DA: Florida Child Sex Offender Killed Elderly LI Woman in 1997

Steven Briecke was identified as rapist-killer of Ann Lustig, 69, in 1997 and an earlier rape.

A deceased Long Island man who did time in Florida prison for the sexual assault of a child was named Monday as the rapist and killer of 69 year old Ann Lustig in Suffolk County in 1997. Steven Briecke, who died in 2014, was also accused of raping an 82 year old woman in December 1996, two months before Lustig's murder.

Ann Lustig, 69, was receiving treatment at Kings Park Psychiatric Center when she disappeared.

Both women were apparently forced into Briecke's blue and white Ford van outside Kings Park Psychiatric Center, where they were receiving treatment.

Newsday articles from 1996 and 1997 report rapes of older women.

"He was 39 years old at the time of these crimes,"District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced at a press conference in Hauppauge. "He had over twenty arrests, including for public lewdness."

The D.A. noted Briecke's DNA had been added to the national CODIS system in 2000, 25. years ago, but did not link to any unsolved cases. That's because the technology that processes DNA "mixtures" was not advanced back then.

District Attorney Raymond Tierney announces identity of prime suspect in two cold cases.

In Lustig's case, investigators had found a mixture of genetic material on her sweatshirt that was 94% Lustig's DNA and 6% "male."

When Raymond Tierney started the Suffolk County Cold Case Task Force in April 2024, Lustig's case was among the first to be looked at. In November 2024, the crime lab started swabbing Lustig's sweatshirt for the DNA.

"They were able to develop a full DNA profile," Tierney said about the male sample, and that led to a match on the national CODIS database in April 2025.

Ann Lustig's grandson, Joseph Saccone, made an emotional speech at the press conference, as Lustig's son and daughter listened, sitting in front of her photo.

Joseph Saccone, the grandson of Ann Lustig, choked up as he spoke of her brutal murder.

"You were able to give us something that generations of Suffolk investigators were unable to," Saccone said, as he struggled to keep his composure.

"A name. A face. And the knowledge that the monster that took her last breath from her, that stole her precious smile and ended the life of our loved one, is no longer walking among us."

Ann Lustig’s son, daughter, and grandson attended the District Attorney’s press conference.

Briecke grew up in West Islip, New York and was convicted in 1985 for assaulting a Long Island woman in her home during a burglary. He was paroled from state prison in May 1996. Seven months later, the 82 year old woman was forced into his van outside Kings Park Psychiatric and raped at another location.

Ann Lustig was last seen waiting for a cab outside Kings Park Psychiatric on February 18, 1997. The next day, fox hunters discovered her body in the woods of Calverton, Long Island. An autopsy determined Lustig had died from blunt force trauma and neck compression.

Investigators quickly linked the rape and murder of Lustig to the earlier sexual assault of the elderly woman.

Retired police detectives Vincent Stephan and Patrick Palladino with Suffolk DA Raymond Tierney and County Executive Edward Romaine.

On December 20, 1996, the elderly woman--who wasn't identified--said she was approached by a man offering her a ride outside the Kings Park facility. When she refused, the woman said the man forced her into his van, took her to a house, and sexually assaulted her. Afterwards, she said he gave her a shower and took her back to Kings Park.

The 82 year old rape victim said she reported the crime and was taken to St. John's Hospital, where she required emergency surgery.

Aside from the DNA evidence, the District Attorney's office gave credit to retired Suffolk County police detectives Patrick Palladino and Vincent Stephan for preserving crime scene evidence, specifically green and black fibers found on each victim. They found the black fiber would be consistent with mats used in the type of Ford van Briecke drove, while the green fiber could be connected to a specific carpet found in those vans. The van was registered to Briecke's mother.

Briecke went south to live in Florida after one of his paroles in New York. He was released from prison in the sexual assault of the child under 16 in 2003.

Steven Briecke in 2010.

Briecke died on January 16, 2014 at the age of 56.