SOMERVILLE, N.J. — A 61-year-old man pled guilty Monday to aggravated manslaughter in the 1997 killing of Tamara “Tammy” Tignor, closing a 27-year-old cold case that remained unsolved until a DNA match identified him as the suspect.
Robert A. Creter admitted in Somerset County Superior Court that he manually strangled Tignor with his bare hands on November 4, 1997, in Bridgewater Township, causing her death. His guilty plea was accepted by Judge Angela F. Borkowski.
As part of the plea deal, Creter will receive a 10-year sentence in New Jersey State Prison, with 85 percent of the term to be served without the possibility of parole. Sentencing is scheduled for July 11 at 11 a.m.
Tamara Tignor, 23, of Newark, was found dead on a dirt access road off Gilbride Road near Washington Valley Park around 4:38 p.m. on November 4, 1997. Her body was discovered by a local resident, prompting an investigation by the Bridgewater Township Police and the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes and Crime Scene Investigation units.
Despite years of investigative efforts, the case remained cold until 2023, when advancements in DNA testing reignited the investigation.
DNA match leads to arrest in Canada
In January 2023, detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office and the New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit revisited the case through the Garden State Cold Case Network and Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Grant. Evidence from the crime scene was resubmitted for forensic testing, resulting in a high-stringency DNA match to Creter on April 6, 2023.
Investigators later discovered that Creter had moved to Winnipeg, Canada, in 2002. Murder charges were filed on May 18, 2023, and, after coordination with the U.S. Department of State, Canadian authorities arrested him on June 27, 2024. He was extradited to the U.S. on November 26, 2024, by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Creter’s plea marks the conclusion of a decades-long investigation spanning multiple jurisdictions and involving modern forensic advancements.
A cold case that spanned continents and decades has now ended with a guilty plea in a New Jersey courtroom.
