Guilty Plea Expected in Trautwein Murder

STAMFORD -- A former New Haven mechanic whose conviction for murdering North Stamford resident Joanne Trautwein in 2005 was overturned by the state Supreme Court a little over a year ago is expected to plead guilty to the murder. 

Harry Gonzalez, 45, who is now serving a 25-year sentence for killing his New Haven roommate, is to appear at state Superior Court in Stamford Friday morning. His attorney, Francis O'Reilly, said if the plea agreement goes forward as planned, Gonzalez will plead guilty to murder in the Trautwein case.

In 2007, Gonzalez was convicted of felony murder, robbery and kidnapping in the case involving the 75-year-old former Greenwich school teacher and sentenced to 80 years in prison.

While Gonzalez' girlfriend, Jennifer Kos, testified he killed Trautwein while she subdued the woman's roommate, the case was overturned in August 2011 on the grounds that police took statements from Gonzalez before he was read his Miranda rights and after he asked for an attorney.

The statements -- about him appearing at Trautwein's Rockrimmon Road home looking for work the day of the murder -- survived a hearing to have them suppressed at trial and were presented to the jury, which may have led to his conviction.

O'Reilly said he did not want to publicly discuss before Friday's hearing the specifics of what prosecutors are offering in return for a guilty plea.

"Ever since the case was overturned by the Supreme Court and ordered back for trial, we have been involved in lengthy negotiations between ourselves and the state and we have come to an agreement that is satisfactory to my client," he said.

O'Reilly said the sentence will be quite a bit shorter than the 80-year sentence given by Judge John Kavanewsky.

"While it is a very substantial period of incarceration, it is significantly lower than was initially imposed upon him by Judge Kavanewsky," he said.


Senior Assistant State's Attorney Maureen Ornowsky, who tried at the Stamford courthouse, would only say that Gonzalez is to come to court Friday to determine if the case can be resolved or go to trial again.

Greenwich Murderer's Release Troubles Family

Greenwich Time- A man who murdered a former friend's father because he believed the father and son were conspiring against him is back in prison after recently spending 10 days in a halfway house in Bridgeport.

In one of the most shocking killings in town history, former backcountry resident Andrew D. Wilson, now 51, gunned down John Peters on Aug. 5, 1993, while Peters was swimming laps in the pool behind his Ridgeview Avenue home. The 62-year-old Peters was the president of one of the world's largest advertising firms.


Wilson's release to a halfway house in Bridgeport on June 12 alarmed Peters' relatives, who said they were not aware of Wilson's release until after it occurred.
"We were shocked, we were shocked and concerned," a family spokesman said. "We were really relieved that they put him back in prison."
The family member spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for the family's safety.

It is unclear what events led Wilson, who is scheduled to be released from prison in 2014, to be sent to a halfway house, a facility intended to allow convicts to begin the process of reintegrating into society.


In an emailed family statement, relatives expressed their fear of what Wilson, who pleaded guilty to the crime in 1999, might do.

"We are very concerned that Wilson may continue to pose a threat to us and possibly others," the email read. "Before and during the trial, we heard Wilson openly state his intent to kill other members of our family. Wilson was diagnosed as suffering from delusional paranoid schizophrenia, an illness that doesn't just simply go away. We want to know who is going to make the judgment that he is no longer a threat to us or others."


The spokesman said the family was told by experts before the murder that Wilson would not act on his beliefs. They want to ensure another mistake isn't made, the statement said.


Andrius Banevicius, a state Department of Correction spokesman, said Wilson was released to the halfway house on June 12, but was returned to the Bridgeport Correctional Center on June 22. Four days later, he was returned to the Enfield Correctional Institution, where he is serving a 30-year sentence.


"He was returned without prejudice, so he didn't do anything wrong," Banevicius said. "Apparently there had been additional paperwork that had not been properly routed that needed to be reviewed."


Banevicius said he could not identify the paperwork in question.


Attempts to reach the Wilson family were unsuccessful.

After fatal shooting John Peters in 1993, Wilson immediately drove to Greenwich police headquarters and confessed to the killing, of which police were not yet aware.


Wilson, a former friend of Peters' son, Dirk, who served as an usher at the son's wedding, claimed Dirk had brainwashed him and blamed the family for his problems.


His mental condition so alarmed his sister, Julia, that she faxed a 14-page letter to the police departments in Madison, where Wilson was living at the time, and Greenwich on July 19, 1993.

In the letter, Julia Wilson wrote that her brother was dangerous to himself and others and that he had made specific, violent threats against Dirk and John Peters.


In 1995, two years after the killing, Wilson was convicted of murder and sentenced to 60 years in prison. A jury rejected his defense of not guilty by reason of insanity.


Two years later, the state's Supreme Court reversed Wilson's conviction and ordered a retrial because a judge improperly instructed jurors on the definition of insanity.
In October 1999, shortly before he was to go to trial a second time, Wilson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Even though he has a 30-year sentence, Wilson will be released no later than March 2014.


Banevicius said under guidelines in place in 1993, prisoners were credited for good behavior.

Wilson could possibly be released even earlier, he said.


On March 16, 2004, the Town of Greenwich agreed to pay $4.5 million to Peters' widow Katrina Peters to settle her claim against the town for negligence in her husband's death.


The agreement came just hours before jurors were to begin deliberating in her lawsuit, which had gone to trial the month before.

Cult Murder of Baby Still Unsolved

NBC- Twenty-six years after a mysterious murder of an unnamed child, Fairfield police may be closed to finding the killer



A baby bundled in bloody white blankets, just hours old, was found by the banks of Lake Mohegan in Fairfield March 14, 1986. The boy was strangled and abandoned, and left for passerby to find. Surrounding Baby Doe were signs of a sinister motive.

