By Hank Russell
After nearly three decades, two crimes have been solved, both of which were tied to the same suspect.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Cold Case Task Force, a partnership between District Attorney Tierney and the Suffolk County Police Department, announced on November 10 that a previously unsolved murder case from 1997, as well as a 1996 rape of a separate victim, have now been resolved through modern DNA advancements. The perpetrator, identified as Steven Briecke, is deceased.
On February 19, 1997, the body of 69-year-old Ann Lustig was discovered off Fresh Pond Road in Calverton. Lustig had been reported missing from the Kings Park State Psychiatric Hospital the day before. The Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy and ruled Lustig’s death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma and neck compression. Despite an extensive investigation at the time, the case remained unsolved for decades.
On December 20, 1996, an 82-year-old patient had been reported missing by Kings Park Psychiatric Hospital staff after she could not be found for several hours. The patient subsequently returned to the facility and reported that she had been approached by an unknown male who offered her a ride. When she refused the offer, the male forced her into a car, drove her to an unknown residence, and forcibly raped her. Afterwards, the male dropped her back to the facility, where she reported the incident to the hospital staff. The victim died in May 2012 of natural causes.
At the time, investigators believed the Lustig murder, and the earlier sexual assault were related due to the similarities in the attacks, as well as similar fibers that were recovered from each victim. However, the cases could not be forensically linked with existing technology at the time.
In April 2024, Tierney established the Cold Case Task Force, a specialized unit dedicated to reinvestigating and reanalyzing unsolved homicides and sexual assaults through modern investigative techniques and forensic technology.
Shortly after the formation of the Task Force, forensic evidence from the 1997 murder was reprocessed. In November 2024, the Task Force discovered that DNA evidence from Lustig’s murder was forensically linked to the sexual assault of the 82-year-old woman. Specifically, forensic scientists at the Suffolk County Crime Lab were able to develop a partial DNA profile from swabs collected from each victim, and further analysis revealed those profiles to match. Based on the partial nature of those profiles, however, they were not eligible to be uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a national database managed by the FBI that allows law enforcement agencies to compare DNA profiles from crime scenes with those of known offenders.
In early 2025, additional testing of Lustig’s clothing led to the discovery of a full DNA profile. This full profile was uploaded into CODIS, which returned a match to Briecke. Briecke’s DNA profile was uploaded to CODIS in 1999 for his 1985 convictions for burglary and assault. Briecke’s DNA was also uploaded to CODIS following a 2003 Florida conviction involving the sexual assault of a child less than 16 years old, which made Briecke a registered sex offender. Briecke also had multiple convictions for public lewdness.
During the initial investigation, a witness reported observing a distinct, two-toned blue Ford van parked in the immediate vicinity of where Lustig’s body was recovered. Following the CODIS match, the Task Force was able to determine that a van matching the witness’ description was registered to Briecke’s mother and known to have been used by Briecke at the time of both crimes.
While Briecke cannot be prosecuted due to this death, the families of the victims are grateful to see the cases brought to a resolution.
“Resolving long-overdue crimes that have haunted the victim’s loved ones and our community for far too long is why we established the Cold Case Task Force,” said Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney. “Thanks to the power of forensic science and the persistence of law enforcement, we can now say with confidence who was responsible for these horrific crimes.”
“Although nearly three decades have passed since these horrific crimes occurred, we remain resolute in our commitment to solving them and providing justice to the victims and their families,” said Suffolk County Commissioner Kevin Catalina. “The Cold Case Task Force is dedicated to uncovering any leads in unsolved homicides and sexual assaults by leveraging scientific advancements and I’m confident we will see even more successes in the future.”
During the press conference, Joseph Saccone, Lustig’s grandson, spoke before attendees and reporters. An emotional Saccone recalled his grandmother as being “a beautiful person that navigated an ugly world and met a horrible end. Her life was full of many challenges and she never had it easy. But she did have us.”
Saccone expressed his gratitude to the Cold Case Task Force for “[bringing] some semblance of closure to a nearly 29-year-old nightmare.”
“How do you convey the feeling of an unimaginable loss?” he said. “How do you make sense of an act of violence against your loved one? How do you thank those that helped you navigate such a loss over the years?”
Saccone continued, “My family and I are fortunate that these are now the questions that we wrestle with after so many years of asking, What if? How could this happen?’ and, of course, ‘Who took my grandmother?’”
Saccone said the Cold Case Task Force “finally [brought] us some answers to our questions. … You were able to give us something that generations of Suffolk investigators were unable to: a name, a face, and the knowledge that the monster that took her last breath from her, that stole her precious smile and ended the life of our loved one is no longer with us.”
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine thanked Tierney and the Cold Case Task Force for their hard work. He also recognized the detectives who were originally on the case. “Had [the detectives] not collected that information, … we would not be where we are. Most importantly, the Cold Case Squad … did a great job in taking the information that had been collected, all the details, putting it together.”
Saccone also offered advice to those who may be in the same situation. “Keep at it. Never give up,” he said. “Make calls. Write letters. Send emails, ask questions and don’t ever quit in your search for justice.”
If justice cannot be obtained, he said, “settle for answers to those questions that can be answered and to hold those whose job it is to find those answers accountable so that you can move closer to finding closure and a chance to move onto your lives, which my family and I now plan on doing at this very moment.”
Anyone with information about other unresolved cases is encouraged to contact the District Attorney’s Office at (631) 853-5856 or through the Contact Us tab on their website.