Cold Case homicide from 1992 in phoenix.

[gabe cobb]

On november 8th 1992 at aprx 7pm,Angela Brosso went out for a bike ride through cactus park.In june of 1992 she had come to phoenix after completing her studies at devry los angeles and moved in to woodstone apartments with her boyfriend.She was employed at a local electronics bisuness and was a day away from celebrating her 22nd birthday.The following mourning she was discovered in the park south of cactus road and 25th avenue,just a few hundred yards east of her apartment off the blacktop bike trail dead.She was beheaded,sexualy assulted and disemboweld.On november 20th her head was found floating in the arizona canal just west of interstate 17 near metrocenter mall by a fisherman.Just 10 months later on september 22st 1993,Melanie Bernas was found floating in the canal just east of were Brossos head was discovered.Bernas,just 17yo,was a high school junior who attended arcadia high.When her mother came home at 10pm the night of the 21st she discovered her daughter wasnt home and reported her missing the next mourning at 2 am.At 10 am she was discovered by a jogger who noteced blood on the canal path.DNA eveidence later connected these horrible killings and to this day they remain unsolved.Bernas,while not beheaded,had stab wounds on her chest similar to Brossos and both their bikes were missing.Brossos boyfriend attended devry university in the area and around the same time both murders happened.He now lives in gilbert arizona and has never had a DNA sample taken and wasnt considered a suspect despite the fact that fellow tenants in Brossos apartment as well as her friends reported that the boyfriend,Joseph Krakowiecki and Brosso were having problems at the time of her murder.Also interesting was a couple who lived in woodstone apartments reported in an arizona republic news article in the days after Angelas murder that he saw her leaving the apartment that night and noticed she was"scared and looking around and seemed paranoid".It should also be noted that Brosso left the apartment at 7pm that night and was reported missing at 11:30pm by the boyfriend.That would have given him a 4 and a half hour window of time to commit the vile act and dispose of the evidence.I am in disbelief that this man wasnt considered a suspect in this case when all the evidence points to him doing it.Does anybody else know about this case?Angela and Melanies families need justice,its been almost 2 long decades now and its time for their suffering to end.If you have any info at all please contact phoenix police.

[Maureen Reintjes-Peace4 Admin]

I lived in Scottsdale for a couple years but this was after this murder.  Woodstone Apartments sound familiar....do you know what street they were on?  I can remember when I was looking for some place to live going through one apartment complex and well it basically creeped me out....kind of curious if it is the same place. 

[gabe cobb]

Woodstone apartements,also known as villas at cave creek,are located at cactus road and I-17.The park were brossos headless body was found wasnt cave creek park,it was a small park south of there at 25 avenue and cactus just eastof the apartements.I went to that park the other day and right on cactus road there is a sign on a pole from the phoenix police departement were they describe brossos and bernas bicycles.Brossos head was found 2 miles south in the arizona canal by some hillbilly fisherman west of I 17,melanies body was found,she wasnt beheaded but suffered simmilar stab wounds as brosso eastof I-17 in the canal.I found all this info out by going down to the main branch library and looking at the micro fiche.In my spare time I look into missing person and cold cases and studie them and pass out flyers.These murders were especialy brutal as the killer was trying to imiate buffalo bill from the film silence of the lambs.

[Maureen Reintjes-Peace4 Admin]

Okay, I think the apartments I was thinking of were on N. Tatum not real far from PV Mall.

Have you sat down and discussed this case with law enforcement? 

[gabe cobb]

No I havent.This is a cold case and because they are so busy because phoenix and the valley are so spread out and we have so much crime I just dont think they have revited this case in years.The way brosso was killed suggested this was personal,bernas killing seemed like it was a way for the killer relive the expirience.Just a half mile from were the body of bernas was found and were brossos head was found in that canal is the school that the boyfriend was attending at the same time as both killings.

[Maureen Reintjes-Peace4 Admin]

Something as horrible as these murders sound I kind of would think that LE would revisit those case files at scheduled intervals.  With all your hard work looking into these cases I think it's worth a shot to try and talk to the detective on the case.  the worse that can happen is you are denied.

[Lydia Salerno]

I dont know much about the murder itself, but I was very young when this happened and it was so gruesome I still remember it happening, and the apartments which it happened at. I worked at Woodstone for a few months and it felt kind of eerie. Good luck, I hope that something comes up and is found.

[gabe cobb]

Did you meet anybody who new brosso or her boyfriend joseph krakowiecki?

[gabe cobb]

Is there anything anybody else wants to add?

[Chris P]

I went to school with Angie.  She was a pretty girl that was always smiling and she most certainly did not deserve this.  I was shocked when I heard it had happened and as you can see 20 years later I still search online for any new information on her case.  The fact that they have never found the person that did this to her or the other girl is just horrible.  Someone had to have seen or heard something. As for the boyfriend don't know him, never met him but I would sure hope that the police checked his DNA against the sample they have from the person that commited the crime.  I was at her funeral here in Pennsylvania knowing that they had just found her head in Arizona.  That is a horrible feeling to know that someone you knew was in 2 seperate states at the same time. Here in PA they never gave the details we just knew she had been found naked and with her head missing.  I only learned the other horrible things done to her today reading this article. It has been 20 years this animal has run free and he needs to be caught and to pay for what he did.