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미국 뉴욕에서 대표적인 장기 미제사건으로 꼽혀온 '여아 피살사건'의 범인이 경찰의 끈질긴 수사 끝에 22년 만에 검거됐다.
미국 뉴욕 경찰은 맨해튼 한 음식점에서 일을 하고 있던 콘래도 후아레스(52)를 체포해 범행 일체를 자백받았다고 12일(현지시간) 밝혔다.
친척사이였던 여아를 상대로 벌인 그의 만행은 1991년 7월로 거슬러 올라간다.
뉴욕 한 공원도로변의 아이스박스 안에서 싸늘한 여야의 시신이 발견됐다. 몸이 결박된 채 비닐 팩에 쌓여있었고 성적 학대를 당한 뒤 목 졸려 살해된 것으로 추정 됐다. 특히 아이는 영양실조 상태였을 정도로 참혹했다.
하지만 당시 경찰은 범인은커녕 피해 아동의 신원조차 확인하지 못했다.
경찰은 1993년 피해 아동이 누군지도 모른 채 사건 해결의 희망을 담아 '베이비 호프'(Baby Hope)라는 이름을 지어준 뒤 장례를 치러줬고, 사람들 사이에서 사건도 점점 잊혀갔다.
하지만 경찰 일부는 집념의 끈을 놓지 않았다.
수사를 계속하면서 2007년과 2011년 피해 여아의 시신에서 DNA 샘플을 채취해 유전자 검사를 실시했다. 또 사건 발생 22주년인 올 7월 범인 검거를 위해 사건 현장 주민들에게 다시 한번 도움을 요청했다.
피해 아동 얼굴을 그린 전단 등을 주민에게 배포했고, 단서 제공자에게는 1만2 천 달러(한화 1천300만원)의 포상금을 주겠다는 약속도 했다. TV 등 언론매체에서는 다시 이 사건을 다뤘다.
결국 보답이 따랐다. 경찰에 새로운 제보가 접수된 것이다.
경찰은 이번 주초 숨진 여아의 자매를 안다는 제보를 받고는 자매와 엄마에 대한 유전자 대조를 통해 신원을 확인할 수 있었다. 여아가 숨질 당시 네 살에 불과했고 이름은 앤젤리카 카스티요라는 것을 알아냈다.
앤젤리카의 엄마로부터 지금은 사망한 남편 친척들과 당시 함께 살았다는 진술도 확보하면서, 친척 관계에 있던 후아레스가 용의자로 급부상했다.
사건 발생부터 지난 여름 퇴직 때까지 이 사건을 수사해온 제리 조르조는 어린이와 관련된 사건이라 한시도 머리에서 떠나지 않았다며 "결국은 해결되리라 확신했고 범인 체포 소식이 더 없이 즐겁다"고 밝혔다.
<관련 영문 뉴스>
Relative charged in NYC 'Baby Hope' killing
NEW YORK (AP) - Detectives solved the decades-old mystery of ``Baby Hope,'' a little girl whose body was discovered inside a picnic cooler beside a Manhattan highway in 1991, and arrested a relative of the child Saturday after he admitted he sexually assaulted and smothered her, police said Saturday.
Conrado Juarez, 52, was arrested and arraigned on a felony murder charge. He pleaded not guilty.
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Melissa Mourges, chief of the cold case unit and the original prosecutor on the case in 1991, told a judge at Juarez's arraignment that he had admitted sexually abusing the child before smothering her. Mourges said Juarez then enlisted the aid of his sister who helped him dispose of the body.
They were cousins of the girl's father, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
The girl's name, age and circumstances of her death were unknown for more than two decades. But earlier this week, police announced that a new tip and a DNA test had allowed them to finally identify the baby's mother, a dramatic turnaround in one of the city's more notorious cold cases.
On Saturday, they also revealed the girl's name: Anjelica Castillo, age 4.
The child's naked, malnourished corpse was discovered on July 23, 1991, beside the Henry Hudson Parkway by construction workers who smelled something rotten. Detectives thought she might have been suffocated but had few other clues as to what happened.
The case became an obsession for some investigators who nicknamed the girl ``Baby Hope.'' Hundreds of people attended a funeral for the unknown girl in 1993. Her body was exhumed for DNA testing in 2007, and then again in 2011.
In July, detectives tried another round of publicity on the 22nd anniversary of the discovery. They canvassed the neighborhood where her body was found, hung fliers, circulated sketches of the girl and a photograph of the cooler and announced a $12,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Former detective Jerry Giorgio, who had the case from 1991 until his retirement over the summer, said he remained confident the case could be solved. Assistant Chief Joseph Reznick, who also worked the case, said they never gave up.
``I think reflecting back on what we named this little girl, Baby Hope, I think it's the most accurate name we could have come up with,'' Reznick said.
Giorgio left the NYPD and went to the Manhattan district attorney's cold case squad, from which he retired this year. ``I missed the tipster call by a couple of weeks, damn it,'' he said.
The tipster, who saw the recent news stories on the case, led police to Anjelica's sister, who told detectives she thought her sister had been killed. Police matched DNA from Anjelica to their mother. The mother, who was not identified, didn't have custody of Anjelica at the time of the girl's death -- she had been living with relatives on the father's side, including Balvina Juarez-Ramirez, police said.
