COLD CASE

Some 21 years after the body of a woman was found dumped near the entrance to Tolland State Forest in Otis, Robert Honsch was convicted in Hampden Superior Court in Springfield Monday for killing his wife.

Honsch was found guilty of murdering his wife, Marcia Honsch, and is also charged with murdering his then-teenaged daughter, Elizabeth, whose body was found in New Britain, Conn., on Sept. 28, 1995, according to Massachusetts State Police and New Britain police. Both agencies jointly investigated the horrific case of domestic violence.

The bodies of mother and daughter were found about 40 miles apart in two states and no one came forward to identify them immediately, leaving the two victims to be identified as Jane Does until 2014 when a relative contacted law enforcement and provided their names, officials have said.

Now armed with the names of the women, police tracked Honsch to Dalton, Ohio where he was living a new life under the name of Robert Tyree. He was raising a second family there, authorities said. Honsch was arrested in 2014, and his trial started in the Springfield courthouse in May.

“After two decades, gave 2 women, for many years known only as Jane Does, their names back,’’ Massachusetts State Police wrote on their official Twitter account, giving equal credit to New Britain police for the renewed investigation. “They spoke for them.”

Honsch is in his early 70s.

from the boston globe