through: Eileen Lehpamer, Aliza Chasan
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HARLEM, NY (WPIX) — Police arrested a 64-year-old man Monday, decades after a mother and daughter were strangled in a Harlem apartment.
Larry Atkinson was arrested for murder in connection with the deaths of Sarah Roberts, 57, and Sharon Roberts, 27, in 1994, officials said. The arrest was based on DNA evidence.
The women were found unconscious in the bedroom of the apartment on February 20, 1994, police said. The medical examiner’s office determined that they had both been strangled.
A domestic servant found their bodies, WPIX reported in 1994. The door was unlocked when the attendant arrived and there was no sign of a break-in.
The mother suffered from emphysema, police said at the time. The girl had a wool stocking wrapped around her neck when her body was found.
Atkinson was in a relationship with the house servant who found the bodies, sources told WPIX. The house servant was not considered a suspect at the time and was acquitted.
Decades later, cold case detectives again analyzed the DNA found at the crime scene in national databases and determined it was a match for Atkinson.
Atkinson is a former convict with 13 previous arrests. He was convicted five times and has served his sentence under various aliases, according to state records.
He lived in a house in Manhattan, New York, where he was arrested Monday. He told police he was not feeling well and was taken to hospital after his arrest.
Atkinson is charged with two murders and will be tried as soon as medically possible.
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