LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) — A Pennsylvania man has been charged in the 1975 cold case killing of a 19-year-old woman after DNA on a discarded coffee cup appeared to match DNA left on the victim’s clothing.
Criminal homicide charges were filed against 68-year-old David Sinopoli, of Lancaster, in the murder of Lindy Sue Biechler, of Manor Township, Pennsylvania. Lancaster County Det. Christopher Erb and Manor Township Police Department Det. Sgt. Tricia Mazur filed the charges.
Sinopoli was arrested without incident at his home around 7 a.m. Sunday. He was arraigned and remanded to Lancaster County Prison without bail on charges of first-degree felony criminal homicide.
“Lindy Sue Biechler was 19 when her life was brutally taken away from her 46 years ago in the sanctity of her own home,” Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said.
“This arrest marks the beginning of the criminal process in Lancaster County’s oldest cold case homicide and we hope that it brings some sense of relief to the victim’s loved ones and to community members who for the last 46 years had no answers.”
Biechler’s body was discovered around 8:46 p.m. on the evening of Dec. 5, 1975, by her aunt and uncle.
Investigators observed blood on the outside of the front door as well as on the wall on the entranceway and several patches of blood on the carpet of Beichler’s home.
Biechler had returned home from the grocery store between 6:45 p.m. and 7:05 p.m., and grocery bags from John Herr’s market sat on the dining room table.
Investigators found Biechler lying on her back with a knife sticking out of her neck. The knife, which had a tea towel wrapped around the wooden handle, matched the knives stored in Biechler’s knife block in her kitchen. Investigators also noted signs of a struggle inside the apartment.
Biechler had 19 stab wounds to her neck, chest, upper abdomen and back.
The Lancaster County Coroner’s Office ruled the cause of death as massive bleeding due to multiple stab wounds and the manner of death as a homicide … READ MORE.
