'His purpose was to kill,' prosecutor says after Winnipeg man extradited in 1997 New Jersey homicide

The original police investigation into a New Jersey woman's killing nearly 30 years ago produced two "key and essential facts" that led to a first-degree murder charge last week against a man living in Winnipeg, a county official said.

"The first one is their collection and storage of DNA evidence, which ultimately led to our decision to charge," said Mike McLaughlin, a Somerset County assistant prosecutor, at a Monday news conference in New Jersey.

Investigators also discovered that the last person who saw 23-year-old Tammy Tignor alive on Nov. 4, 1997, said they watched her get into an orange van in Newark, N.J., around 4 a.m., McLaughlin said.

Her body was found about 12 hours later on a dirt access road near Washington Valley Park, more than 40 kilometres away from Newark.

"This is a cold case that went unsolved for 27 years," which is longer than Tignor was alive, McLaughlin noted.

"Tammy's mom called our office on Nov. 4 of every year, the anniversary of Tammy's death, looking for an update."

Robert Creter, 60, was arrested in Winnipeg in June and extradited to New Jersey last week, a news release from state prosecutors and police said. He's been charged with first-degree murder in connection with Tignor's death.

The charges have not yet been tested in court.

Tignor's case had gone cold until January 2023, when advancements in DNA technology allowed police to amplify DNA found on her body and develop an adequate DNA profile, which was entered into the U.S. national DNA database last year.

"It came back with a hit" that led police to identify Creter as a suspect in April 2023, said McLaughlin. A first-degree murder charge was laid against him on May 18, 2023.

Investigators have also linked Creter — who was working as a day labourer in Bridgewater, N.J., when Tignor's body was found — to an orange van, he said.

Tignor's death was a "purposeful murder," said McLaughlin.

"His purpose was to kill Tammy, and he knew he was killing her," the prosecutor alleged, adding that police don't believe Tignor was sexually assaulted.

Creter's arrest and his eventual extradition — 18 months after the first-degree murder charge against him — were the result of a collaborative effort between American and Canadian officials, McLaughlin said.

"It takes a long time to go from one end of the country to the other, trying to figure out where this guy is."

Crimes in Canada

Creter was born in Canada before he was adopted, and moved to New Jersey when he was young, McLaughlin said.

He moved to the small town of Virden, Man., in early 2002, a court heard, and later lived in Winnipeg.

He "lived his life there [in Manitoba] ... for the next almost 30 years," said McLaughlin.

Canadian court records show that Creter was convicted of one count of assault and two counts of assault causing bodily harm in 2002.

He was also convicted of disobeying a court order in 2010, along with two probation breaches.

Creter was transient and did not have a permanent address in Winnipeg, a 2019 court document said.