DNA on discarded coffee cup helps solve 47-year old cold case

US: On December 5, 1975, an aunt and uncle of Ms Lindy Sue Biechler went to her apartment in Manor Township, Pennsylvania, eager to exchange recipes with their 19-year-old niece, who had returned from getting groceries about two hours earlier.

On her front door, they saw blood. Inside, they were startled by bloodstains near the entrance way and splotches of blood on the carpet, the authorities said.

Between the living room and dining room was Biechler, lying on her back and bleeding from multiple parts of her body, a kitchen knife protruding from the left side of her neck.

Someone had stabbed Biechler, a recently married flower shop clerk, 19 times, killing her, the authorities said that day. The identity of the killer would elude them for 47 years.

But on July 18, the Lancaster County District-Attorney’s Office and the Manor Township Police Department said they had arrested David Sinopoli, 68, of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a day earlier on homicide charges. The arrest closed a case that had haunted the county for more than four decades and frustrated local detectives who had investigated dozens of tips over the years to no avail.

They obtained his DNA from a coffee cup he had used and thrown into a rubbish bin before boarding a flight. From there, investigators matched his DNA with samples collected from Ms Biechler’s underwear.

– THE STRAITS TIMES