Fruit and coins littered the crime scene. Police believed those clues pointed to the Occult. Specifically, a little-known religion called Palo Mayombe, known to ritually use human remains. Researchers involved with the case say Palo Mayombe is a dark offshoot of the Santeria religion. Santeria is a mix of Afro-Caribbean and Catholic faiths.





“The weather was just like this. Cold, rainy,” said Fairfield Police Det. Kerry Dalling. .





The questions remain unanswered: Who killed Baby Doe? And how come no one has ever claimed him?



“It was a baby. It was an innocent child and what was done to him was horrific,” said Dalling.



The killers inflicted terrible wounds on the infant, including facial mutilation and breaking the baby's jaw. Police believe they wanted the child to be found.

 "Were they trying to send a message? Yes,” said forensic expert Richard Walter. Walter is a founding member of the Vidocq Society, a group of cold case experts sought after by law enforcement around the country to help crack unsolved cases.
 DNA evidence uncovered in the last two years has breathed new life into the case.

"The murder is not over when the body dies. The murder is over when the perp stops deriving satisfaction from the killing, Walter said. "As a consequence the people unwittingly continue to give evidence, and that's a huge advantage to the investigation if they know how to read them. That’s one of my skills,” he said.



New forensic evidence has narrowed the pool of suspects. Detectives have a DNA profile of the baby. With help from the Vidocq Society, old information has led to fresh leads. While they are careful of what they reveal, investigators are confident they have the killers in their sights.



"We're coming. And we have every intention of solving this case,” said Dalling.



They have a message for the murderers.



"Somebody is going to be knocking on your door,” warned Walter.


Police believe someone in the community knows something about the murder.


“Somebody's got to be the voice for that child,” she said.

(The former bank processing center that once stood where Sym's is now. Police think that a baby found dead at Lake Mohegan in 1986 may have been born in a bathroom stall there.)


Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Fairfield Police at 203-254-4840.

R.I,P. Jimmy

The night before last an employee of Uncle Buck's Laundromat on Stillwater Avenue in Stamford was murdered.  My fiancee Joey lived on Stillwater last year. I was over his house all the time, and we did laundry together all the time at Uncle Buck's. I encountered the man that they had killed on a few occasions.  He was very lively and passionate, and I could tell he revolved his whole life around his job.  It is so incredibly disgusting to me that someone could murder him, without even knowing him at all, just for whatever few bucks they thought they could profit.  It's a disgrace.  Evil. Disgusting.  Just don't know what else to say.  It boggles the brain.



I wish that the video cameras were working that night, that they could really tell what had happened.  But it seems they weren't, and I hope that the real truth can come out somehow.


PEOPLE: SPEAK OUT!!!

Police: Cameras in Stamford laundromat were not operational during overnight homicide


STAMFORD -- Surveillance cameras at a Stillwater Avenue laundromat where a 50-year-old Stamford man was beaten to death during an apparent robbery were not operational, said police.

Stamford Police Lt. Diedrich Hohn said police have been investigating the death of James "Jimmy" Decrescenzo, of 26 Main St., who police believed died of blunt force trauma. Hohn said that even though the laundromat's cameras were not working, the investigation was not held up.



"We have now found out that the video cameras at Uncle Buck's laundromat were not working, which is unfortunate," said Hohn. "But police are now looking at hours of footage from surveillance cameras of businesses around the area to see if they can see the comings and goings around the area from the hours of 11 p.m. to 1:20 a.m."

The victim's body was discovered at about 1:20 a.m. Tuesday inside Uncle Buck's Laundromat, 118 Stillwater Ave. Hohn said the attack occurred sometime between 11 p.m. and the time that the body was discovered,. Hohn said the laundromat closes at 11 p.m. The instrument used in the assault is unknown.

Hohn said the official cause of death will be determined after an autopsy, which was expected to be completed Wednesday. Messages left with the state Medical Examiner's Office on Wednesday were not returned.

"I don't expect anything crazy to come out of the autopsy," said Hohn. "This was a cold-blooded homicide and police are doing everything they can to find the person responsible."

Police do not yet have a suspect or suspects in the homicide. Initial investigation shows evidence of a robbery of the victim and at the business, according to police.


A friend of Decrescenzo's, who preferred to go by just her first name, Joy, said the entire community was shocked by his death.

Decrescenzo had a side business washing other people's laundry at the laundromat, and knew almost everyone in the neighborhood, she said.

"Jimmy was such a kind--hearted person," Joy said Wednesday. "He was so helpful. If you had to do something, he would do your laundry for you. Jimmy was just that kind of guy. He was very well loved in the community."

An employee at Uncle Buck's Laundromat -- which reopened Wednesday after being closed all day Tuesday -- said she is going to miss Decrescenzo very much.

"I saw him every day," said the woman, who preferred to stay anonymous. "He was a good man."

A neighborhood man who was friends with Decrescenzo said he doesn't know anyone who didn't like "Jimmy."

"I can't say one bad thing about Jimmy," said the man, who also preferred to stay anonymous. "He was such a great person. I don't know why this happened."

Hohn echoed the community members' statements, saying it is apparent Decrescenzo was very well liked in the community, and police are now looking for any information from his neighbors or friends that can help the investigation.


"Police have been out canvassing the area, trying to see if anyone has any information on this homicide," said Hohn. "Hopefully someone will come forward with some information, but until then, we will continue to investigate with the information we have."

Decrescenzo's death was the city's third homicide of the year.

Police are asking anyone with information on the homicide to call (203) 977-441

Eyewitess News Channel 7 Tonight at 6PM!

