A Canadian man has been charged with murder after a cold case breakthrough. He is suspected of killing a lady in 1997 in New Jersey and disposing of her remains along a gravel road in Somerset County.
At a news conference, Somerset County Assistant Prosecutor Michael McLaughlin said that Robert Alan Creter, 60, of Winnipeg, was extradited to New Jersey on November 26, over 27 years after Tamara Tammy Tignor’s body was discovered in Bridgewater.
McLaughlin credited investigators with carrying on the search for Tignor’s killer, stating that it has been 9,885 days since her death was discovered. They never stopped fighting for justice.
On November 4, 1997, Tignor, then 23 years old, was discovered strangled on a dirt access road off of Gilbride Road in Bridgewater Township, close to Washington Valley Park.
The gravel track off Gilbride Road in Bridgewater that leads back to the clearing where Tamara Tignor’s body was discovered in 1997 is examined by an investigator from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.NJNP Tony Kurdzuk took the picture.
Although DNA evidence was gathered and an eyewitness reported to police that they last saw Tignor getting into an orange van, no suspects were created at the time.
According to McLaughlin, those two characteristics were essential in determining Creter’s identity.
Creter, a day worker who has been in Canada since 2002, was adopted as a young child by an American family after being born in Canada. Around the time of Tignor’s passing, he resided in the counties of Middlesex and Somerset, according to McLaughlin.
According to court documents, Creter’s criminal history in New Jersey includes allegations of fraud and theft in 1999, as well as charges of terrorist threats and firearms in 1995.
Through the Combined DNA Index System, a nationwide FBI database that houses DNA taken from crime scenes and convicted criminals, investigators were able to link evidence gathered at the scene to Creter in 2023 thanks to advancements in DNA technology, McLaughlin said.
According to McLaughlin, detectives later discovered that Creter had access to a van that fit the witness’s description.
Whether Creter and Tignor knew one another is unknown.
According to news accounts at the time of her passing, Tignor was known to visit Newark frequently but also resided with her mother in Keyport on occasion. Investigators at the time, according to McLaughlin, were able to speak with her pals in the Newark region.
According to McLaughlin, Tignor is thought to have entered Creter’s van approximately 27 miles from the scene of her death.
McLaughin responded, “That’s a good explanation of what 27 miles away is,” without mentioning the precise location, when asked if she got into the vehicle in Newark.
According to McLaughlin, Creter was not identified by forensic genealogy or the use of for-profit DNA services like AncestryDNA.
According to State Police Superintendent Patrick Callahan, “all those technological advancements do not replace the passion that the women and men on this case have, that initial response, and how phenomenal crime scene investigators were.”
According to McLaughlin, it was quite emotional to inform Tignor’s mother about the arrest. She expressed her gratitude to our detectives both then and now.
According to McLaughlin, Tignor’s mother called the police each year on the anniversary of her daughter’s passing to inquire about any updates. According to McLaughlin, she called as recently as last month, but police couldn’t give any updates until Creter was on American soil.
Creter will appear in court for the first time on Wednesday while being detained at the Somerset County Jail.
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Katie Kausch
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