Police: Manorville Man Arrested for Two-Decade Old Murders

A Manorville man was arrested on Monday and charged with the murders of two woman who were found beaten and strangled to death more than 20 years ago, police said. 

John Bittrolff, 48, was arrested by Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives after new DNA evidence linked him to the murders of Rita Tangredi, 31, and Colleen McNamee, 20, police said. 

Tangredi's nude body was found in a wooded area off of Esplanade Drive in East Patchogue on Nov. 2, 1993. Tangredi, whose address was unknown at the time of her death, was beaten and strangled to death, police said. 

On Jan. 30, 1994, the body of McNamee, 20, who had been living at 10 Hyacinth Lane in Holbrook, was found dead in the woods near Express Drive South, near the William Floyd Parkway in Shirley. McNamee was also found nude, beaten and strangled to death, police said. 

Detectives at the original crime scenes, in 1993 and 1994, recovered DNA evidence which linked the two cases together. Recently, detectives who are currently assigned to the Homicide Squad, recovered DNA evidence which linked Bittrolff to the cold cases, police said. 

Bittrolff is charged with two counts of second degree murder. He was held overnight at the Fifth Precinct and is due to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Tuesday. 

Police are asking anyone with information about Tangredi, McNamee or Bittrolff, especially concerning their activities in the early 1990s, to call the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.