Investigators solve 2 longstanding murder cases in Westchester County
"We have delivered some measure of closure to the families who have lived with these unsolved cases for a combined 36 years."
WHITE PLAINS, Westchester County (WABC) -- There's finally justice for families who have been mourning the death of their loved ones with no answer as to who killed them for over a decade.
Authorities in Westchester County announced resolutions in two separate murder cases that have been on the books for years.
In one case, a Bronx woman has been sentenced to life in prison in connection with the 2012 shooting death of her girlfriend.
On Thursday, prosecutors said 42-year-old Wanda Veguilla confessed to shooting 26-year-old Pamela Graddick in the back of the head in their apartment on August 12, 2012 and disposing of her body in a wooded area in Yonkers.
Cell phone and GPS evidence linked her to the crime. Yonkers police arrested her in January in the Bronx, she pleaded guilty to second degree murder in April and has been sentenced to 20 years to life in state prison.
In the other case, a Sleepy Hollow man has been indicted for the 1997 beating and strangulation death of his ex-wife.
54-year-old Rafael Ramos allegedly used a T-shirt to strangle Nusinaida Ramos, 34, to death after beating her until she bled in her Colins Street apartment in Yonkers. It happened on March 9, 1997.
Ramos, a former correction officer at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining was arrested Wednesday at his home in Sleepy Hollow after being indicted by a grand jury.
Both cases are the latest homicides charged by Westchester County's Cold Case Bureau, established by D.A. Miriam Rocah when she took office in 2021.
"Today we have delivered some measure of closure to the families who have lived with these unsolved cases for a combined 36 years," said Rocah in a statement. "Thanks to the tenacious work by our attorneys, investigators, and our vital police partners, we are securing justice for victims."
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