SOMERVILLE, N.J. (Somerset County) — A 60-year-old man pleaded guilty Monday to the 1997 killing of Tamara “Tammy” Tignor in a decades-old Somerset County cold case, authorities announced.
Robert A. Creter of Winnipeg, Canada admitted to the first-degree aggravated manslaughter of Tignor during a hearing before Superior Court Judge Angela F. Borkowski in Somerville. Creter acknowledged that he manually strangled the 23-year-old Newark woman with his bare hands on Nov. 4, 1997, in Bridgewater Township.
In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to a 10-year New Jersey State Prison sentence, with 85% to be served without parole eligibility. Sentencing is scheduled for July 11.
Tignor’s body was discovered that day at around 4:38 p.m. on a dirt access road near Gilbride Road and Washington Valley Park. Bridgewater police and Somerset County prosecutors responded to the scene and later identified the victim.
Despite years of investigation, the case remained unsolved until 2023, when detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office partnered with the New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit under the Garden State Cold Case Network and Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI). Advancements in DNA testing led to the resubmission of forensic evidence, which produced a high-stringency match for Creter through CODIS, the national DNA database, on April 6, 2023.
Investigators later discovered that Creter had moved to Winnipeg, Canada, in 2002. After charges of first-degree murder were filed in May 2023, Creter was taken into custody by Canadian authorities on June 27. He was extradited to the U.S. on Nov. 26, 2024, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service and Department of State.
The plea marks a significant development in a case that remained open for more than 25 years.
