(Washington Insider Magazine) – A 64-year-old ex-convict was arrested after his DNA linked him to the 1994 killings of a woman and her disabled daughter at their Harlem, NYC home.
Larry Atkinson, a 64-year-old man, was arrested this week on suspicion of killing a woman and her disabled daughter by trespassing in their Harlem (NYC) home in 1994.
Sarah Roberts (57) And Her Daughter Sharon Roberts (27) Were Found Strangled to Death
Sarah Roberts (57) and her daughter Sharon Roberts (27) were found strangled to death inside their apartment in the Grant Houses on West 125th Street on February 20, 1994. Nearly 29 years later Atkinson was arrested and charged with both murders. , upon being identified by DNA testing.
Atkinson is an ex-con with 13 prior arrests. He was convicted five times and served time under different aliases, according to state records.
A home aide found the bodies of the two women in their apartment. The door was open when she arrived and there were no signs of forced entry.
The mother suffered from emphysema, police said at the time. The daughter had a woolen stocking wrapped around her neck when she was found dead.
Atkinson had been dating the home helper who found the bodies, Pix11 recalled. The woman was not considered a suspect at the time.
Decades later, cold case detectives once again ran DNA found at the crime scene through national databases and determined it was a match for Atkinson.
The now detainee had been living in a house on West 112th Street in Manhattan, where he was arrested on Monday. He told the police that he was not feeling well and was taken to a hospital after arrest. That night he was caught on video in a wheelchair and with an oxygen tank.
All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
In a similar case, last week a Hispanic pleaded guilty to having raped and strangled two women in New York in 2000 and 2005.
This article is authored by El Diario.
