Quantcast

Woodside man sentenced to 16 years for rape: DA

By Jeremy Walsh

A former NYPD officer and Astoria resident was sentenced to 16 years in prison for raping a Howard Beach woman in 1996, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Friday.

Ronald Murgo Jr., 38, served as a police officer in the 67th Precinct in Brooklyn until he was terminated in 1995, the DA said. Murgo left the police force after allegedly assaulting a woman, the New York Post reported.

He pleaded guilty to the 1996 rape in January.

“The defendant, who had escaped justice for nearly a decade, has now been punished for his crime,” Brown said in a statement. “The defendant was apprehended when a DNA sample he provided in connection with an unrelated prosecution was positively matched to DNA evidence obtained from his earlier victim’s rape kit. The use of DNA is an important law enforcement tool that proves the adage, ‘You can run, but you can’t hide.’”

The state took a DNA swab from Murgo in 2005 because of a sexual abuse and child endangerment charge from 1998, the Post reported.

On Nov. 6, 1996, Murgo broke into the residence of a then−21−year−old Howard Beach resident at approximately 3 a.m., entering the home through a first−floor back window. He jumped on the victim’s bed, tied her hands with her own bra, placed a pillow over her head and told her to be quiet before sexually abusing and raping her. Murgo then stole jewelry and took cash from the victim’s wallet before fleeing out the front door, the DA said.

The victim immediately called 911, Brown said. She was treated at a Queens hospital and interviewed by detectives, who submitted a rape kit for DNA testing, the DA said.

A Queens County grand jury indicted the defendant as John Doe in February 2006 under the John Doe Indictment Project, a citywide initiative started in 2003 that uses DNA profiles of unidentified sex criminals to indict them before the statute of limitations expires.

Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e−mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 154.