due to

financial troubles.

July: Tinyes family files a $602-million negligence suit against the

Golubs.

1992

June 17: Victoria Tinyes, Kelly Ann's mother, files harassment charges

against John Golub, claiming he tried to run her over after she sprayed his car

with a hose. Golub files counter charges. Charges dismissed.

July 15: John Golub accused of using car to ram pickup carrying Kelly Ann's

father, Richard, and brother, Richard Jr. Charges are dismissed.

Dec. 4: Attorneys for Robert Golub appeal his conviction, claiming DNA

evidence was "flawed." Conviction upheld.

1993

March: Victoria Tinyes sues Elizabeth Golub for $5 million, claiming Golub

acted maliciously in filing harassment charges against her, later dismissed.

2006

February: The Golubs put their home up for sale, 17 years after the murder.