An NYPD detective cracked a 32-year-old cold case this week when fingerprints from an inmate were matched to the death of a Queens man in a home-invasion burglary.
Ernest Mattison, 49 , formerly of Flushing, was charged with murder in the strangulation of Cecil Schiff, 73, on September 10, 1980.
Schiff, who fled Poland to escape the Holocaust with his wife Gertrude, was found dead inside of his Franklin Avenue home sitting in a chair and bleeding from his head. Their bedroom was allegedly ransacked and jewelry and other valuables missing.
Fingerprints retrieved from a jewelry box at the scene were recently matched to Mattison, prosecutors said.
Mattison, who was 17-years-old at the time of the crime, is currently serving 10 years in prison for another robbery and if convicted for the new charges, faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors are searching for relatives of Schiff and asking anyone with information to please contact the DA’s office at 718-286-5866.