THE NEIGHBORHOOD: On Horton Road, the tension won't go away
This block of Horton Road in Valley Stream remains a
snapshot of the agony experienced there when Kelly Ann Tinyes was killed 20
years ago in a crime that repulsed Long Island.
Many of those who lived on the block when 13-year-old Kelly Ann Tinyes was
murdered still live within steps of the house where she died. Her parents are
in the Cape Cod down the block; others who played roles in the investigation
and trial are a few doors down. Just beyond, at the Tudor home at 81 Horton
Rd., the parents of convicted killer Robert Golub hang on, still living on a
block where they are considered pariahs - or worse.
"As long as there is a block, as long as there are people here who were
around back then, it will never end," said neighbor Jackie De Luca, now 27.
"Think about it; why would anything really change when every time you go out
they are right there, you have to drive right by them?"
The murder of Kelly Ann Tinyes would have been difficult for any community
to put in the past. On March 3, 1989, Tinyes was lured from her home by a phone
call to the Golub home, where she was beaten and strangled, her body hidden in
a closet. After a lengthy, televised trial, Golub, then 21, was convicted.
The fact that both families remained on the block and the persistent rumors
that one or more other people were involved or knew more than they revealed
have kept the pain of the murder sharp. The bitterness played out in the street
for years as the Golub and Tinyes families exchanged taunts and filed lawsuits
and police complaints. While recent years have been peaceful - the last calls
to Nassau police were in 2007 when the Golubs reported two cars being
vandalized - neighbors say there remains a palpable tension.
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