Just a little while ago Joe and I grabbed lunch down in Shippan (Stamford) and drove down Shippan Avenue all the way to the end, near the pier, to eat.  I didn't even realize there would be news vans own there, but then again I forgot recently the Christmas Day house fire made news once again due to the recent findings that no criminal charges will be filed. 

The Eyewitess news anchor wanted to interview me, but I was too camera shy and caught a little too off-gaurd so I offered up my fiancee instead.  He gave a quick two minute interview basically accusing the city of demotiolishing the house too soon (to cover their ass, basically).

I will bootleg his interview and get it up as soon as possible!!

News Article here:

CNN-  A state prosecutor says he will not file criminal charges in the Stamford, Connecticut, house fire that killed three young girls and their grandparents on Christmas morning last year.


Stamford State's Attorney David I. Cohen said in a statement Friday that after a thorough examination of investigations conducted by Stamford's fire and police departments, including reports, interviews, photographs, seized evidence and autopsy data, there is "insufficient evidence" to bring criminal charges.

 The fire, which broke out around 5 a.m. Christmas Day, was probably caused by embers removed from a fireplace, Stamford Chief Fire Marshal Barry Callahan said.



According to Cohen, it remains unclear if smoke detectors were working in the home the night of the blaze, but some precautions were taken.



"While in hindsight, they were obviously insufficient, when viewed from the perspective of that night, they do not rise to the level of criminal negligence," he said.



Lily, 10, and 7-year-old twins Grace and Sarah Badger died in the fire along with their grandparents, Lomer and Pauline Johnson.

 The girls' mother, Madonna Badger, and a friend, Michael Borcina, were able to escape.





According to a legal notice submitted to the Stamford city clerk's office, Madonna Badger is suing the city for property damage, personal injury, negligence and civil rights violations.

 Two days after the fire, the city of Stamford determined the large Victorian home was unsafe and tore it down.

 Badger says the city and some of its employees destroyed her home and its contents, valued in excess of $3 million.



She adds that in destroying the remains of the house, the city destroyed evidence that could have helped bring closure to the tragic incident.



In his statement, Cohen said future fire investigations should be handled differently, suggesting that police and the state attorney's office should be contacted before any demolition of property, and that local fire marshals should contact state fire marshals for an outside perspective.

----------------------------------------

6:10 PM update:  They edited Joe out.  Bastards!

"When such a horrific event occurs, it is only natural that those related to the victims and the public in general want to hold someone responsible for what is otherwise an inexplicable accident," he said. "I am aware that many have emotionally judged this circumstance differently. That is understandable. There is no way that I could begin to conceive of the depth of loss by the Badger family."

Mother Plans to Sue City Over Fatal Blaze

STAMFORD -- The mother of three daughters killed in a Christmas morning house fire in December plans to sue the city, officials said Thursday.



Joseph Capalbo, Stamford's legal affairs director, confirmed that a Massachusetts attorney representing Madonna Badger sent a notice of intent to sue via certified mail to the city legal department and the town clerk Thursday. Capalbo said he could not comment on the contents of the notice because he hadn't seen it.



The notice was sent by Frank Corso, a personal injury attorney with offices in Boston and Rehoboth, Mass., who declined to comment Thursday afternoon.



"I'm unable to talk to you right now," Corso said, before hanging up.



Badger lost her parents and three daughters -- 9-year-old Lily and 7-year-old twins Sarah and Grace -- on Dec. 25 when a raging fire tore through her 116-year-old, three-story home on Shippan Point, an affluent waterfront community on Long Island Sound.



The notice from Badger adds to the growing collection of legal matters arising from the fatal fire.



Last month, attorneys for Matthew Badger, the estranged husband of Madonna Badger, filed a notice of intent to sue city officials for negligence in their inspections of the home before the fire. The notice further alleged that city building officials intentionally destroyed evidence when they demolished what was left of Madonna Badger's home a day after the fire.



At the time, Capalbo rebutted the claims in Matthew Badger's notice to sue and called the allegations "baseless and without merit."



In late April, an insurance company covering contractor Michael Borcina's company, Tiberias Construction, filed a lawsuit asking a New York state judge to release it from defending lawsuits and paying claims related to the fire because of alleged misrepresentations on his applications and yearly reports.



An initial investigation revealed the fire began after Borcina, a friend of Madonna Badger, cleaned out the fireplace shortly after 3 a.m., placing embers in a bag and leaving them inside a new mudroom, or just outside in an enclosed trash bin.



Borcina and Madonna Badger escaped the fire. The three girls and Madonna Badger's mother, Pauline Johnson, died from smoke inhalation. Her father, Lomer Johnson, died from blunt head trauma suffered in a fall outside a second-floor window and onto the roof.



Police and fire officials described the blaze as accidental and said no arrests were anticipated, but State's Attorney David Cohen has been reviewing an investigation of the fire since February and will make the decision whether criminal charges are filed.



A demolition crew tore the house down on Dec. 26. City Chief Building Official Robert DeMarco inspected what was left of the home with Stamford Fire Marshal Barry Callahan before declaring the building unsafe and issuing the order to have it razed.



DeMarco has said he checked with the city fire marshal's office before ordering the demolition.

Stamford Police Officer Makes Progress

Still critical: Officer recovering from fall during chase

STAMFORD -- The Stamford police officer critically injured in a 20-foot fall from an Interstate 95 bridge abutment while chasing a robbery suspect in Norwalk early Thursday morning, continued to be listed in critical condition, but was showing encouraging signs of progress, according to officials.



