Forensic evidence helps nab man accused of killing 2 Penn Hills women in 1973

A fresh lead and forensic evidence spurred this week’s arrest of a man in New York accused of murdering two Penn Hills teenagers while they were vacationing in Virginia Beach nearly 46 years ago, police said Tuesday.

Ernest Broadnax, 80, of the St. Albans section of Queens, faces charges of second-degree murder and rape in connection to the deaths of Janice Pietropola and Lynn Seethaler, both 19, Virginia Beach police’s Cold Case Unit said in a news release.

Broadnax was arrested Monday in New York and is awaiting extradition.

The women had been visiting Virginia Beach during their summer vacation.

On June 30, 1973, both were found dead inside the cottage where they were staying near Atlantic Avenue and 10th Street.

The Medical Examiner’s Office ruled both deaths to be homicides.

“Unfortunately, the case turned cold after exhaustive measures failed to positively identify a suspect,” Virginia Beach Police Department Cold Case Unit’s said in a statement announcing the case’s first breakthrough in nearly half a century.

This fall, investigators began aggressively pursuing a new lead.

Forensic science and advanced technology helped lead investigators to seek an arrest warrant for Broadnax, officials said.

Further details were not immediately available regarding the evidence involved.

His extradition from New York to Virginia Beach could take up to 30 days, officials said.

The FBI, Virginia State Police, New York Department of Corrections, Queens Probation and Parole, Virginia Beach Commonwealth Attorney’s Office and Virginia Department of Forensic Science assisted in the investigation, along with police from Norfolk and NYPD’s 105th Precinct.