On Friday, September 14, 2007 the Montgomery
County Grand Jury indicted 62 year old
Robert J. Sosnoskie for the murder of 76
year old Perry Smith on June 18, 1971 in
Harrison Township.
The case was unsolved for decades until
fingerprints collected at the scene were
submitted for comparison using technology
that was not available in 1971. The
fingerprints were identified as those of the
defendant. The defendant has been indicted
on one count of Murder in the Second Degree,
the charge that existed at the time of the
offense in 1971, punishable by life in
prison. The defendant was extradited from
Wisconsin, where he was living, and is being
held in the Montgomery County Jail in lieu
of $1,000,000 bail. The defendant has a
lengthy record of run-ins with the law,
including convictions in Florida for Assault
With Intent to Commit Rape and convictions
in Indiana for multiple counts of Attempted
Rape.
Prosecutor Mat Heck, Jr. said, “When a
person commits a serious crime, especially a
homicide, it is important that we utilize
the latest advances in science and
investigative techniques in order to
identify a suspect. As this case
demonstrates, even 36 years after a criminal
act, a perpetrator can be identified and
held accountable for his actions.”
