Robert Creter, the 60-year-old suspect in the 1997 murder of 23-year-old Tami Tignor, made his first appearance in the Somerset County Courthouse on Wednesday.

Creter, who authorities confirm was extradited from Canada recently, is charged with strangling Tignor, whose body was found in a wooded area in Bridgewater on Nov. 4, 1997.

Creter, 60, was in a yellow jumpsuit, handcuffed and used a walker to make his way into the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Angela Borkowski.

During this detention hearing, Borkowski revealed that Creter had been homeless for the last nine months before being taken into custody in Winnipeg, Canada. She also listed his prior convictions.

“He has 16 prior convictions from 1992 to 1999. For aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, terroristic threats, theft, unlawful possession of a weapon and resisting arrest.”

Judge Borkowski also ruled that "There is direct and circumstantial evidence to support probable cause."

Creter said very little, only acknowledging that he was waiving his right to contest detention and consented to being held.

Creter has been linked to the crime scene through DNA collected from the wooded area in Bridgewater where the remains of Tignor were found.

With the help of new technology at the New Jersey State Police lab, investigators were able to amplify the DNA evidence and make a connection with Creter who it turns out was living and working in Somerset County in the 1990s.

In addition to DNA, police revealed an eyewitness in 1997 said they saw Tignor in Newark, New Jersey getting into an orange van.

Investigators have since discovered that Creter was working for a company with orange vans.

Creter had also been working in the area of the eventual crime scene off of Gilbride Road in Bridgewater.

Tami Tignor is survived by her mother. She was not in the courtroom today.

Creter will be back in court in January.