Carpenter Convicted Of Murdering 2 Women To Be Sentenced: DA

RIVERHEAD, NY — A Manorville carpenter convicted of murdering two women will be sentenced on Tuesday — and faces from 50 years to life in prison, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota.

John M. Bittrolff, 51, was convicted of two counts of murder in the second degree on July 5 for the deaths of Rita Tangredi, 31, and Colleen McNamee, 20, Spota said.

The body of Tangredi, of East Patchogue, was found on November 3, 1993 in a wooded area off of Esplanade Drive in East Patchogue; the cause of death was blunt force trauma to her head and strangulation, Spota said.

On January 30, 1994, the body of McNamee, 20, of Holbrook was discovered in a wooded area south of the Long Island Expressway, Spota said. McNamee had been strangled and also had a blunt force injury to her head, Spota said.

Both women were naked and mutilated when found, Spota said.

“The families of these women have been through an agonizing long wait for justice and during the trial they had to endure graphic testimony about the death of their loved one. We hope the verdict today gives them some semblance of peace,” Spota said, after the jury released the verdict.

Bittrolff was 27 years old at the time of the murders; he was arrested and charged with the cold case murders on July 21, 2014, Spota said.

DNA recovered from the bodies matched Bittrolff’s DNA profile, Spota explained.

The jury deliberated for seven days, the district attorney said.