Man indicted in unsolved 1994 mother-daughter murder in New York

A 64-year-old man has been charged with murder in connection with a nearly 30-year-old unsolved case involving the death of a mother and daughter in their New York City apartment, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Thursday.

Larry Atkinson was charged with strangling Sarah Roberts, 57, who suffered from emphysema, and her disabled daughter Sharon, 26, in their Morningside Heights apartment in February 1994, Bragg said, adding, that the indictment came after a DNA test done last year led to Atkinson’s arrest last month.

According to Bragg, citing court documents and statements made on the evening of February 20, 1994, a housekeeper who was dating Atkinson at the time entered Roberts’ apartment, which was in NYCHA Grant Houses, and found both women dead. .

Sharon was allegedly found with a tube from her mother’s oxygen tank and a pair of leggings tied around her neck.

Subsequently, the medical examiner determined that both women were killed by strangulation with ligatures.

However, last year, using technology not available at the time of the women’s deaths, the medical examiner’s office conducted additional testing on samples collected in 1994, eventually leading to Atkinson’s arrest.

“As science advances, so does our ability to solve cold cases,” Bragg said in a statement Thursday. “Here, new technology has led to the indictment of the horrific murders of a mother and daughter almost 30 years ago. Together with our partners at OCME and the NYPD, we remain steadfast in our pursuit of justice for New Yorkers, no matter how long it takes.”

Atkinson faces two charges of second-degree murder. Information about the lawyer did not immediately become known.