Tom Burris

Karen's husband Thomas James Burris has kept a low profile since Karen's death. He and Karen were still married when she died. It doesn't appear that they had a prenup. In the Little Girl Blue biography on Karen, it was indicated that  Karen's settlement with Tom would have netted him a million dollars. When Karen died still married to him, it's likely that he would have been entitled to more. California community property laws would have entitled him to half of whatever Karen earned while they were married. While the only new album generated during the marriage was Made in America, which did not do well in sales, and the Carpenters did not tour, there were likely royalties from the other albums and income generated from investments which could have resulted in more than a million dollars for him.

It irks me to no end that Tom profited from Karen. It's not clear whether Tom was already in financial trouble when he married Karen and had ulterior motives in marrying her. But the speed of the engagement and wedding is cause for suspicion. In addition, there is the fact that he was not yet divorced when he proposed to Karen. It makes one think, he was trying to get out of one situation to rush to the alter to marry a woman of obvious means.

Karen and Tom's Wedding

It's quite possible that he had some wealth and therefore made it into the circles of people like Mike and Carol Curb. Mike and Carol were responsible for the fateful introduction of Tom to Karen. The Curbs should have vetted out Tom more carefully before making the introduction. They assumed he was wealthy. I wonder if they have remorse over that. I believe Karen's failed marriage to Thomas Burris was the last straw. She rapidly deteriorated after her failed marriage both mentally and physically. A marriage to someone who took advantage of her position was simply something her fragile self couldn't handle at that time.

It's not clear whether Tom knew about Karen's anorexia prior to their marriage. He must have detected odd behavior in dining with her or seeing how thin she was. Obviously he was aware of it after their marriage through her declining physical condition. I found it interesting that Tom was the only one in Karen's life who realized the length of her illness. Richard always stated the anorexia started in 1975 which would have made the length of her illness per him 8 years. Tom however more accurately stated to People magazine that Karen was ill for 9 years. It leads me to think that Karen discussed her eating disorder with Tom at some point.

Karen seemed very determined to marry someone of equal financial status. There were a number of less well off men interested in her who I believe genuinely loved her. Her wealth was inconsequential to them. Men like David Alley or Gary Sims. In retrospect, if she had less stringent expectations, she potentially could have been happy with one of these men and lived happily.