Florida deputies arrest Mississippi man in 1987 cold case murder

Deputies in Florida say they have identified the man who allegedly committed a murder in 1987.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday night that deputies arrested Michael Lapniewski, Jr., 55, for allegedly killing Opal Weil, who was 82-years-old when she was killed.

Officials say that Weil was found dead on February 9, 1987, when her sister-in-law went to check on her after not answering the telephone, and say that the woman had “obvious and visible signs of trauma.”

The suspect fled the scene before deputies arrived to the St. Petersburg, Florida, residence, officials say.

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Lapniewski allegedly gained entry into the home by removing a “single windowpane” and entered a room of the residence, adding that the phone line to the home was cut.

Investigators found several hairs included in the evidence collected from the scene, and were able to form a partial DNA profile but didn’t make an arrest at the time.

When cold case detectives from the sheriff’s office were assigned to the case in December 2020, investigators asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to conduct more testing of the hairs located at the scene and contracted Parabon Nanolabs to “conduct further genealogical testing.”

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Through “extensive testing” by Parabon Nanolabs, family trees were constructed and relatives were identified, narrowing the list of suspects down to three possible men, the sheriff’s office said.

Detectives were able to narrow the list of suspects down further, leaving Lapniewski as the suspect, who officials say lived a half a mile away from Weil at the time of the murder.

After learning that the suspect was living in Waveland, Mississippi, Pinellas County detectives went to the area where Lapniewski resides and were able to obtain his DNA, the sheriff’s office said. Detectives then submitted the DNA for testing, which they say came back as a match for the DNA profile developed at the scene.

Lapniewski was arrested by Mississippi authorities on Jan. 26 and extradited to Florida, where he faces a first-degree murder charge.