May 20th, 2025 - GUILTY PLEA FOR BRIDGEWATER TOWNSHIPCOLD CASE HOMICIDE

MAY 20, 2025

NEWS RELEASE

 GUILTY PLEA FOR BRIDGEWATER TOWNSHIP

COLD CASE HOMICIDE

SOMERVILLE, N.J. –  On May 19, 2025, Robert Creter pled guilty to the 1st degree Aggravated Manslaughter of Tamara “Tammy” Tignor on November 4, 1997. The plea in this 27-year-old cold case homicide was accepted by the Honorable Angela F. Borkowski, J.S.C., in Somerville, New Jersey.  Mr. Creter admitted during the plea allocution that on November 4, 1997, in the Township of Bridgewater, he manually strangled Ms. Tignor with his bare hands, causing her death.  In exchange for his plea of guilty, the State agreed to a 10-year New Jersey State Prison sentence for the 61-year-old defendant, with 85% of that sentence to be served without parole. Sentencing is set for July 11, 2025, at 11:00 a.m.

On Tuesday, November 4, 1997, at approximately 4:38 p.m., Bridgewater Township Police received a 9-1-1 call reporting the discovery of the body of a deceased female by a Bridgewater resident.  The deceased body was located on a dirt access road that ended in a cul-de-sac off Gilbride Road near Washington Valley Park.  Detectives from the Bridgewater Township Police Department and the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and Crime Scene Investigation Unit responded to investigate.  The victim was subsequently identified as Tamara “Tammy” Tignor, age 23, of Newark, New Jersey.

Over the years, the investigation into Tamara Tignor’s death was continued by detectives from the Bridgewater Township Police Department and the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Cold Case Unit and Major Crimes Unit but remained unsolved.

In January of 2023, detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit met with detectives from the New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit as part of their Garden State Cold Case Network and Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Grant to discuss the furtherance of this investigation.  It was determined that evidence collected in the investigation could be resubmitted for DNA testing, which may not have been possible in years past.  As a result, on April 6, 2023, during a search of CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), members of the New Jersey State Police Laboratory’s Office of Forensic Science were able to generate a high stringency match for Robert A. Creter based on the resubmitted evidence in this investigation. 

Further investigation into Robert Creter and the circumstances surrounding the death of Tamara Tignor was conducted by detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office and the New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit.  During the investigation, it was determined that Robert Creter had relocated to Winnipeg, Canada in 2002. 

On May 18, 2023, charges of 1st degree Murder for the death of Tamara Tignor were authorized for Robert A. Creter.  The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office worked with the U.S. Department of State to adhere to the legal process of serving Robert Creter with his criminal complaint in Canada.  On Thursday, June 27, 2024, Robert Creter was taken into custody by Canadian authorities based on his New Jersey arrest warrant for murder. On Tuesday, November 26, 2024, Robert Creter was extradited to the United States from Canada by members of the United States Marshals Service.