Police: After 21 years, DNA match to 3 NY women murdered

[MuffyBee]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gracSo1iP152adQEgwtY-AG-9_lgD9F8CAF00
Police: After 21 years, DNA match to NY killings
April 22, 2010

YONKERS, N.Y. — A man now accused of raping and strangling three women in a New York suburb starting 21 years ago was never even suspected until he submitted a DNA sample after a drunken-driving arrest last year, officials said Thursday.

Investigators had looked at "way more than 100" other potential suspects over the years before they found the blood sample from Francisco Acevedo, 41, matched DNA evidence from the killings, said Yonkers Detective John Geiss.

Geiss, the only Yonkers officer working full-time on cold cases, said he'd been on the serial killings for "nine long years." The killings, which were linked to each other by DNA and other evidence, occurred in 1989, 1991 and 1996.

"I didn't think we'd see the day that we'd come to the point we're at now," he said.

Acevedo, who was already imprisoned on the DWI charge, apparently had no idea Yonkers detectives were finally closing in on him. He gave up his DNA sample as a condition of an optional parole application, and police said he was surprised when he was arrested in an upstate prison on the murder charges.

"He wasn't very happy to see us," Geiss said at a news conference in police headquarters.

Acevedo was indicted Wednesday on six counts of murder, three of which also allege rape. He pleaded not guilty. A call to his lawyer, Tamika Coverdale, was not immediately returned.

If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole.

Geiss said Acevedo had lived in many other jurisdictions over the years in Westchester, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Florida and most recently in Suffolk County, N.Y., where the DWI arrest occurred. He said several police departments from those areas were inquiring about Acevedo in connection with their own unsolved cases.

Police Commissioner Edmund Hartnett said Acevedo had lived in two Yonkers apartments as well as in the Bronx and Mount Vernon during the time of the killings, working at factory jobs. Geiss said the suspect was "very familiar" with the area where the bodies were found.

The victims were Maria Ramos, 26, of the Bronx, killed Feb. 5, 1989; Tawana Hodges, 28, of the Bronx, killed March 28, 1991; and Kimberley Moore, 30, of Greenburgh, killed May 24, 1996.

All were found naked, bound at the hands and facing up.

Geiss said the three killings constituted the last unsolved multiple slaying in his cold-case files, though he still has 28 other cases ranging back to 1986.

He said the victims' families were "very happy, very happy to have some answers."

Donald Dozier, Moore's stepfather, attended Acevedo's arraignment Wednesday and said that after 14 years he was grateful for the arrest and would monitor his trial, The Journal News reported. Dozier had helped raise Moore's two children. Other relatives of the victims would not comment.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20003284-504083.html
Unsuspecting Serial Killer Caught with DNA Sample Provided in a Bid to Get Parole, Say Cops
April 23, 2010


Francisco Acevedo (AP Photo/Westchester County District Attorney)

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) A Yonkers, NY cold case detective says he finally got his man after "nine long years" of looking at over 100 suspects in connection with the deaths of three women who were raped and strangled in 1989, 1991, and 1996 - and he owes it all to one convict's desire to be let out on parole.

Yonkers Detective John Geiss, the only Yonkers officer working full-time on cold cases, says the killings were linked to each other by DNA and other evidence, but that Francisco Acevedo was never even a suspect until he submitted a DNA sample after a drunk driving arrest last year, apparently as part of an application for parole.

Two of the victims, Maria Ramos, 26, killed Feb. 5, 1989, and Tawana Hodges, 28, killed March 28, 1991, lived in the Bronx and the third Kimberley Moore, 30, killed May 24, 1996, lived in Westchester.

All were found naked, bound at the hands and facing up.

Acevedo, who was already imprisoned upstate on the DWI charge, apparently had no idea detective in Yonkers, located just north of New York City`, were finally closing in on him and seemed surprised when he was arrested in an upstate prison on the murder charges.

"He wasn't very happy to see us," Geiss said at a news conference in police headquarters.

Geiss also said several police departments from the areas where Acevedo is known to have lived are now looking at him in connection with their own unsolved cases. Geiss said Acevedo had lived in many other jurisdictions over the years in Westchester, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Florida and most recently in Suffolk County, N.Y., where the DWI arrest occurred.

Acevedo was indicted Wednesday on six counts of murder, three of which also allege rape. He pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.lohud.com/article/20100423/NEWS02/4230331/-1/newsfront/Yonkers-detective-praised-in-serial-killer-case
Yonkers detective praised in serial killer case
April 23, 2010

YONKERS — Police Commissioner Edmund Hartnett on Thursday praised a Cold Case detective involved in arresting a suspect in the death of three women.


Police also gave more details about the investigation into suspect Francisco Acevedo, 41, as Hartnett praised city police Detective John Geiss.

Assistant District Attorney Patricia M. Murphy on Wednesday gave acting state Supreme Court Justice William Wetzel a sealed indictment against Acevedo.

Acevedo, a former Mount Vernon and Yonkers resident, is charged with first- and second-degree murder and first-degree rape in the slayings of Kimberly Moore, 30, of Greenburgh and Tawanda Hodges, 28, and Maria Ramos, 26, both of the Bronx.
"Due to the diligent commitment and hard work of many Yonkers Police Department detectives, his case was solved, but none worked harder on this than Detective John Geiss," Hartnett said. "John Geiss never gave up. Detective Geiss spoke for the victims in this case who had no voice anymore."

Ramos was killed Feb. 7, 1989, and her body was found at 78 Fernbrook St. On March 28, 1991, Hodges' body was found at 1 Federal St., below the Ludlow Street bridge and near the same area Ramos was found. On May 24, 1996, Moore was killed in the Trade Winds Motel at 1141 Yonkers Ave.

All three were raped, strangled and posed facing up. The three cases were linked by DNA, but detectives could never find a suspect. Four boxes of files were turned over to Geiss of the Cold Case Squad.
More than 100 people were looked at as suspects, but never Acevedo, Geiss said. That was until he was arrested in Suffolk County last year on a drunken-driving charge. He was sentenced to one to three years in prison in Greenhaven in Dutchess County.

"We looked at many individuals in connection with this case, and Mr. Acevedo popped up in late 2009," Geiss said. "It has been nine long years. I didn't think that we would come to the point that we are now."

Acevedo was linked to the three slayings by DNA from samples taken after he was sent to prison for his fourth drunken-driving conviction last year. His DNA was submitted to a nationwide databank and linked to the Yonkers cases.

"He wasn't very happy to see us," Geiss said.

Geiss said Acevedo was very familiar with the areas where all three women were killed. He lived in Mount Vernon, Yonkers and the Bronx during the time of the triple homicides and was a factory worker in the area, Geiss said. Since the homicides, he lived in Florida, Brooklyn and Bayshore, Long Island.

Geiss said Acevedo has done short stints in jail in Connecticut and Westchester. He was sentenced May 12, 2009, to state prison on the Suffolk DWI. He was eligible for parole Jan. 26, but the state parole board turned down his request last fall, according to state officials.

Police are asking anyone with information to call the Cold Case Squad at 914-377- 7731.

[Nut44x4]

Interesting..... thanks Muffy