Man extradited to U.S. 27 years after he allegedly killed N.J. woman, left her body in dirt
12/03/2024 12:48 pm PST
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (TCN) -- A 60-year-old Canadian man has been extradited to the United States to face murder charges for allegedly killing a young woman 27 years ago.
The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office announced Dec. 2 that U.S. Marshals brought Robert Creter to New Jersey and booked him into the Somerset County Jail on an impending charge of murder in connection with the 1997 death of Tamara "Tammy" Tignor.
On Nov. 4, 1997, a Bridgewater resident called police and reported finding a woman’s body in the dirt at the end of a cul-de-sac. Detectives arrived and identified the victim as Tignor, who lived in Newark. The autopsy determined her manner of death was homicide. Despite the investigation into her death, Tignor’s case went cold and stayed unsolved for years.
Almost 26 years later, in January 2023, detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit had a meeting to discuss the case as part of the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Grant. Investigators sent evidence from Tignor’s case to a lab for advanced DNA testing, and three months later, results from the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) came back with a close match to Creter.
The prosecutor’s office authorized a first-degree murder charge for Creter, though he moved to Canada in 2002. The prosecutor’s office and U.S. State Department worked with officials in Canada, where he was arrested on June 27. He was returned to New Jersey on Nov. 26.
Somerset County Assistant Prosecutor Mike McLaughlin said in a press conference that Tignor’s mother called detectives every year on the anniversary of her daughter’s death for updates on the case. McLaughlin spoke with Tignor’s mother after Creter’s arrest and said it was "very emotional."
New Jersey State Police superintendent Patrick Callahan shared, "The arrest of a suspect in this decades-old case is a testament to the unwavering dedication of law enforcement to seek justice, no matter how much time has passed."
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