Albany PD identify suspect in 1964 cold case homicide

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The Albany Police Department have identified a suspect in a 61-year-old cold case homicide investigation, authorities announced in a press conference on Wednesday. Joseph Nowakowski allegedly murdered 50-year-old Catherine Blackburn in 1964.

According to Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox, Blackburn was found dead in her home at 117 Colonie Street on September 14, 1964. That morning, Blackburn’s coworker had tried to pick her up for work but was not able to get in contact with the 50-year-old once she arrived.

The coworker reportedly contacted Blackburn’s niece who, with Blackburn’s sister, went to the victim’s home to check on her. They found Blackburn dead in what police called a “gruesome” scene.

Nowakowski was born in 1931 and died in 1998, Chief Cox said. Authorities said that the suspect was in and out of prison several times — including for a “vicious assault of an elderly woman living alone in her apartment” in Schenectady in 1973 — and it is “very possible” that he is connected to other criminal cases in the area.

“That is one of the reasons why we wanted to make sure that we took every step possible to be 100% positive that he was, in fact, tied to this and that we have his DNA on file,” Cox said.

There is no indication that Blackburn and Nowakowski knew each other prior to the crime, officials said. With assistance from the Criminal Investigation Resource Center at Russell Sage College and other forensic and investigative agencies, authorities were able to match DNA from the 1964 crime with DNA from the suspect’s exhumed body, according to commander Melissa Morey.

“61 years ago, evil entered my aunt’s house and changed our lives forever,” a family member of Blackburn’s said during Wednesday’s press conference. “We prayed for this day. Thanks to modern technology, persistence, determination and a dedicated team, it has arrived.”