Mayor Michael Pavia visited Officer Troy Strauser at Norwalk Hospital around noon Friday and said he was sitting up in bed and talking following a seven-and-a-half hour operation Thursday night. Strauser's injured arm was heavily bandaged and worn in a sling, and his face and nose were badly bruised, Pavia said.



"I thanked him for his service above and beyond," Pavia said Friday. "I also let him know how delighted I was to be talking to him and see the progress that he's made in a day. He is very respectful and a very good Stamford police officer. Just talking to him I felt proud."



Strauser suffered severe injuries to his face and right arm after falling onto a metal guardrail as he chased a 30-year-old Stratford man suspected of beating and robbing a Hispanic man at the corner of West Main and Diaz streets on the city's West Side shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday.



Strauser spotted a white BMW matching the suspect vehicle's description on West Main Street and pursued it as the driver, Frank Douglas, tried to evade, police said.



After chasing the car through Darien and into Norwalk, police rammed the car at the end of Exit 14 in Norwalk, and Strauser chased after Douglas who fled on foot toward Connecticut Avenue across the Fairfield Avenue bridge over I-95.



At the other side of the bridge, Douglas made a sharp left turn and ran across the bridge abutment to the level of the highway below. But because of some underbrush, Strauser didn't see the drop while running full speed toward Douglas, police said.



Strauser, 38, was immediately transported by police to Norwalk Hospital where he has undergone three emergency surgeries.



Pavia, who said he went by to see the I-95 bridge where Strauser fell, said the officer was in "good spirits" and surrounded by friends and family. A steady stream of police officers have been visiting him since Thursday.



"I know it was touch and go in the beginning," Pavia said. "When his accident first occurred everybody was extremely concerned. I was just delighted to see his condition and proud to be with him."



Strauser, of Fairfield, has three young children and has been a member of the Stamford police force for the past six years.



Following an arraignment hearing for Douglas, Stamford police Sgt. Joseph Kennedy, president of the Stamford police union, stood with dozens of city police officers outside the courthouse on Friday afternoon and said he felt encouraged that Strauser successfully underwent three surgeries over the past 18 hours.



Still, he called the injuries "horrific," and said Strauser needs to ward off infections from internal injuries during the next three days.



"These are the brother and sister officers of Troy Strauser," Kennedy said, moments after Douglas was arraigned on a litany of charges from the incident. "He's a friend and he's a family man. He's one of us."



Kennedy said the police force felt frustrated over Strauser's injuries, adding that he does foresee him returning to the department some day. Kennedy said he could not provide more information about Strauser's medical condition.



"I see him back on the job, but I just don't have the expertise," Kennedy said. "I'd be non-qualified to tell about his recovery time."

Wilton Man Accused of Killing Father

WILTON -- A 22-year-old Wilton man who told police he was hearing voices, was arraigned in Norwalk Friday morning for the alleged murder of his 73-year-old father.

Aaron Ramsey of 125 Signal Hill Road allegedly punched, kicked and stabbed his father, Edward Ramsey Thursday afternoon before running through the woods to escape from aliens, he told police.
Judge Bruce Hudock maintained Aaron Ramsey's bond at $1 million during an arraignment at state Superior Court in Norwalk. Ramsey appeared at the Norwalk courthouse in a blue paper jumpsuit and socks, with his hands and feet shackled. He held his head down during the brief hearing and did not speak, but began to tear up just before being led out of court by judicial marshals.

His case was transferred to Stamford where more serious cases are heard and is scheduled for his first appearance there on May 15.

Wilton police were first alerted at 3:25 p.m. Thursday when they received a report of a man in his 20s with short brown hair trying to break into a car on Cheese Spring Road. Minutes later, police received another 911 call reporting that a man matching the earlier description ran into a house on Cheese Spring Road yelling that people were chasing him. The man then laid down on the living room floor and appeared to go to sleep.

When police arrived, they found Ramsey lying on the floor semi-conscious and acting irrationally and incoherent, according to the arrest warrant. Police called paramedics who treated him, but only found minor cuts despite blood on his T-shirt, jeans and sneakers.

About 70 minutes after the burglary call, Ramsey's mother SuAnne Fehr-Ramsey called 911. When police got there they found her standing in the yard calling for Aaron. She told police that her husband was in the house bleeding and needed help.

Police found Edward Ramsey lying on a floor of a bedroom with severe traumatic injuries to his face and upper body and police noted that he was "obviously dead," in the four page arrest affidavit. A check of his vital signs determined there was no pulse and that there was no blood coming from several stab wounds to his chest, the affidavit said. He also had a "significant" injury to the left side of his head.

A ratcheting socket wrench was found on the left side of Ramsey's body and a single set of bloody footprints consistent with the sneakers Aaron Ramsey had worn to Cheese Spring Road led toward the door.

Police quickly connected Aaron Ramsey to the scene when an officer recognized him in a family photo in the kitchen of the house.

During an interview with investigators at Norwalk Hospital about two hours after Ramsey's body was found, Aaron told police that he heard voices telling him that he needed to find out who "the fakers and manipulators are" and that he had been "tasked to put people on trial."

He said he had confronted his father in his bedroom Thursday afternoon and asked him a question. Ramsey said he felt his father was lying and told him to get out of the house. When his father refused, he struck him with his right wrist, then he told police he tried to strike him with a "death blow," as he made a karate chop motion, the affidavit said.

Ramsey told police his father, a former pilot for American Airlines, never fought back.
Ramsey then picked up a bench in the bedroom and struck his father with it. While his father was knocked to the floor, Ramsey went to the kitchen to retrieve "a perfect sharp knife."
He said he then went to the bedroom and attempted to slit his father's throat, but his hand slipped off the handle due to blood and sweat. He then proceeded to stab his father in the stomach, groin, head and heart, police said.

