In February 2009, police rushed to a home in Ridgewood, a neighborhood in Queens, New York, after neighbors reported hearing a violent struggle.
When officers from the New York Police Department (NYPD) arrived, they found a horrifying scene: the hallway was drenched in blood, and a man lay dead.
This man was 64-year-old Rosario Prestigiacomo, who had been savagely stabbed sixteen times in the face, neck, torso, and limbs.
He also had multiple puncture wounds and blunt force injuries across his body.
NYPD detectives gathered blood samples from the scene.
The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner analyzed the evidence and found not only the victim's DNA but also the DNA of an unknown male, indicating the attacker had been injured and was bleeding.
Despite extensive efforts, investigators could not identify the murderer, and the case went cold.
Fast forward to 2022, the Queen’s District Attorney’s Office, in collaboration with the NYPD Cold Case Squad and the United States Department of Homeland Security, sent the forensic evidence to Othram, a lab in The Woodlands, Texas.
Using advanced DNA testing known as Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing®, Othram scientists developed a detailed DNA profile of the suspect.
This profile was sent to the NYPD's Forensic Investigations Division, which used genealogical research to generate new leads.
By December 2023, new leads identified a suspect: 41-year-old Anthony Scalici from Boynton Beach, Florida.
Scalici was the nephew of Prestigiacomo’s ex-wife’s brother.
In January and February 2024, NYPD Cold Case detectives and Boynton Beach Police monitored Scalici and attempted to collect his discarded DNA.
They succeeded in February when they retrieved a fork he had used.
The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner matched the DNA from the fork to the DNA found at the crime scene and under the victim’s fingernails.
On May 30, 2024, United States Marshals arrested Scalici in Boynton Beach, Florida.
He was charged with second-degree murder and arraigned in New York City. Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder ordered him to return to court on July 8.
If convicted, Scalici could face up to 25 years to life in prison.
The solving of Rosario Prestigiacomo’s murder is significant as it marks the first time forensic genetic genealogy was used to identify a suspect in a New York City homicide.
This case is the seventh instance in New York State where this technology, developed by Othram, helped identify an individual.
Most recently, it was used to identify Karen Vergata, a 1996 Gilgo Beach homicide victim, in Suffolk County.
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