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Georgia Man Arrested in Connection to 1985 Syracuse Murder

Georgia authorities.

The Onondaga County District Attorney and the Syracuse Police Chief say a Georgia man has been arrested after evidence linked him to the death of his ex-wife in Syracuse dating back to 1985.  Colleen Meadow’s estranged husband, Ronald Meadow has been charged with second degree murder.  Meadow was found strangled to death in her Syracuse Apartment.  District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick says a particular investigator was instrumental.

“The break in the case came as a result really of hard work by Derek McGork of the
Syracuse Police.  We had a meeting at my office several months ago where we decided there was a minute amount of DNA material from Colleen that we felt would point to her killer.  And we made the decision the technology was now sufficiently advanced for us to test that material.” 

Credit John Smith/WAER News
Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick speaks about Colleen Meadow's case.

   

 
Fitzpatrick says that Meadow chose to speak extensively with the Syracuse Police Department.  Police Chief Frank Fowler says a dedicated unit investigates open cases that remain unsolved.

 
“Hours and hours of work goes into this.  And we had... our cold case squad is made up of four individuals, three detectives and one Sergeant. That's their permanent assignment.  That's what they do, each and every day.”

Credit John Smith/WAER News
Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler

 
 
Currently, the department has 89 open cold-cases. To review the cases, you can click this link.  Ronald Meadow remains in custody in Georgia and will likely be returned to Syracuse authorities before Christmas.
 

John Smith has been waking up WAER listeners for a long time as our Local Co-Host of Morning Edition with timely news and information, working alongside student Sportscasters from the Newhouse School.