Ramsey said he heard voices telling him to prevent his father from getting back up because "he has magic powers and can heal himself." He then told police that he stomped his father's entire body and "beat him to a pulp," the affidavit said.

Ramsey said the voices then told him "they're coming for you, you gotta run."

When police asked who was coming, Ramsey responded "aliens." He said he ran through the woods and used his mind to open a sliding glass door of a house -- evidently the one that he broke into on Cheese Spring Road -- the affidavit said.

Ramsey's public defender James Lamontagne called the incident a "true tragedy," and asked the judge that Ramsey be given mental health evaluation and treatment, which was granted.
Police said no other family members were home at the time.

The geodesic domed house is located at the end of a long driveway in a wooded area. According to land records, Edward Ramsey built the home in 1974 on the 4.5-acre wooded lot.

Neighbors in this affluent neighborhood keep to themselves. One woman who recently moved to the neighborhood said she'd recently seen the wife walking her dog.

During a morning press conference, Wilton police Chief Michael Lombardo said officers have responded to calls at the Ramsey house in the past, but would not elaborate on the nature of the calls.
During her emotional 911 call to police, SuAnne Fehr-Ramsey told police that her son had been acting strangely for more than a week and that he was "either on drugs or a little psychotic."
Ramsey is a 2008 graduate of Wilton High School where he played on the varsity football team as a place kicker.

Wilton High School Principal Robert O'Donnell said Ramsey was good student, engaged in athletics and had good friends. He said counselors were made available at the school Friday for any students who wanted to talk about the incident.

"We're a very tight-knit high school and local community," O'Donnell said.  "Our primary concern right now is with and for the Ramsey family at this very difficult time."

Ramsey has two prior convictions. He was arrested in November 2009 for possession of less than four ounces of marijuana and was found guilty. He paid a $250 fine.

In November 2011, he was arrested for driving under the influence and pleaded guilty.
Wilton police detectives and investigators from the State Police major crime squad worked throughout the night, poring over the crime scene.

It is the first murder in Wilton since the June 2008 death of 13-year-old Nicholas Parisot. Parisot died while riding his motorcycle off-road in North Wilton and struck an elevated object that police said appeared to have been placed there intentionally.

No arrest was ever made in the Parisot case.

--------------------------------------

I believe him when he says aliens are coming for him... Have you seen that house? Lol.  Not to be too insensitive.. I mean, I do feel horrible for the family.  What a tragedy. And that kid is handsome, too.  What a shame.

Mother-Daughter Die in Murder-Suicide

So sad, how can these things happen?


STAMFORD -- A middle-aged woman killed her elderly mother with a double-barreled shotgun and then killed herself inside their foreclosed Long Ridge Road home, Stamford police said.

Officers found their bodies just after 1 p.m. Friday while checking on the mother and daughter who lived at 1214 Long Ridge Road following reports from concerned neighbors, according to Stamford police Capt. Richard Conklin. The neighbors told police they hadn't seen the mother and daughter recently and were worried for their well-being.

Police said the shooting occurred sometime in the past 48 hours
Conklin would not identify the mother and daughter because investigators were working to contact their relatives. According to public records, Florence Beran, 85, owned the house and lived with her daughter, Susan, 57. Conklin said the daughter did not leave a suicide note, but the couple became increasingly reclusive in recent months as they dealt with mounting financial pressures.

"Neighbors who communicated with them and helped them out with food and donations saw less and less of them over recent months," Conklin said.
The mother suffered from Alzheimer's disease, and the daughter served as her caretaker, neighbors said. Police said the mother and daughter owed $50,000 in taxes to the city of Stamford and their house was in foreclosure. The home, which was surrounded by an overgrown lawn and left in disrepair, was sold during an auction last month, police said.

Electricity had been cut off from the house several months before Friday. The mother and daughter collected water with plastic jugs since their utilities had been shut off, Conklin said.

On Friday afternoon, responding officers found a "gruesome" scene when they used a ladder to enter the small, gray four-bedroom home through a second-story window, Conklin said. The front doors and first-floor windows were locked. Officers found the daughter's body in a second-floor bedroom and her mother at the bottom of stairs on the first floor.

Animal control officers took four small dogs into custody as investigators processed the murder scene, removing the shotgun in a large, brown paper bag. The bodies were taken from the house on stretchers at about 6 p.m. Friday, shortly before police cleared the area.

Investigators believe the daughter used her deceased father's shotgun to kill her mother, and then took her own life an unknown time later. Officers confiscated several hunting rifles and handguns that belonged to the daughter's father, who died several years ago
The mother died within 48 hours of the discovery of her body. A more exact time of death is pending further investigation. Police did not receive any reports of gunfire in the area before Friday afternoon, most likely because of the secluded location and heavy traffic from Long Ridge Road, Conklin said.

One neighbor, a woman who declined to give her name, said she made the call to police that led to the discovery of the murder-suicide. She said Susan took care of her mother for several years and described her as a "wonderful person."

"I'm afraid they didn't think they had anyone to turn to," the neighbor said, adding: "When people feel desperate, there are people out there who care. They didn't have to take their own lives."

Conklin said investigators contacted a lawyer involved in the home's sale Friday afternoon and learned that the mother and daughter were to receive between $200,000 and $250,000 from the transaction, after their owed taxes and other debts were subtracted from the sale proceeds. The buyers tried unsuccessfully to contact the mother and daughter following the sale, Conklin said.

"It's certainly a tremendous tragedy, especially right before Mother's Day," Conklin said.

