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Man Held In Georgia Charged In '87 Slaying Of Woman In St. Pete

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 18, 2008

Updated: 12/18/2008 02:25 pm

Lisa Bickford

Tony Fantauzzi

ST. PETERSBURG - Witnesses saw Tony Fantauzzi at a bar with Lisa Bickford, investigators say.

They saw him at All Children's Hospital with Bickford later that night, after she broke her wrist in a confrontation with a biker at a convenience store.

And they saw him walk off with her alone, presumably to escort her at least part of the way to her sister's house, detectives say.

Fantauzzi, they say, was the prime suspect almost immediately after Bickford's body turned up -- naked below the waist – the next morning, on Feb. 27, 1987, about 100 feet from where her pants, underpants and boots were found.

The trouble was evidence.

Detectives today said they got what they needed after they submitted semen extracted from Bickford to a laboratory that matched it with Fantauzzi's DNA. He was arrested Wednesday in Georgia, where he is being held on a charge of first-degree murder in the 19-year-old's death.

"I was in shock," said Bickford's sister, Laura, an insurance company worker who was told of Fantauzzi's arrest Wednesday. "I stood up and yelled, 'They got him,' and busted out crying."

Laura Bickford wants Fantauzzi, now 48, to be sentenced to death. Lisa Bickford was strangled.

"I want him to pay the same way she did," she said.

Fantauzzi's arrest marks the 10th to 12th time the St. Petersburg Police Department has taken advantage of ever-improving DNA technology and submitted or resubmitted physical evidence culled during old homicide investigations.

In some cases, such as Fantauzzi's, the DNA match has resulted in an arrest. In others, the suspect has already died, said Lt. Mike Kovacsev.

Back in 1989, investigators plucked hair from Fantauzzi and got a saliva swab from him, Kovacsev said, even though technology at the time wasn't advanced enough to compare the DNA from the samples with the DNA in the semen found in Bickford.

A few years ago, the department started taking physical specimens culled during unsolved homicide cases and submitting them to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for comparison analysis, Kovacsev said.

Last year, analysts confirmed a match.

Last summer, Fantauzzi was transported to Hillsborough County from Newton County, Ga., ostensibly on old Hillsborough charges that he violated his probation on property-related convictions. But, as the result of some miscommunication, he pleaded to the charges – and was released – before Pinellas authorities could issue a first-degree murder warrant, Kovacsev said.

On Wednesday, the sheriff's department in Newton County conducted a sweep looking for suspects wanted on outstanding warrants, Kovacsev said. A sergeant who had been working with the St. Petersburg Police Department on Fantauzzi's case recognized him when deputies went looking through a house for a different suspect and arrested Fantauzzi.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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