20-year-old North Bergen murder mystery may be solved…

In 1989, a Hatian woman from North Bergen, Dorothy LeConte, disappeared. Her body was found by two maintenance workers near a stream next to Hempstead High School on Long Island. The case remained unsolved.
However, police connected DNA from the woman, who had been raped and strangled.
Recently, they traced the DNA to a 38-year-old New York State man who had been arrested for several crimes in the intervening years.
They said that LaConte was visiting relatives on Long Island when she was killed.
According to WPIX news: “Police retained DNA samples from semen found on LeConte’s body and have now linked 38-year-old Joey Bethea of Bainbridge, N.Y. with the crime.
“According to police, Bethea – who has a long criminal rap sheet – was not a person of interest in the case and has no previous connection to LeConte.
“LaConte was arrested Tuesday in upstate Nineveh and charged with second-degree murder and felony murder.
“It remains unclear why Bethea [allegedly] committed the crime. He will be arraigned on September 30th in First District Court in Hempstead.”

© 2000, Newspaper Media Group