Read more: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/policereports/article/Mother-daughter-die-in-murder-suicide-3552947.php#ixzz1ufF64dof

Wilton Man Charged with Killing Father with a Screwdriver

(05/04/12) WILTON - Wilton police say they have arrested a man who has confessed to killing his father with a screwdriver last night.

Authorities say 22-year-old Aaron Ramsey repeatedly beat his father, then stabbed him several times before fleeing his Signal Hill Road home. They say he then entered a house on nearby Cheese Spring Road and refused to leave unless paramedics took him to the hospital.

The victim, 73-year-old Ed Ramsey, was found dead when police arrived.

Ramsey has been charged with murder and was arraigned today in Norwalk. Court documents indicate he heard voices in his head that told him to "put people on trial" and that he stabbed his father with a knife after he was already dead.

Police say Ramsey had previously been arrested for DUI and possession of marijuana.
He is being held on bond and has been ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation.

3rd Greenwich Resident Charged in Connection with Overdose Death

Greenwich Time- Police arrested a third person Wednesday in connection with the overdose death of Riverside teenager Christopher Harris, who was found unresponsive at his Florence Road home in January 2011.

Christopher A. Lundell, 20, of 5 Wellington Place, Apt. A, turned himself in to Greenwich police on a warrant. He was charged with possession of narcotics, possession of drug paraphernalia and conspiracy to possess narcotics.



Lt. Kraig Gray, spokesman for the Greenwich Police Department, said police held a non-extraditable warrant for Lundell in connection with the investigation into the death of 18-year-old Harris, who was found Jan. 8, 2011.



Lundell recently returned from California, Gray said.



"An arrangement was made between his attorney and the state's attorney for him to turn himself in upon return, and he did so," Gray said.



Two other Greenwich residents, George C. Ramirez and William Nelson, turned themselves in to police in August in connection with the investigation. Ramirez was charged with distribution of a controlled substance and conspiracy to possess narcotics.



Nelson was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and conspiracy to possess narcotics.



Nelson, Ramirez and Lundell were among a group of friends who went to Harris' home Jan. 7 to visit him because he was sick, according to the warrant for Ramirez's arrest.



Ramirez told police everyone except he and Harris were drinking that night and that the friends smoked marijuana, according to his arrest warrant.



During the night, Nelson and Ramirez drove to New York to buy the painkiller Opana, and Harris, Nelson and Ramirez all used Opana during the night, according to the warrant.



After being found unresponsive around 9 a.m. Jan. 8, Harris was transported to Stamford Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.



Ramirez, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess narcotics, is scheduled to receive an eight-year prison term, suspended after two years, at his June 5 sentencing. He will also serve three years of probation following the prison term.



Nelson's case is still pending.



Lundell posted $1,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford June 13.



david.hennessey@scni.com; 203-625-4428

Cops: Accused 'Cannibal' Tried to Kill Self in Fairfield

Fairfield Citizen- The man accused of eating the brains and eyeball of a Bridgeport man who he killed with an ax had tried to commit suicide earlier this month in the aisle of a CVS pharmacy on Black Rock Turnpike.

On Jan. 12, Tyree Lincoln Smith was discovered bleeding heavily from his left wrist, which he slashed with a box cutter, and then collapsed on the floor of the CVS at 1968 Black Rock Turnpike, Fairfield police said Thursday.

The suicide attempt occurred about a week before Bridgeport police found the decomposing body of Angel "Tun Tun" Gonzalez on Brooks Street in that city.

Smith, 35, had been discharged Jan. 9 from St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport and came to the store to fill several prescriptions, police said. The pharmacist told police he asked Smith for his prescription health card, and Smith spent about 10 minutes looking in his wallet for it. Smith was calm, according to the report, but when he was unable to find the card, the pharmacist asked Smith if he wanted to go back to St. Vincent's for assistance in filling the prescriptions, which were very expensive.

Smith spent another 15 minutes waiting in the pharmacy area and then left. However, a store employee found him a short time later on the floor in a pool of blood. The employee called 911 and kicked the box cutter away from Smith's grasp.

An ambulance was called to take Smith to the hospital and Fairfield police referred the case to the Greater Bridgeport Community Mental Health Center.

"This just shows that each and every day, whenever an officer responds to a call, they really don't know the all the background," Fairfield Police Chief Gary MacNamara said. "Our officers go to help someone, and unbeknownst to them, this guy later will be a suspect in a gruesome murder."

Komisarjevsky Sentenced to Death

NBC- The man who killed three women in a 2007 Cheshire home invasion was sentenced to death on Friday and addressed the court before that sentence was handed down.

Joshua Komisarjevsky will be joining Steven Hayes on death row for killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, in their Cheshire home in 2007. He is scheduled to be executed in July, pending appeals.

"I will never find peace within. My life will be a continuation of the hurt I caused," Komisarjevsky said in court. "The clock is now ticking and I owe a debt I cannot repay."

Komisarjevsky said he walked out of court condemned to die by 12 members of the community.

"It's a surreal experience, being condemned to die," Komisarjevsky said.

Forgiveness is not his to have, he said, and he needs to forgive his worst enemy -- himself.

Before the sentencing, Judge Jon Blue said sentencing another human being to death is the most somber task a judge can have.

Then, the court heard some emotional victim impact statements from the Hawke and Petit families.

As Dr. William Petit read his statement, a slideshow of his family played on the screen.

Jennifer didn't pray to God to change her Multiple Sclerosis, but for the strength to deal with it, he said.

Hayley would be in her first year of medical school if she was still alive, he said.

"I miss the car rides and chats I miss her kind and gentle soul,” he said.

