PA - Lindy Sue Biechler, 19, fatally stabbed, Lancaster County, 5 Dec 1975 *arrest in 2022*

[rob525]

Quick thoughts.
The letter seems like something written by a guy who is trying to write like he thinks the perpetrator would write. Seem full of clichés, that may have actually come from the Zodiacs writings, and inaccuracies ( drug effects etc.). So I think the letter may be a hoax. Now the question is; Did they ever follow up on the nicks in the headstone and the number of stab wounds to finds out if the letter writer was accurate on that part of the letter? Also if the perpetrator was watching , then he would likely know that the family was stopping by and sitting with Lindy in the evenings. Did they stop over every night and at the same time every night? If so then that would mean that the killer was likely someone quite close. Possibly, he showed up as she was carrying in groceries and offered to help. She could have accepted because she knew the person well and had no idea that he was the one stalking her.

 

[Betty P]

I'm just re-posting the link to this newspaper article that Richard posted earlier. It has a lot of good details in the timeline. Among other things, it mentions that the FBI doesn't think the killer wrote that letter to LE. Also, Mark Capallupo was considered a suspect, but was eventually eliminated because he was at work that night.

A timeline of the investigation into the 1975 unsolved murder of Lindy Sue Biechler

I still don't fully understand why LE can't just resubmit the DNA evidence from Lindy's killer to another DNA database. They could also hire a genetic genealogist.

 

[methodwriter85]

So I have this working theory that two cases could be related to Lindy Sue Biechler.

The first case is Anne Manchester. She was a 26-year old college student who disappeared from her apartment in Newark, DE (about an hour away from Lancaster) while she was studying for her exams on June 29th, 1980. Here's her Websleuths thread.

The second case is Linda O'Day. She was a 24-year old secretary who was found with a single stab wound to her chest on June 1st, 1981 in her apartment in New Castle, Delaware. Here's the FBI flyer about the case and an article about the case.

The reason why I think they could possibly be related is the similar victim type (young woman alone in an apartment), the close geographical region, the college town link for both Lindy and Anne, and the fact that Linda and Lindy both had auburn hair. (I cannot find a color photo of Anne so I'm not sure what shade of color her hair was, just that it was described as brown.) Anne and Linda's cases are only 11 months apartment, and they were both in their mid-20's, which was the age that Lindy would have been had she been alive in the early 80's.

 

[morf13]

So I have this working theory that two cases could be related to Lindy Sue Biechler.

The first case is Anne Manchester. She was a 26-year old college student who disappeared from her apartment in Newark, DE (about an hour away from Lancaster) while she was studying for her exams on June 29th, 1980. Here's her Websleuths thread.

The second case is Linda O'Day. She was a 24-year old secretary who was found with a single stab wound to her chest on June 1st, 1981 in her apartment in New Castle, Delaware. Here's the FBI flyer about the case and an article about the case.

The reason why I think they could possibly be related is the similar victim type (young woman alone in an apartment), the close geographical region, the college town link for both Lindy and Anne, and the fact that Linda and Lindy both had auburn hair. (I cannot find a color photo of Anne so I'm not sure what shade of color her hair was, just that it was described as brown.) Anne and Linda's cases are only 11 months apartment, and they were both in their mid-20's, which was the age that Lindy would have been had she been alive in the early 80's.

Will take a look at these cases, thanks. Are you familiar with the Holly Branagan case from 1979, 75 miles from Lindy? Some similarities

 

[methodwriter85]

Wow, never heard of that case. I can see the similarities, and it does fall within the general time period of the mid-70's to the early 80's that I'm working with in regards to my theory.

The reason why I was interested in Anne Manchester and Lindy Sue Beichler being related is that I've known a decent amount of people that attended Millersville University who came from the University of Delaware area, and vice versa. I knew about Anne Manchester's case first being from the area, and then learned about Lindy Sue because of Cayleigh Elise's video.

Much more recently I came across Linda O'Day's case, and when I saw her picture, I kind of just shuddered and thought to myself, "Somebody has a type."

These three cases all happened within a 60 mile radius of each other, and two of them happened only 11 months apart.

I had also considered the case of Tina Lauser, a woman who was found dead in 1981 after going missing, but when I got into the details of the case it felt like a pretty obvious domestic violence/deadly love triangle situation.

Holly Branagan has the same type of "look" that Lindy, Anne, and Linda had, in my opinion.

 

[faithx]

NEWS POST: DNA Leads Investigators to Charge Suspect with Killing Lindy Sue Biechler 46

The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office and the Manor Township Police Department announce the arrest of a suspect in the 1975 murder of 19-year-old Lindy Sue Biechler in Manor Township.

lancaster.crimewatchpa.com

68-year-old David Sinopoli has been arrested and charged with the murder of Lindy Sue Biechler.

