Ann Lustig (inset) was found dead along Fresh Pond Road in Calverton in February 1997.

By Michael Mashburn From Daily Voice

A major DNA break on Long Island has identified a deceased sex offender as the man who murdered Ann Lustig in Calverton in 1997 and raped an 82-year-old woman the year before, prosecutors said.

Forensic testing produced a full DNA profile that linked evidence from both attacks to Steven Briecke, a convicted sex offender whose information had been stored in the national CODIS database for decades, the Suffolk County DA’s office announced Monday, Nov. 10.

Briecke died years ago, preventing prosecution, but investigators said his identification brings long-awaited closure to both victims’ families.

Lustig, 69, disappeared from Kings Park State Psychiatric Hospital in February 1997 and was found dead the next day off Fresh Pond Road in Calverton. The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma and neck compression.

Despite an extensive investigation, the case remained unsolved for nearly three decades.

The earlier case dates back to December 1996, when an 82-year-old patient at the same psychiatric facility reported that an unknown man forced her into a vehicle, drove her to an unidentified residence, and raped her, according to investigators. 

She was later returned to the hospital and reported the assault to staff. The woman died in 2012 of natural causes.

Detectives long suspected the two attacks were connected due to similarities in the assaults and fibers found on both victims. But available technology at the time couldn’t definitively link them.

That changed after Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney launched the Cold Case Task Force in April 2024. Forensic analysts reprocessed evidence from both scenes, developing first a partial profile and later a full DNA profile from Lustig’s clothing. 

In early 2025, that full profile was uploaded to CODIS, which returned a match to Briecke.

Briecke’s DNA was on file due to an extensive criminal history, including a 1985 burglary and assault conviction and a 2003 Florida conviction involving the sexual assault of a child under 16. He was also a registered sex offender with multiple public lewdness convictions.

A two-toned blue Ford van seen near where Lustig’s body was found was later traced to Briecke’s mother and was known to be used by him at the time of both crimes, strengthening the link, prosecutors said.

“Resolving long-overdue crimes that have haunted the victim’s loved ones and our community for far too long is why we established the Cold Case Task Force,” said Tierney. “Thanks to the power of forensic science and the persistence of law enforcement, we can now say with confidence who was responsible for these horrific crimes.”

Anyone with information about other unsolved cases is asked to contact the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office at 631-853-5856.