Trial For Man Charged In Murders Of 2 Women Begins Wednesday: DA

The trial for a Long Island construction worker charged in the murders of two women whose bodies were found in 1993 and 1994 is slated to begin on Wednesday, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota.

The trial will commence in the Riverside criminal courthouse at 11 a.m. before State Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro.

John Bittrolff Jr., 50, of Manorville, is charged with two counts of second degree murder, one count for the murder of Rita Tangredi-Beinlich, 31, and the second charge for the murder of Colleen McNamee, 20, of Holbrook. Both were known to have worked as prostitutes, Spota said.

Tangredi-Beinlich’s body was found on Nov. 3, 1993, in a wooded area off Esplanade Drive near South Country Road in East Patchogue, Spota said.

McNamee’s body was discovered in a wooded area east of the William Floyd Parkway in North Shirley on January 30, 1994, Spota said.

Both of the victims' bodies, Spota said, “were uniquely positioned, nude, mutilated, and both died of blunt force trauma to the head and strangulation.”

Bittrolff's DNA matched DNA evidence recovered from the crime scenes; the matches led to Bittrolff’s arrest by Suffolk homicide detectives in July 2014, Spota said.