Suspect list narrows in Emily Stuart murder case

After 14 years, investigators say they are making progress and appeal to public for help.

By: Jennifer Potash
   In the 14-year investigation of the murder of Emily Stuart, law enforcement officials announced progress Tuesday, including narrowing the list of suspects.
   An avid gardener known as Cissy, Mrs. Stuart was found stabbed to death April 4, 1989, in a cellar storage area of her Mercer Street home. Police believe she died two days earlier.
   Princeton Borough Police Chief Charles Davall and Mercer County Prosecutor Daniel G. Giaquinto released a joint statement Tuesday about the status of the investigation — including involvement of the FBI and the pending results of "groundbreaking" forensic tests.
   A discussion in mid-2002 among senior borough police officers generated a to-do list of unresolved matters in the department, including the Stuart murder, Chief Davall said.
   A task force comprising officers from the borough police department, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and the Major Crimes Division of the New Jersey State Police was formed to investigate the cold case. The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office also provided assistance, said Borough Police Captain Anthony Federico, who is leading the investigation on behalf of the borough.
   The long investigation has involved the offering of financial rewards, a psychic, a linguist and informal review by the Vidoq Society, a Philadelphia-based organization of top forensic specialists and others in law enforcement, which evaluates cold-case murders and unsolved suspicious deaths brought to it by the investigating agency.
   The murder was also the subject of a 1992 documentary aired on HBO by one of Mrs. Stuart’s sons.
   The fully clothed body of Mrs. Stuart, 74, who lived in a wealthy residential neighborhood near the Princeton Theological Seminary, was found face down in a locked basement storage room by her sister, Margaretta Cowenhoven, on the morning of April 4, 1989, according to police.
   Mrs. Stuart died from multiple stab wounds to her aorta, lungs, spinal cord and back chest cavity, according to law enforcement officials in 1989. Her body was found in the rear portion of the basement where police believe the attack occurred. There were no signs of forced entry and everything else in the house was also undisturbed, police said.
   One frustrating aspect of the case, according to borough investigators, was the lack of evidence. Capt. Federico said fingerprints and a footprint were found at the scene.
   Without revealing the specific forensic tests, the task force is awaiting results from that analysis, which "may assist in the possible identification of an offender in this case," according to the statement.
   Chief Davall said in January one impetus of the investigation was to conclusively rule in or out suspects to the crime.
   Now investigators "have eliminated several possible suspects" and are focusing on a "very small number" of people, according to the statement.
   With the initial investigation concluded, the task force is applying additional investigative techniques, such as witness statement analysis and crime reconstruction. The task force also consulted the FBI’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime for an assessment of what may have happened 14 years ago, according to the statement.
   Mr. Giaquinto and Chief Davall also made a new appeal yesterday to people they believe still have information about Mrs. Stuart or the investigation.
   "Even if you think that your information is unimportant, or that someone else may have already reported what you know, please contact the investigation’s tip line immediately," the statement said. "Your call may be the one that provides us with the final piece of information needed to solve this horrific case that resulted in the death of such an undeserving victim."
   Mrs. Stuart, 74, was one of the borough’s best-known citizens.
   Her husband co-founded the weekly Princeton newspaper "Town Topics, " which her son, Donald C. "Jeb" Stuart, edited and published before selling the publication in 2001.
   Mrs. Stuart, a grandmother, led an active life. She walked daily throughout the borough regardless of weather and took frequent trips.
   Beyond tending to her own garden and landscaping, Mrs. Stuart sometimes used a long-handled pruner to cut dead or dying limbs off the street trees lining Princeton sidewalks. She developed her own hybrid roses and named her daffodils "Mr. Einstein" after the eminent scientist who once lived on Mercer Street.
   Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at (609) 921-8108, or by mail at PO Box 390, Princeton, NJ 08542.