PA PA- Florence "Miss Flo" Simon, 68, found strangled at home, Pittsburgh, 22 April 1994, *New fingerprint lead*

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Police say new evidence could crack 1994 East Liberty cold case killing

Nearly 28 years after Florence Simon was strangled to death in her East Liberty apartment, detectives combing through Pittsburgh’s cold cases believe...

www.post-gazette.com

Feb 24 2023 rbbm
''Nearly 28 years after Florence Simon was strangled to death in her East Liberty apartment, detectives combing through Pittsburgh’s cold cases believe they could soon answer the question of who killed the popular woman known to some as Miss Flo.

Simon, 68, was found dead in her apartment — which was in a home in the 700 block of North St. Clair Street — around 10 a.m. on April 22, 1994. According to reporting at the time, relatives had tried to contact her for about a day before they found her dead in the hallway of her first-floor apartment.

Neighbors told the Post-Gazette in 1994 that Simon lived alone and enjoyed sitting on her front porch. Everyone knew they were always welcome on the porch as well, they said.

Sisters Erica, 12, and Nicole, 10, said that Simon — who they called Miss Flo — was a “nice, sweet lady.”

“She would never hurt anybody,” the older sister told the newspaper, noting the woman used to come out to the porch to talk to the girls and give them candy.

“She’d sit on the porch and everyone was welcome,” one neighbor told the newspaper in the aftermath of Simon’s death.

Neighbors also said that everyone knew the front door of the home, which led to the apartments inside, was always unlocked.

No one has been charged in Simon’s homicide. Police in 1994 said there was no sign of forced entry into her apartment.

George Satler, a detective in Pittsburgh’s major crimes unit, said at a Thursday police briefing that Simon’s case is among the approximately 10 so-called cold cases that he and investigator Maurita Bryant are looking into. In reexamining Simon’s case, he said, new leads have developed, including one in the form of a previously unidentified fingerprint.''

 

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Feb 24, 2023
''Pittsburgh Police said they have identified a suspect in a nearly 30-year-old killing.''

Pittsburgh Police announce a break in a cold case from 1994

New technology helped detectives identify the suspect accused of strangling a woman nearly 30 years.

www.cbsnews.com

"In 1994, police said someone strangled Florence Simon to death inside her apartment on North Saint Clair Street. Officers found several fingerprints at the scene but were unable to identify them.

Decades later, new technology led them to a positive identification of a suspect.

"We believe the motive to this crime is robbery," said Pittsburgh Police Detective George Satler of the cold case squad. "She lived alone in this apartment and the fingerprint was not just found inside the residence, it was found on one of the weapons used to assault her."

Police said they believe the suspect is no longer a threat but they are working with the district attorney's office to get a warrant for the suspect. ''

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Police said they believe the suspect is no longer a threat but they are working with the district attorney's office to get a warrant for the suspect. ''

Maybe the person is in prison.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Police say new evidence could crack 1994 East Liberty cold case killing

Nearly 28 years after Florence Simon was strangled to death in her East Liberty apartment, detectives combing through Pittsburgh’s cold cases believe...

www.post-gazette.com

The investigators did not say to whom the fingerprint belonged but noted that it was found on one of the items in the home that was used to assault Simon. They believe robbery was the likely motive.

Detective Satler said the suspect in Simon’s death is “no longer a threat.” He would not initially say whether that meant the suspect was dead or in prison but later noted that investigators had obtained a DNA sample from the suspect, which would indicate the suspect is alive.

He said that he believes investigators have enough evidence to file charges now but must work in conjunction with the District Attorney’s Office to secure a warrant.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

At the time, the home was broken into apartments. Police believe the motive was robbery, but all the investigation led to was a number of unidentifiable fingerprints.

“George had asked me to look at some of these fingerprints and as a result, we had a suspect that was identified. It’s a latent fingerprint from a latent lift from those detectives back then. So we searched it through a database and have a latent fingerprint and a known fingerprint,” said John Godlewski with Pittsburgh Police.

Now, 28 years later and there is a suspect in this cold case thanks to advancements in technology to rerun these prints. Plus, a new cold case unit is digging back through these cases.

While police aren’t identifying the suspect yet, they are confident the person is no longer a threat.

“We work in conjunction with the district attorney’s office and as long as the DA’s office believes there is enough, we will get a warrant for this individual,” Satler said.

As for Simon’s family, the detectives said they have spoken to them, and they are excited their loved one was not forgotten about, even 28 years later.

Cold case unit finds major breakthrough in 1994 murder of East Liberty woman

It’s been almost 30 years since Florence Simon was strangled to death inside her home in East Liberty. Now, Pittsburgh police say with the help of a very old fingerprint, they finally have a suspect.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[LadyL]

wow glad they will get some justice for her

 

[dotr]

Jan 14 2024 rbbm lengthy.

In a state of flux over funding, Pittsburgh Police’s cold case squad looks to build off recent arrest in years-old homicide

One could easily miss the sign outside the second-floor door in the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police headquarters on the city’s North Side. Small lettering...

www.post-gazette.com

''Florence Simon was 68 and a staple in her East Liberty neighborhood. She lived in an apartment inside a home on North St. Clair Street and spent most summer days out on the home’s front porch. Neighbors at the time said everyone was always welcome on the porch.

She’d owned the home she lived in, which had been converted to apartments in the 1960s. She lived alone, and friends and family regularly checked in on her.

For a few days in April 1994, family members couldn’t get in touch with her. A relative went to check on her and found her dead in the hallway of her first-floor apartment, according to reports at the time. Investigators said she’d been strangled.

For nearly 30 years, police have held onto a fingerprint that was found on the murder weapon.

“A fingerprint has always been on the murder weapon but was never identified,” Detective Satler said.

Detectives announced the possible break in the case earlier this year, noting that new fingerprint technology opened the door. Detective John Godlewski at the time called the new technology “lights out — it’s fantastic.”

In 1994, the Allegheny County Crime Lab was using what’s commonly referred to as AFIS to examine and identify fingerprints — the Automated Fingerprint Identification System. Last year, however, the crime lab updated to a new system called Idemia. That system uses what’s called MBIS, which stands of multimodal biometric identification system.

The suspect in that case has already been interviewed, Detective Satler said. He’s hopeful there could be an arrest warrant in the near future.

“We’re just kind of in a holding pattern right now,” he said.

Closing a case doesn’t necessarily mean an arrest.''

 

[dotr]

May 10, 2024

'We know who killed her': The technology helping police investigate Pittsburgh's cold cases

“You believe you know who killed Samantha?” Pittsburgh's Action News 4 anchor Shannon Perrine asked.“Yes. We know who killed her. We know one of the people involved, put it that way."

www.wtae.com

“There was a fingerprint from when they processed the scene back in 1994 — there was a fingerprint that had never been identified on the weapon that was used to beat the woman before she was strangled with her own bra in her own home. An elderly woman,” Satler said.

A one-inch piece of evidence harvested from the murder scene 30 years ago was still sitting in Simon's case file. The game changer came in 2022 with a new fingerprinting system.''