1985 Cold Case Solved: Sarasota Police Say Convicted Killer ID'ed

SARASOTA, FL —The Sarasota Police Department says investigators have solved a homicide case from 36 years ago.

In a press conference Wednesday morning, investigator Jeff Birdwell said the police department identified Joseph Magaletti Jr. as the killer in the death of Denise Marie Stafford. Birdwell said Magaletti died in 2015 while in prison, serving a life sentence for another homicide.

Stafford was found dead on Oct. 13, 1985. Birdwell says she was at home alone with her child at the time of her murder, and her husband was at work.

Birdwell said DNA technology was integral in solving the case and added the technology detectives used was not widely recognized by courts at the time of Stafford's murder.

In 2020, Birdwell began looking at old evidence again to see if updated DNA technology could help solve old cases. DNA from Stafford's pants matched Magaletti's.

"We’re not giving up on any case and this case being solved, 35 years later, is a testament to that," Birdwell said.

Birdwell said Magaletti was known to commit crimes to finance his drug addiction. He was originally a person of interest in the case, but was not definitively linked to Stafford's murder until this year.

Stafford's mother, Dorla Knipper, spoke at the press conference and thanked the police department for their work solving her daughter's death.

"From the beginning, I didn't want any other mother to go through what our family has," Knipper said.

"She was little, she was loving, she was a good daughter. And we just all love her and miss her."

Birdwell said Sarasota Police suspect Magaletti committed another homicide between 1985 and 1995 but did not provide more details.