A man arrested in the brutal 1994 double murder of an ailing Harlem mother and her special needs daughter was ordered to be held without bail in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday.
Larry Atkinson, 64, has been charged with second-degree murder for strangling Sarah Roberts, 57, and her 25-year-old daughter, Sharon Roberts, in a bedroom in the Grant House apartment on West 125th Street. it was done.
Police sources say Atkinson was dating the family’s home care assistant at the time, but found them dead on February 20, 1994.
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The aide found the mother on the bed in one room and the daughter in the second bedroom. Her daughter wore woolen stockings around her neck.
DNA evidence recovered from the scene was initially unrelated to the suspect.
However, according to the criminal complaint, when detectives in the NYPD backlog of the case resubmitted DNA evidence for testing last year, the nail clipped from Sarah’s fingernail and a dry discharge from Sharon’s hand appeared. swabs matched Atkinson’s profile in the state DNA database.
Celeste Cornelius, 65, the home health care assistant who found the two dead nearly 30 years ago, insisted Atkinson didn’t.
“He’s a good man. He’s a good man,” she previously told the Daily News. I don’t even care, he didn’t do it.
Atkinson denied any wrongdoing when police arrested him on Monday.
He is scheduled to return to court on Friday.
The murder suspect has three aliases, a lengthy rap sheet, 28 arrests and five state prison sentences. Records show that among his many convictions included selling drugs, attempted robbery, and assault.
Molly Crane-Newman, Rocco Palacandra
