By Barbara Baez
Detectives relying on DNA evidence arrested an upstate man in the 1989 killing of a New Jersey woman in Hempstead, Nassau police said.
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Nassau County prosecutors say 38-year-old Joey Bethea from Bainbridge, in Chenango County, pleaded not guilty Wednesday at his arraignment on a second-degree murder charge. He was ordered held on $1 million cash bail. He was represented by Legal Aid, which does not comment on pending cases.
On June 14, 1989 the body of 22-year-old Dorothy Leconte, a Haitian immigrant and student, was discovered by two custodians in a wooded area, facedown in a stream at the bottom of a foot bridge behind Hempstead High School, according to Homicide Squad detectives. Leconte was visiting her brother, Jude, and her aunt, Micheline Leconte.
“They were very happy that Nassau County Police were looking into the case,” said Detective Lt. John Azzata, commanding officer of the Homicide Squad, referring to the victim’s family. “They were very pleased an arrest has been made.”
Initial investigation at the scene showed that Leconte’s clothes were in disarray, and it is believed that she was sexually assaulted, police said.
Investigators say they matched a DNA sample taken from Bethea from an unrelated arrest in June to fluids found on the victim’s body.
The development was made possible through increased record keeping in the New York State DNA Databank that was established in 1996, which holds more than 330,000 genetic profiles. In 2006, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice and others successfully lobbied to expand the list offenses that require a DNA sample. The list now includes individuals convicted of any felony or more than a dozen different misdemeanors, although Rice added that she hopes the law will be expanded to include all crimes.
Following arrests in 2005 for criminal trespassing, 2007 for child endangerment and July 2009 for petty larceny, Bethea was court-ordered to submit a DNA sample. It was from the 2009 sample that a positive match was made for the 1989 murder, police said.
Bethea faces 25 years to life, if convicted.