 

[Betty P]

This is great news. A long time coming, but finally justice for Lindy’s family. Great work by all the police and reporters who kept working to find her killer. It was a brutal murder.

 

[Richrd]

.
25 July (Lower) Court Date

https://ujsportal.pacourts.us/Report/MdjDocketSheet?docketNumber=MJ-02206-CR-0000157-2022&dnh=2kq4DDePDOWlOUSKfvbEVA%3D%3D

.

 

[DSCrime]

Glad they were able to catch this guy while he was still alive. Excellent work Parabon, CeCe Moore & all investigators. Condolences to the Biechler family

Very interesting article on how suspect was identified w/ genetic genealogy:

Man arrested in 1975 killing of Lindy Sue Biechler, Lancaster County's oldest cold case

A man who investigators say once lived in the same apartment complex as Lindy Sue Biechler has been arrested and charged with stabbing her to death.

lancasteronline.com

“We are here today due to advances in DNA technology,” said Adams, who credited genetic genealogist CeCe Moore, of Reston, Virginia-based Parabon NanoLabs, with honing in on Sinopoli as a suspect.

Moore spoke remotely at a news conference Monday at Lancaster County Courthouse alongside the district attorney and local law enforcement officials.

She recounted how she used DNA from Biechler’s underwear to narrow down the suspect to someone whose family tree traced back to Gasperina, Italy. She cross-referenced that information with family trees from Lancaster County, which eventually led her to Sinopoli, who never left the county.

Moore described the process as "novel." The Biechler murder case is the first where she used immigration history to track a suspect. She has since used the methodology in two other cases, and said it works only with a "specific set of circumstances" — like coming from a small city in Europe to a small city in Pennsylvania."

 

[MissLaura]

Great news! So happy for Lindy's family.

 

[MyJoey]

What he looked like back then.

 

[Hoopsticks]

Man. I was really thinking it was Capollupo, between the FBI behavioral profile and the parabon snapshot/ancestry results. "What are the odds there are two guys the same age, the same ancestry, who look alike and are committing similar crimes at the same time in the same place?"

. . . Significantly above zero, it turns out.

 

[samsmom]

Gray Hughes discusses

 

[Jbetty567]

This is exciting. This case is a great example of one which would almost certainly never have been solved without forensic genealogy. So thankful he is alive and perhaps, will answer all the questions we have all been asking for so long!

 

[imstilla.grandma]

On February 11, 2022, investigators surreptitiously obtained DNA from Sinopoli from a coffee cup he used and threw into a trash can before traveling at the Philadelphia International Airport. The coffee cup was then submitted to DNA Labs International for testing and in April 2022, it was determined that the DNA on the coffee cup contained a mixture of DNA with one male contributor. The electronic data files from DNA Labs International were then forwarded to Cybergenetics, a Pittsburgh laboratory that specializes in separating DNA mixtures. Cybergenetics’ computer analysis concluded that the DNA on Sinopoli’s coffee cup and DNA identified in the semen on Biechler’s underwear had a match statistic around 10 trillion. Detectives then consulted with a blood spatter expert to determine if any blood left behind on Biechler’s clothing would be consistent with having been left behind by the suspect. The expert identified two blood spots on the exposed part of the victim’s pantyhose which were also sent to DNA Labs. In June 2022, the blood drops were determined to be consistent with the DNA profile obtained from Biechler’s underwear.

Lindy Sue Biechler was 19 when her life was brutally taken away from her 46 years ago in the sanctity of her own home,” Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said. “This arrest marks the beginning of the criminal process in Lancaster County’s oldest cold case homicide and we hope that it brings some sense of relief to the victim’s loved ones and to community members who for the last 46 years had no answers.”

Lancaster man charged for teen’s 1975 cold case murder after coffee cup DNA match

LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) – David Sinopoli of Lancaster has been charged in the 1975 cold case murder of 19-year-old Lindy Sue Biechler after DNA on a discarded coffee cup appeared to match DNA l…

www.abc27.com

 

[Betty P]

On February 11, 2022, investigators surreptitiously obtained DNA from Sinopoli from a coffee cup he used and threw into a trash can before traveling at the Philadelphia International Airport. The coffee cup was then submitted to DNA Labs International for testing and in April 2022, it was determined that the DNA on the coffee cup contained a mixture of DNA with one male contributor. The electronic data files from DNA Labs International were then forwarded to Cybergenetics, a Pittsburgh laboratory that specializes in separating DNA mixtures. Cybergenetics’ computer analysis concluded that the DNA on Sinopoli’s coffee cup and DNA identified in the semen on Biechler’s underwear had a match statistic around 10 trillion. Detectives then consulted with a blood spatter expert to determine if any blood left behind on Biechler’s clothing would be consistent with having been left behind by the suspect. The expert identified two blood spots on the exposed part of the victim’s pantyhose which were also sent to DNA Labs. In June 2022, the blood drops were determined to be consistent with the DNA profile obtained from Biechler’s underwear.

