Unsolved: Who Killed a Former Binghamton High School Teacher?

It's been more than a half-century since a 25-year-old woman who had been a school teacher in Binghamton was bludgeoned to death in northern New York.

Irene Izak taught French at Binghamton North High School until she resigned in 1966 to teach in Rochester.

Izak was killed 57 years ago - in the early hours of June 10, 1968 in Jefferson County. Her body was found a short distance from Interstate 81 by a New York State trooper shortly after he had pulled the woman over for speeding.

Lisa Caputo was about four-and-a-half years old when her aunt was killed. Caputo, who lives in the Scranton area, told WNBF News she has vague but fond memories of her.

Caputo said Izak came to the United States from Ukraine with her parents when she was about six years old. She learned English and earned her teaching degree before going to Paris to continue her studies.

When she returned to the United States, she became a French teacher at Binghamton North.

Caputo said her aunt went through a toll booth near the Canadian border shortly after she had been given a warning by a state trooper who stopped her vehicle for speeding.

The same trooper said he spotted Izak's car with its lights still on a short time later at the side of a roadway. Her body was found in a ravine a short distance from where the vehicle was parked.

No one was ever charged in connection with the brutal death.

Caputo believes she knows who killed her aunt. But that person died in 2009 without being declared a suspect by the state police who investigated the case.

Shortly after Caputo was interviewed on WNBF Radio Tuesday, a woman who identified herself as Florence from Binghamton called the program to comment on the conversation.

Florence said she graduated from Binghamton North High School in June 1968. She said she "remembered very well" the story of Irene Izak's death that was reported earlier that month.

Florence said she never had Izak as a teacher but she recalled her from the school when she covered study halls. Florence said "she was a wonderful person" and a "beautiful lady."

LISTEN: Lisa Caputo, Irene Izak's niece, discussed the case and the lack of closure on WNBF Radio on June 10, 2025.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or call (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.