Michaela came into the world smiling, Dr. Petit said. He recently received a card from one of Michaela's friends. It said it was sad to know that she wouldn't be in 10th grade this year.

"I miss her running to the door and yelling 'Dada's home,'” Dr. Petit said.

Jennifer Hawke Petit’s father, Rev. Richard Hawke gave a videotaped victim impact statement and it was played in court.

Komisarjevsky watched the video as Hawke spoke directly to him and said he’s presided over many funerals, but never dreamed he would bury his daughter and grandchildren. It was the worst thing he’s had to go through.

"Was it worth the price?" he asked at one point.

If Jennifer, Hayley and Michaela could endure the pain that Komisarjevsky put them through, their families can endure the pain of the trials, Rev. Hawke said.

“You have not only destroyed your family, you have destroyed your own and destroyed a noble family name,” Rev. Hawke told the man who killed his family members.

The statement from Jennifer’s mother, Marybelle Hawke, was also played in court and she said the love of family will carry them through.

As Cynthia Hawke-Renn’s statement was played, Komisarjevsky watched. Calling her parents to tell them that her sister and nieces were dead and her brother-in-law was badly injured was the hardest phone call she ever had to make, she said.

The murders took a huge emotional toll on Cynthia's family. It has also taken a financial toll.
The victims' fund ran out when the defense fund for Komisarjevsky is endless, she said.

Dr. Petit’s father, Bill Petit Sr. read his statement through tears and said he called Michaela's voice mail on the morning of the home invasion and his call went to voice mail.

"It was the last time I'd hear her voice," Bill Petit Sr. said.

His son will never walk his girls down the aisle and he'll never know the joy of grandchildren, he said.

Johanna Petit-Chapman, Dr. Petit's sister, was the one who had to identify the girls’ bodies. She said Komisarjevsky set the tone for this crime, torturing the family for hours.

She also said she was angry about statements the defense team made.

"He beat a sleeping man with a baseball bat and he calls him passive?" Chapman said.

The Petit and Hawke families left court before the sentence was handed down.

When Komisarjevsky spoke, it was the second time he did so during his trial.

His lawyers fought for jurors to hear videotaped testimony from Komisarjevsky’s 9-year-old daughter, but the defendant he made a plea against it.

Komisarjevsky sexually assaulted Michaela, while Hayes raped and strangled Hawke-Petit to death. He has only admitted to the sexual assault, but then said in court that he did not rape.

Last month, a jury delivered the death verdict for Komisarjevsky after finding him guilty of the crimes. On Friday, the judge handed down that sentence.

Suspect in Westport Jewelry Store Murder Kills Self

The man suspected of killing a Westport jeweler has killed himself in prison.

Andrew Levene, 41, was arrested on Monday in Spain. He was accused of killing Yekutiel Zeevi, the owner of YZ Manufacturers, LLC, at 431 Post Road East in Westport, while pretending he was going to buy several large diamonds he had arranged to buy earlier that month, according to the affidavit. He was also accused of stealing approximately $300,000 in diamonds, and fleeing the United States to Europe.

The U.S. Embassy in Spain confirmed Levene died in a Spanish prison. Someone from the consulate visited Levene in the prison on Wednesday.

Word of Levene's death drew a quick response from Westport town leaders.

"The death of the accused murder suspect by his own hands will not diminish the extraordinary efforts demonstrated by the Westport police, state and federal authorities, and Spanish police in tracking him down," said Westport First Selectman Gordon Joseloff. "Not only has the suspect taken the life of a beloved Westport resident and caused immeasurable pain to the Zeevi family and friends here, he has now inflicted the same pain on his own family, also innocents in this tragedy. It is a cowardly confirmation of his guilt," Joseloff said.

U.S. Embassy officials notified Levene's family of his death Wednesday.

STAMFORD -- A voice recognition expert testified Friday that the 911 caller who first alerted police to the homicide of Anna Lisa Raymundo on Nov. 8, 2002, was self-represented defendant Sheila Davalloo.

The incriminating testimony comes on the fourth day of the Stamford murder trial in which Davalloo is defending herself against accusations she stabbed Raymundo nine times inside her Shippan condo.

Prosecution witness Tom Owen, a forensic voice identification expert, testified Friday morning that computer programs determined Davalloo placed the 911 call at 12:13 p.m. on the day Raymundo was found killed.

Owen had tried to determine who made the 911 call in 2004, but at the time his software couldn't match Davalloo with the caller's voice. Owen said he retested Davalloo's voice last year using newer, digital methods. Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney James Bernardi asked Owen whether he came to a different determination during the second test.

"Yes," Owen said. "That Sheila Davalloo is the person that made the 911 call."

Owen played the 911 call for jurors, and interspersed the statements with voice recordings made of Davalloo in January 2004. On the 911 recordings, a woman tells a call-taker that a man attacked her neighbor on Harbor View Drive. The call was made from a pay phone at a fast-foot restaurant on Shippan Avenue. Raymundo's condo was actually on Harbor Drive.

After telling jurors that Davalloo made the 911 call, Owen displayed his voice recognition software on a large television screen so the court could see how the programs objectively measure different vocal patterns. His testimony will continue into Friday afternoon.

Cameras Allowed at Murder Trial

STAMFORD -- Over Sheila Davalloo's objections that she would suffer stage fright if they were there, a state Superior Court judge in Stamford ruled Wednesday that cameras can be present at trial when Davalloo defends herself against a murder charge next week.

Judge Richard Comerford told Davalloo -- who was previously sentenced in New York to 25 years in prison for attempting to kill her husband in 2003 -- she did not offer any compelling reasons for keeping cameras out of the courtroom during the upcoming trial, expected to last three weeks.

