Kelsey Grammer on his Sister's Tragic Death 'I Don't Blame Myself Anymore'

In his emotional new memoir, Karen: A Brother Remembers, TV icon Kelsey Grammer shares the story of his younger sibling’s 1975 murder. He tells Us how revisiting his painful past helped him heal

- JAIME HARKIN & ANDREA SIMPSON

Kelsey Grammer will never forget the last time he heard his sister Karen's voice. It was June 30, 1975, and the actor — then 20 — had returned home to Florida after being kicked out of the prestigious Juilliard School in NYC. Karen, who'd recently followed a boyfriend to Colorado Springs, Colo., was soon set to join Kelsey and the rest of their family to celebrate her 19th birthday. During a phone call, the close-knit siblings talked excitedly about their plans — Kelsey was looking forward to them spending the summer together and introducing her to his girlfriend. He recalls them telling each other, “I'll see you in a little bit,” and “I can’t wait to see you again.”

Ten days later, Kelsey was informed by detectives that Karen had been violently murdered in the early hours of July 1. The perpetrators, Freddie Glenn, Larry Dunn and Eric McLeod — who took the lives of seven people in a killing spree that summer — were believed to be planning to rob the Red Lobster where Karen worked when they spotted her near the back entrance and abducted her. They raped and tortured her before stabbing her 42 times, slashing her throat and leaving her for dead in a mobile home park. Despite her wounds, she crawled to someone's stoop in an attempt to get help. There, she passed away, hand in a fist above her head with one finger pointing, Kelsey believes, in the direction where she was attacked. In his new memoir, Karen: A Brother Remembers (available now), Kelsey explores his devastation over losing his beloved little sister. “I was desolated. Drowning in grief,” he writes, adding that he blamed himself for her demise even though he was some 2,000 miles away. “I was her protector, her big brother.