Manorville man charged in 2 Long Island cold case murders

YAPHANK, N.Y. (WABC) -- Police on Long Island have arrested a Manorville man suspected in two cold case murders from the 1990s.

John Bittrolff, 48, of Manorville, is charged in the murder of a woman found dead in East Patchogue Nov. 2, 1993 and the murder of another woman dead in Shirley on Jan. 30, 1994.

He has been charged with two counts of murder in the second degree.

Rita Tangredi, 31, was found nude in a wooded area off of Esplanade Drive in East Patchogue in 1993. She had been beaten and strangled. Colleen McNamee, 20, of Holbrook, was found dead in the woods near Express Drive South in Shirley. She was also nude, beaten and strangled.

Detectives at the time recovered DNA evidence linking the two cases. In 2014, detectives recovered DNA evidence linking Bittrolff to these cold cases. Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said Bittrolff's DNA matched evidence found at the crime scene.

"This case was solved, and is a testament to the miracle of modern DNA science," said Spota.

Bittrolff was held without bail following his arraignment Tuesday in Suffolk County District Court in Central Islip.

Authorities say he was living a quiet life for the past 20 years as a carpenter in Manorville with a wife, two children and an extended family.

Prosecutors say Bittrolff's brother Timothy was arrested and convicted last summer in an unrelated case involving a restraining order. But they got his DNA and they say that was what they needed to solve the two murders, and a 20-year old mystery.

"They shared the same mother and father, and through a process of elimination we have confirmed that through this defendant's DNA, he is the killer," said Spota.

According to Suffolk police, there is no evidence that these crimes are connected any of the remains found in the Gilgo Beach area.

Authorities have yet to identify a suspect or suspects in the deaths of eight women, a man and a child whose remains were found along Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach, on the south shore of Long Island in 2010 and 2011.

Spota also said authorities were investigating whether Bittrolff may have been responsible for the death of a third woman, 28-year-old Sandra Costilla, whose body was found in a similar state to those of Tangredi and McNamee. Costilla was found in the North Sea community of Southampton in December 1993.

Anyone with information about the cases is asked to call (631)-852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.