WILTON -- Nearly three years after teenager Nicholas Parisot was killed while riding his motorized bike on a wooded trail near Hickory Hill and Hillbrook roads, the homicide investigation continues, according to Lt. Donald Wakeman of the Wilton Police Department.
On June 13, 2008, Parisot struck a rope tied to trees across the trail, causing traumatic injuries to his neck and body that killed the teenager -- 15 days shy of his 14th birthday.
Because of the nature of the incident -- friends then and now say Parisot knew those trails better than most people know their backyards -- the case was treated as a homicide.
So far, the investigation has yielded a suspect, according to police, but not an arrest.
"There are no new leads or breaks, and nothing new to report at this time," Wakeman said Wednesday. "The case is still open. We're still talking to the same people, we're still in contact with the Parisot family, we're still in contact with the prosecutor's office. We're still trying to further develop certain pieces of information and hope to develop those into an arrest warrant application, and ultimately get approval for our arrest warrant application."
Wakeman said his department's focus in the case remains constant. He also said the prosecutor's office is willing to review any and all new evidence Wilton detectives can muster.
"We haven't been formally denied for the arrest warrant," Wakeman said. "The application was reviewed by the prosecutor's office, and they are asking for further information. We were never formally denied. Our suspect remains the same, and we're actively seeking more information on that suspect. At this point, we have one suspect we're seeking an arrest warrant for."
A lack of cooperation from a minority of people close to the case has prevented police from getting all the information they need, Wakeman said.
"I can't comment specifically on any families," Wakeman said. "The vast majority of the families involved have been extremely helpful, but not every person has been helpful. It's their right not to talk. People don't need to answer our questions. More than one person involved with this case has done that, unfortunately."
Parisot's mother, Kate Throckmorton, agrees with Wakeman's assessment.
"This crime remains unsolved because the authorities have not gotten full cooperation from at least two families in Wilton," Throckmorton wrote in a letter to the editor. "The state's attorney's office needs one family in particular to provide additional cooperation, but they refuse. We know who they are and where they live."
Throckmorton said those involved, now underage, will not be protected forever.
"The authorities have assured us that this case will not fade away or go cold," Throckmorton wrote. "Criminal homicides do not expire. The on-going secrecy surrounding this case will continue to haunt our family, our friends and our community until the truth is extricated, as it eventually will be. The people of interest in this investigation remain minors and are currently allowed extra protection under the law. That will not always be the case."
Like most people that have followed this case, Wakeman has a difficult time believing that no arrest has been made this long after such a heinous crime was committed.
"Obviously we're frustrated at a law-enforcement level, and we're frustrated for the Parisot family," Wakeman said. "I don't think anyone anticipated this case would still be open at the three-year mark. We remain confident we will obtain the information needed to obtain the arrest warrant."
In 2009, Parisot's parents, Wilton residents Rick Parisot and Throckmorton, of 274 Nod Hill Road, filed a civil suit against Glenn and Barbara Knight, formerly of Wilton, and their son, a minor, claiming the "willful and malicious conduct" of the minor caused the death of Nicholas Parisot.
The civil suit, which seeks more than $15,000 in damages, alleges the Knight's son "strung a rope across a trail in the area of the woods to the rear of his family's property." The court document claims the pre-teen "tied the rope to two trees on each side of the trail to create a sudden and unavoidable blockage of the trail, creating a dangerous condition on the trail that he knew was likely to cause physical injury to persons riding motorized bikes on the trail."
Last January, the Knights responded to the allegations, by way of special defense, stating "injuries or damages were proximately caused by the negligence of the plaintiffs decedent Nicholas R. Parisot at said time and place he failed to keep a proper lookout." The court documents also claim Parisot "failed to keep his motorized bike under reasonable and proper control, he was operating his motorized bike at an excessive or unreasonable rate of speed for the conditions and he failed to exercise reasonable for his own safety under all the circumstances then and there existing."
The civil suit is still pending in Stamford Superior Court.
According to the Town of Wilton, Glenn and Barbara Knight sold their home at 97 Hickory Hill Road on March 2, 2010, for $1,030,000 and moved to Placentia, Calif.
