DNA advances lead to new arrest in 2009 Bronx murder case, NYPD says

Two days before Christmas in 2009, Cynthia Souser, a 39-year-old beautician, was found bludgeoned to death in her apartment in the Claremont Village section of the Bronx.

  On Monday, nearly eight years after Souser’s killing, investigators announced the indictment of her former  boyfriend for the murder. His arrest was made possible, they said, due to to advances in DNA technology. 

 It turned out that the suspect, Robert Hopkins, 37, had left DNA on a cup he had used to drink while in jail on other charges, law enforcement officials stated. It matched DNA found under one of Souser's fingernails, authorities said.

  Hopkins, who police said already faced homicide charges in two other boroughs on other cases, was arraigned on second-degree murder charges in Souser’s death.  At his arraignment in the Souser case before Bronx State Supreme Court Justice George Villegas, Hopkins, through his attorney, entered a not guilty plea and was ordered to return to court in February, officials said.  Hopkins' lawyer couldn’t be reached for comment Monday night.

   Souser, who lived 1409 Fulton Avenue, was found dead in her apartment by a friend who noticed the door ajar.  According to police, the initial investigation found the DNA evidence under Souser's nail but the technology at the time didn't allow a usable genetic profile to be developed.

 In 2016, DNA advances enabled authorities to get such a profile, then labeled “Male Donor A.”  According to NYPD officials, the investigation had already placed Hopkins, who had been in a relationship with Souser, under suspicion for her killing.

  “Hopkins claimed he knew Cynthia but hadn’t dated her for a year [before the killing],” said one NYPD investigator.

While the murder case went cold, Hopkins found himself in other trouble.

 From 2016 to 2017, Hopkins was arrested in Manhattan and Brooklyn on separate murder charges in the other cases, according to court records and police. The Manhattan case involved a 2016 shooting at a bodega while the 2017 Brooklyn killing is believed to have involved a dispute over drugs, according to police.

 With Hopkins in custody and awaiting trial on the other cases, in 2017 detectives decided to question him again and attempted, unsuccessfully, to get his consent to give a DNA sample.  But, investigators said they were able to secure an abandoned cup Hopkins used and got a match between his profile and that of Male Donor A, said police officials who didn’t want to be identified.

     “This indictment shows that victims are never forgotten, and we will use every available technology and science to pursue justice for them,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark said in a statement.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.