Forty years after a Brooklyn teen was found dead, a Staten Island preacher has been arrested in her case.
On September 25, 1980, newly engaged Lorraine Snell, 19, was getting ready for her engagement party. The East Flatbush resident stopped by a catering hall to prepare, and according to People, she left the restaurant with a man named James. Hours later, her fiancé reportedly found her in a parked station wagon with a cable wrapped around her neck.
PIX11 reports that for decades James was a person of interest in the case. In 2014 he told the station that the two left the building together, that he walked her a few blocks toward her home, and that he watched her go up her block as he went the other way.
PIX11 reports that the Brooklyn District Attorney’s forensic science unit for unsolved older investigations worked with the NYPD to use newer DNA technology, and that DNA found under the victim’s fingernails was linked to James. This week he was arrested and charged with second degree murder. He is being held without bail, and People reports he is due back in court on March 24. He has not been convicted, and a charge is not a finding of guilt.
Lorraine’s mother, Pearl Snell-Holder, 82, spoke to reporters outside the courthouse. “It’s justice for her but not closure for me,” she said.
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