BUFFALO - Detectives in Buffalo believe they've cracked a murder case that had puzzled investigators and the victim's family for 14 years.
Dennis Donohue, 55, of Kenmore, was arraigned on a second-degree murder charge in Buffalo City Court Tuesday, accused of the 1993 slaying of Joan Giambra. City Judge Joseph A. Fiorella entered a not guilty plea on Donohue's behalf.
Donohue also is considered a “person of interest” in two other old murder cases, police told WIVB-TV.
One of them is the Valentines Day 1993 murder of 13-year-old Crystalin Dejac. The other is the 1975 strangulation of Carol Reed, who lived in Donohue's Delaware Avenue apartment building, WIVB reported.
Giambra's body was found in her South Buffalo home after colleagues at a church pantry where she worked went to check on her because she failed to show up for her shift, according to newspaper reports.
Giambra, 42, and her daughter, who was found lying on top of her mother's body, were both naked, but police said that there was no sign of sexual assault.
Family members had initially suspected Giambra's estranged husband, Sam, who died in 2000, was involved in her slaying.
But police never identified him as a suspect.
The Buffalo Police Cold Case Squad reopened the case last year, when improved DNA technology turned up new evidence from the crime scene.
Detectives said they found DNA samples from three men, and none of the genetic material matched Sam Giambra's DNA, a sample of which was obtained from his autopsy.
However, DNA found under Joan Giambra's fingernails led police to Donohue, said a Giambra family member.
Donohue also is considered a “person of interest” in two other old murder cases, police told WIVB-TV.
One of them is the Valentines Day 1993 murder of 13-year-old Crystalin Dejac. The other is the 1975 strangulation of Carol Reed, who lived in Donohue's Delaware Avenue apartment building, WIVB reported.
Giambra's body was found in her South Buffalo home after colleagues at a church pantry where she worked went to check on her because she failed to show up for her shift, according to newspaper reports.
Giambra, 42, and her daughter, who was found lying on top of her mother's body, were both naked, but police said that there was no sign of sexual assault.
Family members had initially suspected Giambra's estranged husband, Sam, who died in 2000, was involved in her slaying.
But police never identified him as a suspect.
The Buffalo Police Cold Case Squad reopened the case last year, when improved DNA technology turned up new evidence from the crime scene.
Detectives said they found DNA samples from three men, and none of the genetic material matched Sam Giambra's DNA, a sample of which was obtained from his autopsy.
However, DNA found under Joan Giambra's fingernails led police to Donohue, said a Giambra family member.
