NORWICH – Stephen Dale Pierce, 58, of Plymouth, was released yesterday from prison – on parole – back into the Norwich area. Convicted in Chenango County Court of murder and first-degree manslaughter in relation to the death of a 16-year-old girl in 1975 – there were no degrees of murder in the New York States laws at the time – Pierce was sentenced to 25 years to life and has been incarcerated in a New York State Prison ever since.

It had been alleged that in June of 1974, the then 19-year-old Pierce offered a ride to Wendy Cooper, 16, who was on her way to her Plymouth Street home.

Following a three month long missing persons investigation, conducted by the Norwich Police Department, Cooper’s unclothed and badly decomposed body was discovered near a shale pit in the Town of Plymouth a few miles outside of Norwich.