Man connected to cold case in hot seat

CLARENCE, N.Y. (WIVB) - Antoine Garner first made headlines after a woman was found dead in a Buffalo garbage can.

Investigators and medical examiners could never prove that Amanda Wienckowski's death wasn't accidental, but the last known person to see her alive is in new trouble. As he walked into court last year, Garner made a lude gesture. Thursday morning, he was indicted on felony charges relating to a robbery in Clarence last July.

Erie County DA Frank Sedita said, "He allegedly held the homeowner at gunpoint while being assisted by others and they took, between cash and goods, $75,000."

Garner has been jail for the past year on charges of assault and strangulation of a Buffalo woman also last year.

But he has never been charged in connection with the high profile death of Amanda Wienckowski, who disappeared almost four years ago for a month before her body turned up in a garbage can across from Garner's home in Buffalo.

Three years ago he told News 4 that Wienckowski was at his house the night she disappeared, but he had nothing to do with her death or disposing of her body

"I'm sorry about your loss, but I never hurt your daughter," Garner said.

MORE | See our full, 27-minute interview with Garner

Six months after that interview he sat in front of his home during a Wienckowski family vigil across the street with a cardboard sign reading "Antoine Garner is innocent."

Wienckowski's mom, Leslie Brill, said, "Antoine Garner is not innocent. This is a bad man, that's what I think, and I think the writing's on the wall."

Garner now faces a maximum of 25 years if convicted in one case, 25 years in another and seven years a third case.

"If you commit crimes, especially felonies, and we can prove you commit crimes, your case is going to get prosecuted in this county whether your name is Antoine Garner or Antoine Smith," Sedita said.

One of the cases Garner is awaiting trial for is statutory rape. Prosecutors say he impregnated a 16-year-old girl in the same month that Wienckowski disappeared.