Riverhead Woman Arraigned, Pleads Not Guilty to 1993 Newborn Murder

Denise Reischman Merker, 56, was arrested Feb. 2 and arraigned Feb. 3 in Riverhead Town Justice Court on a grand-jury indictment charging second-degree murder in the death of a newborn found along Route 25 in Calverton on Sept. 27, 1993. At the Feb. 3 appearance Merker pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail; defense attorney Danielle Coysh entered the plea on her behalf and Merker was remanded to the Suffolk County jail.

Prosecutors say modern DNA analysis and genetic genealogy drove the breakthrough in a case investigators had classified as cold for almost 33 years. Detectives from the Suffolk County Police Department cold case task force and staff from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office reexamined degraded evidence, developed a usable DNA profile, and traced relatives through genealogical leads that identified the child and the child’s father and ultimately produced leads pointing to Merker.

Investigators obtained a search warrant Jan. 30, 2026 to seize a buccal swab and Merker’s cellular telephone. Detectives approached Merker at a Riverhead gas station on Feb. 2 and she voluntarily agreed to continue an interview at the SCPD homicide office. She was given and waived Miranda warnings before the interview continued, according to court filings and the charging complaint.

The criminal complaint and a recorded interview figure prominently in prosecutors’ case. In that recorded interview — as referenced in the charging documents and detective statements — Merker is reported to have said, “I did it. I did everything. I put the paper towel in the baby’s mouth because she was crying.” Suffolk Homicide Squad Det. Michael Repperger is named in the charging documents as the detective who conducted the interview.

The infant, referred to in case filings as “Baby Jane Doe,” was discovered about 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 27, 1993 on the westbound shoulder of Middle Country Road (Route 25) near the Wading River–Manorville Road intersection in Calverton. Archival case details show DOT employees found the newborn inside a garbage bag with paper towels in her mouth and an attached umbilical cord; the infant’s weight was recorded as 7 pounds, 4 ounces. No one came forward to claim the baby at the time.

Prosecutors allege Merker was known as Denise Reischman in 1993 and was 22 years old at the time. Investigators say the baby’s father was identified during the genealogical probe; he told detectives he worked with “Denise” at Grimaldi’s Meat Market in Riverhead and has been cooperating with authorities. His name has been withheld to protect his privacy.

Merker’s initial Town Justice Court arraignment is complete; Newsday reports she is scheduled for arraignment on the grand-jury indictment in Suffolk County Court on March 2, 2026. Prosecutors have said the recorded interview and the criminal complaint are central to their case but have not publicly detailed every piece of forensic evidence linking Merker to the 1993 scene.