Crime & Safety
Accused Murderer Charged After Killing Elderly Woman In 2003: DA
A suspect has been arrested for the 2003 murder of Edna Schubert, "one of the most brutal cold case killings on Long Island," the DA says.
BAY SHORE, NY — A Georgia man has been charged with murder and faces life in prison for one of Long Island's "most brutal cold cases" over two decades later, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Friday.
Raul Ayala, 51, of Georgia, was indicted for the murder and violent beating of 88-year-old Edna Schubert at her Bay Shore home in December 2003, thanks to "modern forensic technology" and "determined detective work," Tierney said at a press conference in Riverhead.
According to Tierney, Ayala lived about "200 yards" down the street from Schubert in 2003 when a neighbor brought dinner to her house, found her beaten to death, and called 911.
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"Edna Schubert was a fixture in her small neighborhood and retired from the DMV," Tierney added. Everyone called Edna 'grandma.' She took care of them and they took care of her."
According to a report by Newsday the year she was killed, the "assault was so severe it was difficult for investigators to determine what kind of weapon had been used."
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Tierney said that after Schubert's case went unsolved for decades, it was reopened at the request of retired Suffolk County Police Officer Pat Albergo "who never forgot about her" after reading new information advances in DNA technology.
When police reopened the case, detectives eventually matched a fingerprint and DNA taken at the crime scene with Ayala's, Tierney said.
On Jan. 16, SCPD and local law enforcement arrested Ayala in Georgia and extradited him to New York, the DA said. On Friday, he was arraigned in before Acting Supreme Court Justice Richard I. Horowitz, on one count of first-degree murder, a Class A felony, and two counts of second-degree murder, Class A felonies, the DA said.
Horowitz ordered Ayala held without bail, the DA said. He is due back in court on March 5 and faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of the top count, the DA said.
He is being represented by Christopher Gioe who was not immediately available for comment.
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