Man Pleads Guilty To Cold Case Killing In Union Township
ELIZABETH, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- An Essex County man has admitted stabbing and strangling a woman whose body was found inside her Union Township home in 2010.
Union County prosecutors say Arnell Yearwood, 28, of Irvington, faces a 30-year state prison term with no chance of parole when he's sentenced April 11. He pleaded guilty to murder charges Tuesday.
Yearwood admitted killing 54-year-old Diane Zaleski, who died from multiple blunt-force and lacerative injuries to the head and neck.
Investigators initially had few leads in the case, and on the one-year anniversary of Zaleski's death they released additional details about the slaying.
The Union County Homicide Task Force was tipped off by a woman in Massachusetts, who had been in contact with Yearwood on Facebook. She read an article about the Zaleski case, took information the suspect had given her over the Internet and called police.
Yearwood's mother lives across the street from Zaleski's house, and he had used Zaleski's computer while he was in her home. According to police, Yearwood left forensic evidence that linked him to the crime.
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