Lindy Sue Biechler was 19 when her life was brutally taken away from her 46 years ago in the sanctity of her own home,” Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said. “This arrest marks the beginning of the criminal process in Lancaster County’s oldest cold case homicide and we hope that it brings some sense of relief to the victim’s loved ones and to community members who for the last 46 years had no answers.”

Lancaster man charged for teen’s 1975 cold case murder after coffee cup DNA match

LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) – David Sinopoli of Lancaster has been charged in the 1975 cold case murder of 19-year-old Lindy Sue Biechler after DNA on a discarded coffee cup appeared to match DNA l…

www.abc27.com

They stated that Sinopoli lived in the same apartment complex at one time. I wonder if he was a creeper, a "peeping tom". Sadly, it was a common problem for young women living with roommates or alone back then. He apparently escalated to stalking and breaking in to kill Lindy. It seems possible he was also involved in some rapes in that area, too.

ETA: This murder was committed about a year after he got married.

Join Ancestry

 

[imstilla.grandma]

They stated that Sinopoli lived in the same apartment complex at one time. I wonder if he was a creeper, a "peeping tom". Sadly, it was a common problem for young women living with roommates or alone back then. He apparently escalated to stalking and breaking in to kill Lindy. It seems possible he was also involved in some rapes in that area, too.

No kidding about the peeping toms back in the early 70’s. I still get the shivers when I think of Mama waking us up, telling us the police were outside looking for a peeper. She came in every single night afterwards at bedtime to make sure our shades and curtains were closed. I was the oldest of four sisters so she was always worried for us.

 

[Betty P]

No kidding about the peeping toms back in the early 70’s. I still get the shivers when I think of Mama waking us up, telling us the police were outside looking for a peeper. She came in every single night afterwards at bedtime to make sure our shades and curtains were closed. I was the oldest of four sisters so she was always worried for us.

I remember it happening a lot when I was in college (living off campus) and during years of living single w/o roommate. One time a nice middle aged lady across the street knocked on our door and told us she had seen a man peeking in our windows. There were 4 of us young women sharing 2 apartments in a house. We checked around and found blocks, etc. that he stacked up to peek into the higher windows. I learned to not rent apartments on the ground or basement level.

Remember the obscene phone calls, too? Those were the days before cell phones when you had to have a land line and it cost extra to have an unlisted phone number. Got them on and off all through college and during single days. Some were very, very creepy.

Back to Lindy, what cause him to attack her in such a rage? What was wrong with him that made him target her? They haven't said anything about him being tied to any other murders, but it makes you wonder.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

I remember it happening a lot when I was in college (living off campus) and during years of living single w/o roommate. One time a nice middle aged lady across the street knocked on our door and told us she had seen a man peeking in our windows. There were 4 of us young women sharing 2 apartments in a house. We checked around and found blocks, etc. that he stacked up to peek into the higher windows. I learned to not rent apartments on the ground or basement level.

Remember the obscene phone calls, too? Those were the days before cell phones when you had to have a land line. Got them on and off all through college and during single days. Some were very, very creepy.

Obscene phone calls? My younger 11 year old sister went skating one night at the local skating rink. We got obscene phone calls consistently after that talking about her. I recall we had my aunt and uncle over for playing cards one evening. The phone rang, I answered and a man asked me to ask my mother if she wanted to %#$&? I, just as innocently as could be, turned to my parents, aunt and uncle, my brothers and sisters, and asked her. I had no idea what it meant. I’d never heard that word before. I saw their shocked faces and I started to cry but I didn’t know why…

 

[Relentless]

Has there been news about how likely it is that Sinopoli wrote the letter to the police about a year after she was murdered and shortly after her gravestone was vandalized? I'm wondering how accurate some of the details in that letter were... Like, is Sinopoli 5'10"? Did he live in the suburbs on Lancaster's west end? Did he ever have a drug related arrest?

My interest in the case is mostly due to some similarities with the case of Elizabeth Clark who was brutally beaten in her Millersville home on April 7th, 1978 and died a couple days later.