New York cops clear two mysterious 1970s unsolved murders
· Toronto Sun
By the time the Action for Divorce notice hit the Wellsville Reporter in October 1973, it was far too late.
For five days the notice ran and any response from Clyde Albert Coppage would be shocking to say the least. His estranged wife Darlene wanted the marriage dissolved and she wanted custody of their children.
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Clyde Coppage was in no position to argue.
For several decades, cops were finding bodies all over Western New York, the slag heap of gangland machinations and all-too-frequent settling of accounts.
In March 1970, a macabre discovery was made on a rural road in Allegany County , near Andover, New York – south of Buffalo. It was the nude remains of an unidentified man who had been decapitated. His head and hands had also been removed, thwarting identification.
Othram entered picture in 2023
Ominously, there was an “X” carved into the victim’s chest, leading detectives to zero in on the underworld theory. No doubt the killer was a pro.
But cops might have had a leg up if they had a name to go with the body, who was given the moniker Allegany County John Doe (1970).
In 2023, cops teamed with genetic geneology pioneer Othram “to leverage identity inference, a process that enables investigators to identify individuals from DNA evidence, even when there is no known reference sample to initially compare against.”
This week, the corpse was finally identified as Clyde Coppage, who was 35 at the time of his murder and resided in Genesee, Pennsylvania.
He had never been reported missing.
Anyone with information about Coppage or the circumstances surrounding his death is asked to contact New York State Police at 585-344-6200.
Who killed Long Island woman?
Meanwhile, downstate on Long Island, Othram has helped solve another gruesome crime.
On Jan. 11, 1974, Barbara Waldman was found murdered in her Oceanside, N.Y. home by one of her young sons.
Waldman, 31, was well-liked and active with her local Cancer Society chapter. It was a happy life in the suburbs of Long Island.
Her husband was a dentist and the couple lived comfortably in a Colonial-style home in the 3900 block of Sally Lane with their three young children.
That world was turned upside down in January 1974 when Barbara’s son, arriving home from kindergarten, discovered his mom on the ground on the second floor of the family home. The victim was beside her bed wearing only a nightgown and robe, her hands tightly tied behind her back with pantyhose.
The pretty blond had been shot once in the head and she had been sexually assaulted.
From the start, Nassau County Police detectives suspected the murder was personal or sexually driven.
The house had not been ransacked and neighbours had not seen anything unusual.
Cops did manage to generate a composite sketch and flagged, then ruled out, a number of possible suspects and persons of interest. But the investigation into Barbara Waldman’s murder went cold fast.
Killer lived blocks away
In 2024, Othram became involved and began trying to solve the 50-year-old riddle. Othram scientists worked to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the suspect, which was forwarded to the FBI.
Last week, cops announced that Thomas Generazio, who lived several blocks away from the Waldmans, was the killer. He was employed as a sanitation worker.
But Generazio won’t be around to face the music. He died of cancer in 2004 at age 57.
For decades, the victim’s husband, Gerald Waldman, had been eyed with suspicion, although he was never charged in the crime.
“Happily today, 52 years later, I get to say to the world that our father is exonerated,” Marla Waldman, one of the couple’s three children, told reporters, adding her late dad suffered a “powerful social mark of disgrace” until his death in 2006.