FAIRFAX, DELAWARE (11/9/2015) A homeless woman arrested in Georgia faces a murder charge in a 30-year-old slaying in Fairfax, the New Castle County police said today.
Sandra Marion Hartzag was charged by the police cold-case homicide squad in the beating death of Joseph Braun in his home in the 2200 block of Hearn Road.
On July 1, 1985, a neighbor called police after not seeing Braun for a few days. Officers found his body on the second floor.
He was 54 years old when he died.
Investigators reportedly located Hartzag, 50, in Georgia after being tipped off by her public Facebook profile.
Col. Elmer M. Setting, county police chief, released this account of the investigation:
Detectives learned Braun’s 1981 Honda Accord was missing from the home. The car was found a week later in the Kensington area of Philadelphia, and evidence collected from the car and Braun’s home helped detectives in later years.
In 1999, two men gave statements to investigators that they believed a relative had killed Braun. The relative had died in 1997, but details the men provided were consistent with the original report on the homicide taken in 1985. And the two men provided a new lead for police, saying the relative’s girlfriend, Sandra Hartzag, was present and involved in the murder.
Detectives made several attempts to locate Hartzag and were unable to link her to the crime in 1999.
Cold case Detective Sgt. Thomas Orzechowski and retired Sgt. Glenn Davis reopened the case in October.
Investigators learned Hartzag was arrested in Philadelphia in 2001, which helped them link her to Braun’s home and his vehicle, but they were unable to locate her.
As the investigation continued, detectives gathered information that led them to Dalton, Georgia.
Detectives from Dalton Police Department helped in the search for Hartzag, who was taken into custody on Wednesday. Orzechowski and Davis were able to obtain detailed information to further connect Hartzag to the murder, according to Settings’ statement.
Hartzag has been charged with murder during the commission of a felony, first-degree robbery, second-degree conspiracy and possession of a deadly weapon during commission of a felony.
Dalton police said Hartzag was located in a homeless camp. They charged Hartzag as a fugitive from justice. She is being held in the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office awaiting extradition to Delaware.