After nearly three decades, Suffolk County law enforcement officials have resolved a cold case that involved the brutal murder and sexual assault of 69-year-old Ann Lustig, bringing a modicum of peace to her surviving family members. Upon reexamining the evidence from the 1997 crime, advanced DNA testing on a smudge from the victim's sweatshirt led to the identification of Steven Briecke, a man from West Islip, as her murderer, according to reporting from NBC New York.
Ann Lustig was found murdered after being picked up in the vicinity of Kings Park State Psychiatric Hospital while waiting for a taxi in the winter of 1997. Her grandson, Joseph Saccone, expressed the family's longstanding torment with not knowing who was responsible for her death, saying to NBC New York, "What if? How could this happen? And of course, who took my grandmother Ann from us in the winter of 1997?" Sadly, Briecke passed away in 2014, and as such, will not stand trial for his crimes.
Furthermore, Briecke's DNA, which was found in a database for felons due to his criminal history, was not only the key to solving Lustig's case, but has also been linked to another violent crime from December 1996. This involved the rape of an 82-year-old woman, again near Kings Park State Psychiatric Hospital. The two victims were tied to the same perpetrator when black-colored fibers from a vehicle mat and green-colored fibers consistent with carpet were discovered on both victims and found to be similar, as ABC 7 New York reported.
Suffolk County's Cold Case Task Force has been commended by the victim's family for their unwavering pursuit in the search for truth. "My family and I consider us fortunate. The monster that took her last breath from her and stole her precious smile is no longer walking among us," Saccone told NBC New York. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney praised the task force's efforts and noted the significance of the advanced DNA testing that brought this case to its bittersweet conclusion, as shared by ABC 7 New York.
