Sheriff’s Office arrests repeat offender and charges with murder
The Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office has announced that the Nov. 28 suspicious death in East Syracuse they have been investigating has been deemed a homicide, and a 58-year-old Syracuse man has been arrested and charged.
County Sheriff Eugene Conway held a press conference Wednesday morning in which the latest results in the investigation were announced.
According to police, the office has been conducting an investigation into the death of Rena Tindell, 61, of Syracuse, that occurred Tuesday morning, Nov. 28, in the parking lot of the Motel 6 in East Syracuse. Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched at approximately 1 a.m. Tuesday to the motel, located at 6577 Baptist Way, East Syracuse, for a status check of a woman discovered lying down in the parking lot. When deputies arrived, they located an adult female deceased in the parking lot from an apparent stab wound to the chest.
Detectives from the Sheriff’s Criminal Investigation Division were called to the scene to further assist with the investigation. Subsequent investigation revealed that the woman, later identified as Tindell, was the victim of a domestic incident. According to police, detectives quickly developed a suspect, who was identified as Keith Lobdell, 58, of Syracuse, who was last seen leaving the motel parking lot in Tindell’s black Toyota Corolla vehicle.
Deputies later located Tindell’s vehicle unoccupied in the area of South Ave and Belleview Ave in the City of Syracuse. Several hours later, detectives located Lobdell hiding out in an apartment located at 111 Smith St., Syracuse, where he was taken into custody without incident.
Lobdell was charged Tuesday night with murder in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and aggravated criminal contempt in the first degree. He was arraigned in the Town of DeWitt Court before Judge Gideon, who denied bail.
According to the sheriff’s office, Lobdell is no stranger to law enforcement, as he was charged by the New York State Police on May 12 relative to a domestic incident. Lobdell was accused of pushing Tindell to the ground causing her to fracture her arm. She was beaten throughout the night and sexually assaulted. Lobdell was charged and an order of protection was issued while he was incarcerated in the Justice Center.
On May 30, Tindell received a VINE notification that Lobdell was released from custody. The following day he returned to Tindell’s home where he committed another violent domestic.
At that time, Lobdell was charged by this agency with burglary in the second degree, assault in the second degree, strangulation in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and criminal contempt in the first degree, after he struck the victim in the head with a baseball bat, choked her with his hands and a seatbelt.
He had been incarcerated at the Justice Center up until Nov. 3 when his bail was posted in the amount of $200,000.
Since being released, Lobdell had been staying at the Motel 6. It is still unclear why Tindell responded to the Motel to meet with Lobdell, police said.
The investigation is ongoing.
