Michael Lapniewski was convicted in the killing of 82-year-old Opal Weil.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — A Pinellas County jury found Michael Lapniewski Jr. guilty Thursday in the 1987 killing of 82-year-old Opal Weil, closing a murder case that went unsolved for nearly four decades.
Lapniewski, 58, was sentenced to life in prison after his conviction on a first-degree murder charge. Prosecutors said DNA from hairs collected at Weil’s home linked him to the crime scene years after the original investigation stalled.
Weil was found dead Feb. 9, 1987, inside her home on 56th Avenue North in unincorporated St. Petersburg. Deputies said she had visible signs of trauma. Investigators later said someone entered through a removed windowpane, cut the phone line and fled before deputies arrived.
The case returned to court after cold case detectives reopened the file and sent old evidence for new testing. Investigators said hairs found at the scene produced a DNA profile that eventually led them to Lapniewski, who had lived about a half-mile from Weil at the time of the killing.
Family members had waited years for an arrest. Traci Crawford, Weil’s grandniece, told reporters after Lapniewski’s 2023 arrest that the news brought relief but also brought back memories of the killing. She described Weil as patient and kind.
Lapniewski had pleaded not guilty after he was extradited from Mississippi to Pinellas County. His trial focused on the old crime scene, the DNA testing and the path detectives used to identify him decades after Weil’s death.
The conviction leaves Lapniewski in state custody under a life sentence. The case stands as one of Pinellas County’s longest-running cold cases to reach a guilty verdict.
Author note: Last updated July 3, 2026.