Congratulations go to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office after they left a leaflet on a suspect’s vehicle, claiming the leaflet would include a free meal. Michael Lapniewski, the alleged murderer took the bait, and has now been charged with the murder of an 82-year old woman.
A man’s inability to turn down a free meal has contributed to his arrest in connection with the slaying of an 82-year-old Pinellas County woman that had gone unsolved for 36 years.
Michael Lapniewski, 55, was booked into the Pinellas County Jail on Tuesday afternoon on a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the 1987 slaying of Opal Weil, a widow who was choked and beaten in her Lealman home.
Thank God Lapniewski decided to take the free meal. He is behind bard and the victim’s family is likely sighing in relief.
DNA was a key factor in cracking the case, according to an arrest affidavit written by Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office detectives. But how they got the DNA involved a clever ruse in which they advertised a free meal at a restaurant — an offer to which Lapniewski responded.
After he finished his meal and left, detectives seized the spoon and fork Lapniewski had used and submitted them for DNA testing. They were a match to hairs that had been found on Weil’s pink nightgown, her electric blanket and her bed after her killing, according to the affidavit.
This piece of garbage murdered that woman when he was twenty years old, and got away with it for thirty-five years. Here’s hoping Lapniewski never, ever sees the light of day.