BAINBRIDGE _ A 38-year-old Bainbridge man has been charged with murdering a young woman 20 years ago in Hempstead on Long Island.
At about 2 p.m. Tuesday, Joey Bethea of 6 River St. was arrested at the Wagner-Nineveh sawmill, where he had worked as a laborer for several years.
He was arraigned on a charge of second-degree murder in Nassau County on Wednesday and is being held at the Nassau County Jail while his case heads to a grand jury.
According to Nassau County Det. Sergeant Anthony Repalone, Bethea's DNA matches a sample found on the body of 22-year-old Dorothy LeConte, who was raped and murdered on June 14, 1989.
``She had recently come here from New Jersey,'' he said. ``Her body was found by custodians on the grounds of Hempstead High School in a small creek.
``She was partially disrobed, and it was obvious she had been sexually assaulted. The cause of death was asphyxiation due to strangulation.'' Police kept a sample of semen found on LeConte's body and have been hoping to find her killer ever since, he said.
In 1989, Bethea lived in the Hempstead area. Since then, he has been charged with several crimes, including armed robbery in Hempstead in 1991 and criminal trespass in Johnson City in 2005. Neither charge connected him to the LeConte's murder, but last June, Bethea was charged with petit larceny in Bainbridge.
``He was convicted, and state law on that charge mandates he had to give a DNA sample,'' Repalone said.
The samples are collected by state police and compared to evidence in unsolved cases.
``This time, we had a match,'' Repalone said.
Bethea's neighbors in Bainbridge and his boss in Nineveh said they were shocked to hear he had been charged with murder.
``He's been an excellent worker. We never had any problem with him,'' said Cliff Clune, plant manager at Wagner-Nineveh.
Clune said Bethea surrendered without struggle to a detective from the Nassau County Police Department.
His landlord, who declined to give his name, said, ``He was a good tenant, and his place is always immaculate.''
Penny Haddad, who lives across the street from Bethea's apartment, said he was friendly to his neighbors.
Bonnie Thomas, who lives at 16 East Main St., said Bethea likes to drink socially, and ``he could be a lot of fun, but he has trouble with five-finger discounts.
``I was his friend, walked around town with him, drank with him, fought with him. I never felt I was in danger from him, but he did steal from me.''
Bethea is an excellent woodworker who specializes in making birdhouses, she and others noted.
``Once I gave him $200 for a birdhouse when I had extra money, but that didn't stop him from taking things,'' she said.
Another friend, Wendy Shew of Bainbridge, concurred.
``He's had a few problems with taking things,'' she said.
Thomas said Bethea was arrested for petit larceny in June because he stole a donation can from a local convenience store.
``When the trooper came, he said, `Joe, we know it's you, because we have you on videotape,''' Thomas recalled.
Bethea was handcuffed and led away, she said. Later, he was convicted, according to Repalone.
When Bethea returned to his apartment, he told his friends his arrest had been staged, Thomas said.
``He said he was working undercover for the police, keeping them informed about everything around here,'' she said, adding that she didn't believe him.
Bethea's former wife lives in Nineveh, she added, and he has a young son who has visited him in Bainbridge.
According to Newsday, LeConte had a 23-month-old son, Narses, who was living in Haiti, and a 19-year-old brother, who was gunned down months before she died.
LeConte, who had immigrated from Haiti, had been studying English, taking courses at a technical school and aspired to be a computer programmer or a beautician. She worked for a Roy Rogers restaurant in New Jersey, Newsday reported.
Repalone said, ``I can tell you this: she was a beautiful young woman.''
