Saundra Adams, charged in Buffalo NY for 1983 necktie murder of 92-year-old Purple Heart WWI veteran, Edmund Schreiber
Upstate New York woman charged in 1983 necktie murder of 92-year-old Purple Heart WWI veteran as technology links 50-year-old librarian to to unsolved murder of WW1 veteran, 33 years ago
Saundra Adams, then 17, and an accomplice, invaded her neighbor’s home intent on committing robbery
The slightly built 92-year-old victim was found hands tied, strangled with eight of his own neckties
DNA, Fingerprints linked Saundra Adams to death of Edmund Schreiber, her DNA was found on the ties and furniture at crime scene
Adams charged with two counts of second-degree murder, held without bail
Thirty-three years after Edmund C. Schreiber, an elderly World War I veteran, was found strangled with eight of his own neckties in his upstate New York home, advancements in forensics technology caught up with police work leading to the the arrest,Tuesday of a Buffalo woman, on murder charges.
Saundra Adams, now 50, who had been a neighbor of Schreiber’s in 1983, was arraigned Wednesday in Erie County Court on charges of second degree murder in the long unsolved killing.
Saundra Williams drops her head during her arraignment, Wednesday
Fingerprints and DNA evidence link Saundra Adams, 50, to the slaying of Edmund Schreiber, found strangled with eight of his own neckties in Buffalo in 1983.
Adams, who was 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 Michael Flaherty Jr. said.Schreiber a widower, had lived in the same home with his wife for more than five decades as they raised a family. His wife was deceased five years before the slaying.
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.
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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.
Edmund Schreiber, a World War I hero, was strangled with 6 of his own neckties in 1983.
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To observers, the homicide seemed particularly senseless if the objective was robbery. Schreiber was a short, slight 92-year-old ho weighed only about 100 pounds. That killers tied his hands and wrapped eight eight of his own neckties around his throat to choke him to death.
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Assistant District Attorney Thomas M. Finnerty said in court that some of the new evidence that led police to Adams was found in those neckties.
“The defendant’s DNA was found on multiple knots on the ties used to strangle him,” Finnerty told Judge David Foley.
He also said the house was ransacked, indicating the break-in started as a burglary, and that a fingerprint found on a dresser in the bedroom matched Adams’.
“The defendant has falsely denied being in the bedroom and being inside the home on multiple occasions,” Finnerty said. “She has never offered an explanation for how her DNA wound up on his ties.”
College librarian Saundra Adams has been charged in a 33-year-old murder case
Seeking bail, defense attorney Daniel Grasso said, Adams worked at the library of a Buffalo college [confirmed\by the school] and was the mother of two adult children
The defense asked the judge to consider bail, noting that the now-middle-aged Adams had almost no criminal record and worked as a librarian.
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The prosecutor countered that the 33 years between the crime and prosecution should not be considered a mitigating factor, taking into account the brutality of the crime.
The judge agreed with prosecution : “I do agree that the passage of time is an aggravating factor more than anything else,” Foley said, and he ordered Adams held without bail.
Adams, who was arrested Tuesday, pleaded not guilty. She was being held Thursday in jail pending a bail hearing. The prosecutors say that at the time of the murder, Adams was living in her family’s home on the same street as Schreiber’s house. Adams still lives there.
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She has denied any involvement in Schreiber’s death, Grasso said soon after his first meeting with her Thursday.
“I’ll be curious to see how the DNA report is worded”.
Flaherty said his office revisited the case earlier this year at the request of the city’s homicide squad. The victim’s a middle-aged granddaughter living in Kentucky, profusely thanked authorities after receiving word an arrest had been made, the prosecutor said.
“She asked me to thank all the investigators for their hard work,” Flaherty said.
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