Authorities in upstate New York believe they have solved the 33-year-old necktie murder of a 92-year-old World War I veteran who was awarded the Purple Heart.
Fingerprints and DNA evidence link Saundra Adams to the slaying of Edmund Schreiber, found strangled with eight of his own neckties in Buffalo in 1983, according to the Buffalo News.
The 50-year-old Adams, 17 at the time of the killing, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder. An unknown accomplice was also involved, prosecutors say.
"Mr. Schreiber survived World War I, but he did not survive those who, during the night of June 23, 1983, invaded his home, attacked him, and took his life," acting Erie County District Attorney Patrick Flaherty said, WIVB reported.
Schreiber and his wife lived in the same house for more than five decades as they raised a family, the Buffalo News reported. His wife passed away five years before the slaying, according to the newspaper.
The war hero weighed just 100 pounds at the time of the murder and could not do much to defend himself, according to the paper. His killers tied his hands and savagely wrapped his neckties around his throat.
Burglary had been the initial intent of the suspects, the paper reported.
"The defendant's DNA was found on multiple knots on the ties used to strangle him,” Assistant District Attorney Thomas Finnerty said in court, according to the Buffalo News. "The defendant has falsely denied being in the bedroom and being inside the home on multiple occasions. She has never offered an explanation for how her DNA wound up on his ties."
Adams lives in the same Buffalo neighborhood where Schreiber was slain, says Susan Karalus, who represented Adams at her arraignment. Adams pleaded not guilty on Wednesday.
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