CARBONDALE - A 25-year-old piece of evidence led police to an incarcerated Pennsylvania man, who was arrested and charged Thursday with the 1982 murder of Southern Illinois University Carbondale student Deborah Sheppard, officials said at a Friday press conference.

Timothy W. Krajcir, 62, of Allentown, Pa., has been charged with four counts of murder for his alleged involvement in the slaying of the 23-year-old marketing major from Olympia Fields, a village near Chicago. An Illinois Department of Corrections spokesman said Krajcir "admitted to the crime." On April 8, 1982, a friend found Sheppard's naked body lying on her bedroom floor, Carbondale Police Chief Bob Ledbetter said.

Because the case is pending, Jackson County State's Attorney Mike Wepsiec said he and police could not comment about evidence, adding that more information will come out at Krajcir's preliminary hearing, which is slated for Thursday. He would not comment on what piece of evidence led police to Krajcir, but did say advances in DNA technology were able to provide a male DNA profile that matched DNA from Sheppard's murder.

Sheppard's father, Bernie, said that while he has waited more than two decades for some form of justice, he's not satisfied with the possible prison sentence Krajcir could face. If found guilty, Jackson County State's Attorney Mike Wepsiec said Krajcir would be sentenced under statutes at the time of the murder, which carry a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 40 years with the possibility of a natural life sentence.

"I want to see a trial take place and I want to see a verdict come in and I want to see an execution take place," Bernie Sheppard said from his Olympia Fields home.

"I'd like to see him on a gurney with a lethal injection in his arm. It won't bring my daughter back. Nothing can change that, but there are far too many people spending their natural lives in prison enjoying themselves and spending taxpayers' money for committing horrendous crimes," he said.

The day after his daughter was murdered, Bernie Sheppard said he went to her ground-level apartment and saw her bedroom window screen leaning next to the building. He said police told him Krajcir peeped through windows of apartments in the area and may have seen that Deborah Sheppard was alone when she got out of the shower, providing an opportunity for him to strangle her.

"That, to me, is unforgivable," Bernie Sheppard said. "'A Time to Kill,' that movie encapsulates what I feel should be done."

Krajcir has been incarcerated in the Big Muddy Correctional Center in Ina since January 1988 and recently approached prison staff, implicating himself in the crime, said Derek Schnapp, Illinois Department of Corrections spokesman.

Carbondale Police Lt. Paul Echols said he and another officer went to the Ina facility last week to interview Krajcir after DNA testing had been completed. Officials would not comment on what Krajcir said during the interview.

Krajcir, who was a 37-year-old studying administration of justice and psychology in 1982, remains in IDOC's custody on a $1 million bond. He is scheduled to face his first court appearance Thursday afternoon at the Jackson County Courthouse in Murphysboro, Wepsiec said.

At the time of Sheppard's slaying, police said there was a suspect in the case, but no arrests were made. Krajcir was not an original suspect, Wepsiec added. He also said there was no relationship between Sheppard and Krajcir, other than a murderer and a victim.

Krajcir, who is listed as a "sexually dangerous person" on IDOC's Web site, was incarcerated at the Ina prison in Aug. 1979 after a Jackson County conviction. Schnapp said he was sentenced to an indeterminate term and Wepseic added that Krajcir served two years before a judge conditionally released him in 1981.

Wepsiec said Krajcir stayed in the Carbondale area for two years and in 1985, was again taken into custody.

Schnapp said an Illinois judge transferred Krajcir's conditional release sometime in 1982 to the Pennsylvania correctional system. When he violated his parole there, Schnapp said IDOC brought him back to Illinois in January 1988 to serve his indeterminate term.

Wepsiec charged Krajcir with four counts of murder, alleging he "strangled Deborah Sheppard with his hands, thereby causing the death of Deborah Sheppard." Another count states Krajcir strangled Sheppard "while committing a forcible felony rape."

Echols, who placed a framed photograph of Sheppard next to the podium in the Carbondale Civic Center where the press conference took place, said that while the arrest may be able to provide closure to Sheppard's family, they now have to relive the pain of losing their daughter once again.

bethany.krajelis@thesouthern.com / 351-5816