DNA Advancements Help Solve 2 Cold Cases — Calverton Homicide, Separate Rape: DA

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — New DNA technology has helped investigators to solve both a 28-year-old murder and a 29-year-old sexual assault case, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

The Suffolk County DA'S Cold Case Task Force, a partnership between Tierney and the Suffolk County Police Department, announced Monday that a previously unsolved murder case from 1997, as well as the 1996 rape of a separate individual, have now been resolved through modern DNA advancements, the DA said.

The perpetrator, identified as Steven Briecke, is deceased, Tierney said.

On February 19, 1997, the body of 69-year-old Ann Lustig was discovered off Fresh Pond Road in Calverton, the DA said. Lustig had been reported missing from the Kings Park State Psychiatric Hospital a day prior, he said.

The Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy and ruled Lustig’s death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma and neck compression, Tierney said, adding that, despite an extensive investigation at the time, the case remained unsolved for decades.

On December 20, 1996, an 82-year-old patient had been reported missing by Kings Park Psychiatric Hospital staff after she could not be found for several hours, the DA said. The patient subsequently returned to the facility and reported that she had been approached by an unknown male who offered her a ride, the DA said.

When she refused the offer, the unknown male forced her into a car, drove her to an unknown residence, and forcibly raped her, the DA said. Afterward, the male dropped her back to the facility, where she reported the incident to the hospital staff, Tierney said.

That woman died in May 2012 of natural causes, Tierney said.

At the time, investigators believed the Lustig murder, and the earlier sexual assault were related, due to the similarities in the attacks, as well as similar fibers that were recovered from each woman, Tierney said.

However, the cases could not be forensically linked with existing technology at the time, he said.

In April 2024, Tierney established the Cold Case Task Force, a specialized unit dedicated to reinvestigating and reanalyzing unsolved homicides and sexual assaults through modern investigative techniques and forensic technology.

Shortly after the formation of the task force, forensic evidence from the 1997 murder was reprocessed, the DA said.

In November 2024, the task force discovered that DNA evidence from Lustig’s murder was forensically linked to the sexual assault of the 82-year-old woman, Tierney said.

Specifically, forensic scientists at the Suffolk County Crime Lab were able to develop a partial DNA profile from swabs collected from each victim, and further analysis revealed those profiles to match, the DA said.

Based on the partial nature of those profiles, however, they were not eligible to be uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a national database managed by the FBI that allows law enforcement agencies to compare DNA profiles from crime scenes with those of known offenders, Tierney said.

In early 2025, additional testing of Lustig’s clothing led to the discovery of a full DNA profile, the DA said.

That full profile was uploaded into CODIS, which returned a match to Briecke, Tierney said. Briecke’s DNA profile was uploaded to CODIS in 1999 for his 1985 convictions for burglary and assault, the DA said.

Briecke’s DNA was also uploaded to CODIS following a 2003 Florida conviction involving the sexual assault of a child less than 16 years old, which made Briecke a registered sex offender, Tierney said. Briecke also had multiple convictions for public lewdness, the DA said.

During the initial investigation, a witness reported observing a distinct two-toned blue Ford van parked in the immediate vicinity of where Lustig’s body was recovered, the DA said.

Following the CODIS match, the task force was able to determine that a van matching the witness’ description was registered to Briecke’s mother and known to have been used by Briecke at the time of both crimes, Tierney said.

While Briecke cannot be prosecuted due to this death, the families of the victims are grateful to see the cases brought to a resolution, the DA said.

"Resolving long-overdue crimes that have haunted the victim’s loved ones and our community for far too long is why we established the Cold Case Task Force,” said Tierney. "Thanks to the power of forensic science and the persistence of law enforcement, we can now say with confidence who was responsible for these horrific crimes."

"Although nearly three decades have passed since these horrific crimes occurred, we remain resolute in our commitment to solving them and providing justice to the victims and their families," said Suffolk County Commissioner Kevin Catalina. "The Cold Case Task Force is dedicated to uncovering any leads in unsolved homicides and sexual assaults by leveraging scientific advancements and I'm confident we will see even more successes in the future."

Anyone with information about other unresolved cases is encouraged to contact the District Attorney’s Office at 631-853-5856 or through the "Contact Us" tab on the website.