ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A Pinellas County jury Thursday found a man guilty of first-degree murder in the 1987 killing of an 82-year-old woman in St. Petersburg. It’s a case that went unsolved for decades.

Family members of Opal Weil said after nearly 40 years, they’re grateful justice was finally served.

“Our family is forever indebted to the men and women who never let Opal’s murder go cold over the past 39 plus years,” read an attorney on the behalf of next of kin Tracy Crawford.

Prosecutors said Opal Weil was beaten and strangled inside her St. Petersburg residence in February 1987. According to the medical examiner, she was beaten and strangled, having four of her ribs and her collarbone fractured.

“Strangulation. Mr. Lapniewski put his hands, maybe pushed a belt, used something to suck the life out of Opal Weil,” said a prosecuting attorney.

Prosecutors said several of his hairs were found at the crime scene.

“It is not reasonable to believe that 60 odd hairs ended up at the scene of a homicide, a violent homicide, with a struggle being clear, by accident,” a prosecutor said.

The case went cold for nearly 40 years, until the Florida Department of Law Enforcement did additional testing on hairs found at Weil’s home, which led DNA analysis experts to this:

“At least 12 of the hairs at five different locations within the bedroom where the victim was murdered matched the DNA of the defendant,” said another prosecuting attorney.

After closing arguments wrapped, a Pinellas County jury deliberated for almost two hours and came back with a guilty verdict. Crawford had this statement read on her behalf to Lapniewski after the jury reached their verdict:

“In your last minutes, may you feel my great aunt’s fear, her pain, and as you draw your last breath, may you see her face and the face of any other woman or man you may have harmed or murdered.”

Lapniewski will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.