Photo credit – Suffolk County District Attorney
It took twenty-one years, a retired detective who wouldn’t let it go, and the latest forensic technology. Still, Justice has finally caught up with the man authorities say brutally murdered an 88-year-old widow in her own home.
Raul Ayala, now 51, has been indicted for the 2003 killing of Edna “Timmie” Schubert, a beloved North Bay Shore resident who was viciously beaten to death in what police describe as a senseless act of violence.
The break in the case came after a retired detective refused to let Schubert’s murder fade into history, pushing for a new look at old evidence. That persistence, combined with modern DNA analysis, led authorities straight to Ayala—who, at the time of the murder, lived just 200 yards from Schubert’s home.
“This indictment proves that justice has no expiration date,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney (R). “Thanks to the relentless dedication of our retired and active law enforcement officers, along with advances in forensic technology, we were able to charge this defendant for a crime that has haunted Suffolk County for over two decades.”
On December 12, 2003, Schubert’s worried neighbors went to check on her after noticing something wasn’t right. One of her windows was shattered, and her front door was ajar.
What they found inside was horrific.
Schubert, who had lived alone since her husband passed, had been beaten to death in her bedroom. There was no doubt it was a targeted attack. Still, despite extensive efforts from the Suffolk County Police Department, the case eventually went cold.
For years, Schubert’s friends and neighbors were left with more questions than answers. Who could do this to a kind, elderly woman? Why had she been targeted? Would her killer ever be found?
While many had moved on, retired Suffolk County Detective Pasquale Albergo never stopped thinking about the case.
In 2023, two decades after the crime, Albergo made a call that changed everything. He contacted the Suffolk County Homicide Section and asked a simple question:
“Can we take another look at the evidence?”
That was all it took to reignite the investigation.
Homicide Detective Brendan O’Hara took over the case, teaming up with retired fingerprint expert Timothy Kelly. Together, they re-examined fingerprints taken from the crime scene—prints that had gone unlinked for years.
This time, they found their match: Raul Ayala, then a neighbor who lived around the corner from Schubert.
Now that Ayala was on their radar, detectives went even further.
Investigators revisited previously untested blood evidence found on Schubert’s pantyhose and white long-sleeved shirt. The advanced DNA testing revealed something new—a mixture of Schubert’s blood and DNA from an unknown male. D.A. Tierney shared that Schubert’s cause of death was “blunt force trauma,” but not after “extensive facial fractures, as well fractures to her sternum, ribs, thyroid bone, and thyroid cartilage.”
Police had a strong suspicion of who that unknown male was.
With Ayala, in their sights, authorities began digging into his past. They discovered that after Schubert’s murder, Ayala had left Long Island and moved to Talmo, Georgia.
In August 2024, members of the Suffolk County Police Department traveled to Georgia to track Ayala and collect fresh DNA evidence—without tipping him off.
It didn’t take long.
Detectives watched as Ayala casually tossed out a few items, scratch-off tickets, and plastic bottles. That trash, which meant nothing to him, was about to seal his fate.
The discarded items were rushed back to New York for forensic analysis. And when the results came in, there was no doubt—the DNA from one of the bottles matched the DNA found on Schubert’s clothing.
With irrefutable evidence in hand, police moved in on Ayala.
On January 16, 2025, Ayala was arrested in Georgia with help from local law enforcement. After two decades of living free, he was taken into custody and extradited back to Suffolk County.
On February 7, 2025, Ayala stood before Acting Supreme Court Justice Richard I. Horowitz for his arraignment. He has been charged with Murder in the First Degree (a Class A felony) and two counts of Murder in the Second Degree (both Class A felonies).
Given the heinous nature of the crime, Judge Horowitz denied bail, ensuring that Ayala remains behind bars as he awaits trial.
If convicted, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina made it clear—this case sends a message.
“Let this case serve as evidence that no matter how much time passes, we will never stop working for victims,” Catalina said. “Decades after Edna Schubert was senselessly murdered, her perpetrator was finally identified and arrested due to the unrelenting efforts of Homicide Squad detectives.”
Schubert’s friends, neighbors, and the entire North Bay Shore community can now find some closure, knowing that the man accused of killing her will finally answer for his crime.
And as for those who think time will let them get away with murder?
This case proves otherwise. Justice doesn’t forget.
