THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2005

D.A. BROWN: QUEENS MAN CHARGED IN 1986 WOODSIDE MURDER
Faces Up to 25 Years to Life In Prison

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today announced that a Queens man who served more than ten years in prison on a burglary and robbery conviction and was scheduled to be released later this month has been charged in the 1986 heretofore unsolved murder of a Woodside woman.

District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Kevin Justus, 40, whose last known address was 47-05 45 Street in Woodside. He was arraigned today before Queens Supreme Court Justice Randall T. Eng on an indictment charging him with Murder in the Second Degree. If convicted he faces up to 25 years to life in prison.

District Attorney Brown said, “For the victim’s family, it has been very difficult for them to know that a killer was still on the loose. While the filing of these charges is only the first step in holding accountable the person believed responsible for Mrs. Basa’s murder, closure will not come until they know that a conviction has been had for this heinous crime.”

The District Attorney said the indictment charges that, on November 22, 1986, the defendant while burglarizing the home of Clara Basa, 54, of 39-07 46 Street in Woodside, tied her up and then stabbed her multiple times about the face, neck and chest, causing her death.

District Attorney Brown said the investigation was conducted by Detectives Michael Solomeno, Michael Carrano and Mark Valencia of the New York City Police Department’s Queens Cold Case Squad, which is under the supervision of Lieutenant Philip Panzarella.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Richard Schaeffer of the District Attorney’s Homicide Investigations Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Peter T. Reese, Bureau Chief, and Peter J. McCormack III, Deputy Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Charles A. Testagrossa and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.

It should be noted that an indictment is merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.