The Afton man arrested in connection with a 1997 Binghamton homicide was a longtime ``person of interest,'' Binghamton police said Monday.
But a fresh look at the case by two detectives three months ago resulted in the arrest of Bobby Jo Hatchcock, 50, Capt. Alex Minor said.
Hatchcock was charged Friday with second-degree murder. He was arraigned Saturday and sent to Broome County jail without bail.
Terry L. Dittman, 38, of Binghamton, was found dead on a path in the city in June 1997. Her body was partially clothed and she was sexually assaulted, beaten and stabbed in the throat, police said. An autopsy determined she bled to death from the stab wound.
After the initial investigation, detectives looked at the case off and on for the next 10 years, Minor said.
"It was a tough one because of her lifestyle," Minor said.
Dittman was a drug addict and had brushes with the law, including a prostitution arrest, he said.
Detectives interviewed more than a 100 people, he said.
Hatchcock was sentenced to two-to-six years in state prison in 1999 for a third-degree burglary conviction in Broome County, according to the state Department of Corrections. He was paroled after six months, according to DOCS.
Hatchcock was a resident of Afton for about 10 years and worked in construction, Minor said.
At the time of his arrest, he was living with a woman at his home in Afton, Minor said.
Hatchcock was identified as a person of interest earlier in the investigation, but police did not have enough evidence for an arrest, Minor said.
The fresh look by two detectives three months ago ended in a breakthrough. The case, like other long-standing open investigations, was looked at routinely over the years, he said.
Minor said he could not release details of the investigation. The Dittman case is the oldest open murder investigation in Binghamton.
Dittman's family could see some form of closure if the case is successfully prosecuted, Minor said.
"I think that they are pleased that an arrest has been made," Minor said.
Family members and friends described Dittman as a vivacious and loving mother of three before she fell on hard times and was unable to shake a drug habit that led her into prostitution.
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