Jersey man, 62, charged in sex assault of woman found dead in 1990 behind Wildwood restaurant

By Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News

A 62-year-old man has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman found murdered behind a restaurant in Wildwood, N.J. in 1990, authorities said.

Jerry Rosado, linked to the crime through DNA, could face additional charges as investigators learn more, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office said.

Rosado was busted Friday and charged with sexually assaulting 20-year-old college student Susan Negersmith on Memorial Day weekend in May 1990.

Negersmith lived in Carmel, NY, in Putnam County, and was vacationing with friends when she was killed.

Her partially clothed body was found in a rear storage area behind a restaurant in Wildwood.

Negersmith’s death was initially ruled an accident, but her family challenged the classification and authorities reversed course three years later, stating the victim was raped, beaten and smothered.

Over the next three decades, authorities were unable to identify the source of the DNA recovered from the victim’s body, but in 2018 prosecutors turned to genetic genealogy and were able to identify Rosado.

“Countless law enforcement professionals and prosecutors have worked on resolving this case over the last thirty-two years and their collective dedicated effort, in conjunction with the improvements in DNA Technology and Genetic Genealogy Analysis, has led to this long-overdue arrest,” said Jeffrey Sutherland, the Cape May County prosecutor.

Rosado, who lives in Millville, about 40 miles north of Wildwood, was charged with second-degree assault.

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