Jonathan Roman sentenced in murder of uncle, 71, DA says

A Coram man was sentenced Monday to 18 years to life in prison for strangling his uncle in 2014 after an argument, the Nassau County district attorney’s office said.

Jonathan Roman, 44, who pleaded guilty on Dec. 11 to one count of second-degree murder, was sentenced Monday by acting state Supreme Court Justice David Sullivan, the DA’s office said.

Roman’s attorney Alan Schwartz could not immediately be reached for comment.

Roman went to the New Hyde Park home of his uncle, John Frankowski, 71, on Feb. 27, 2014, and the two began arguing, prosecutors said. Roman then beat and strangled Frankowski at the home and later transported the body to Coram, where Roman buried his uncle’s remains in a wooded area behind his house, prosecutors said.

“Defendant Jonathan Roman savagely murdered his uncle and hid the body for more than week while relatives desperately searched for the 71-year old victim,” Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement. “John Frankowski’s life was tragically cut short by his nephew’s heinous act, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

Frankowski was last seen alive on Feb. 27, 2014, and was reported missing by relatives on March 1, 2014, prosecutors said. Nassau County Police Department officers, with the assistance of Suffolk County Police Department K9 units, discovered the missing man’s body on March 7, 2014, prosecutors said.

Roman was arrested by the NCPD Homicide Squad and arraigned in Nassau County on March 8, 2014.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Walsh, chief of the district attorney’s Major Offense Bureau, prosecuted the case.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.