Davalloo is accused of stabbing and bludgeoning 32-year-old Anna Lisa Raymundo at the victim's Shippan condominium in November 2002 over a common love interest at Purdue Pharma, where the two worked.

Comerford scheduled the hearing regarding cameras after two local news outlets asked that they be allowed to record all or portions of the trial.

According to new court rules, as of Jan. 1, any criminal trial or hearing, except those involving sexual offenses or proceedings that according to state law must be closed to the public, can be photographed, videotaped or recorded. Prior to the beginning of the year, cameras were almost only allowed at arraignments for nonsexual crimes.

When asked if she objected, Davalloo, 42, formerly of Pleasantville, N.Y., but who is now being held on $1 million bond at the York Correctional Institution for women in Niantic, said that the cameras will give her "performance anxiety."

Davalloo also said she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of having lived through the Iran-Iraq War and the cameras will make her very nervous throughout the trial, set to begin Tuesday.

Davalloo spent her childhood in the war zone in Iran before immigrating with her family to the United States. She received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Stony Brook University on Long Island, N.Y., and a master's in public health from New York Medical College in Valhalla, N.Y.

"I cannot speak in front of a camera. ... I really don't think I will be doing very well with a video camera pointed in my direction," she said to Comerford.

Foreseeing that revelations of a sexual nature will be coming out at trial, Davalloo said she would not want that information broadcast on television.

Authorities said Davalloo killed Raymundo because of a love triangle. A male co-worker dated both of them, and he eventually grew to be more serious with Raymundo. Prosecutors accuse Davalloo of killing Raymundo because she was obsessed with her co-worker and wanted to eliminate her rival.

Davalloo faces 25 to 60 years in prison if convicted of murder.

Prosecutors in Westchester County used a similar motive to convict Davalloo of trying to kill her husband, Paul Christos, several months after the Raymundo homicide. During a trial in 2004, she was found guilty of stabbing her husband twice during a game involving handcuffs and blindfolds, and once again outside a hospital. Davalloo was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Four years later, Stamford police charged Davalloo with the Raymundo murder, saying DNA and other evidence linked her to the crime scene. Prosecutors said Davalloo made the 911 call that alerted police officers to Raymundo's homicide.

Connecticut Christmas Fire: Granddaughter Writes Poem for Deceased Family

ABC News- A 12-year-old girl whose grandparents died in the Christmas Day fire in Connecticut that also claimed the lives of her three cousins has written a poem about her grandmother, whom she called Nana.

Morgan Johnson's poem is titled "The Nana Who Lived in the Car" because Johnson's late grandmother, Pauline Johnson, had told the girl that she felt like the old woman who lived in a car -- instead of the storybook woman who lived in a shoe -- because she spent so much time driving between family houses.

"Three of them now play in Heaven, And the Nana drives them around in her car there, With a stuffed animal bunny and a G," wrote Morgan, who lives in Kentucky.

Morgan called her grandfather, Lomer Johnson, "G." Before his death, Lomer Johnson had fulfilled a life-long dream of playing Santa Claus at New York City's Saks Fifth Avenue, at the encouragement of his granddaughters.

"She had four granddaughters, Who loved them so, The Nana the bunny and the G," she wrote. "She ate and cooked foods of all different kinds, And had a very kind and pretty mind."

Johnson's three other granddaughters, Lily, 10, and 7-year-old twins Grace and Sarah were killed in the fire. The only survivors were the girls' mother, Madonna Badger, and her friend, Michael Borcina, a contractor who had been working on the home.


"That poor woman lost her whole family in one fell swoop," Stamford Interim Fire Chief Antonio Conte said at a news conference Tuesday. "I can't imagine how that feels."

The fire began sometime after 3 a.m. Dec. 25 while the occupants of the house were asleep. Officials said the fire was started by fireplace embers that had been cleared out of the fireplace and put in either a mud room attached to the house or a trash enclosure next to it.

It is unclear whether there were smoke alarms in the house, which was in the middle of an extensive renovation.

The Connecticut medical examiner said that the five family members died of smoke inhalation and that Lomer Johnson also suffered from blunt head and neck trauma, which may have been the result of a fall he took when he stepped out a second-floor window onto a roof in an attempt to save one of his granddaughters.

Johnson had apparently found one of the girls and led her to a second-floor window.

"He had actually made it outside the structure. He had gone through a window in the rear," Conte said.

Johnson apparently sat the girl on a pile of books next to the window so that he would be able to step outside and then pull her out of the house. But when he stepped out on the roof, he fell face down between two beams that had been covered with a material not strong enough to hold his weight.

"It looks like she was placed on the books so he could get her from outside," Conte said. "When he stepped out that window, his life ended."

The girl's body was later found, still sitting on the books. Another one of the children was later found on the third floor and the other was found on a second-floor stairwell landing with her grandmother.

Officials this week described the panic in the house during the fire and desperate attempts by Johnson, Badger and Borcina to save the girls.

The Stamford Fire Department released tapes on Thursday of firefighters' radio transmissions from inside the house, as reported by ABC News' New York affiliate WABC.

"We have victims trapped on the second floor, we're going to rescue mode with a ladder," a firefighter can be heard saying. "We've got a report from one of the victims, there's people in that window."

Firefighters struggled as they were repeatedly met by walls of fire in the house, forcing them back. The flames and smoke engulfing the house were too strong for them to reach the family members.

"You have heavy fire right above your head -- back out, back out!" a firefighter said. "All units on the interior, all units on the interior, back out. Back out!"

The house was torn down after being deemed unsafe by fire officials.

Morgan Johnson's full poem is printed below:


"The Nana Who Lived in a Car"

There once was a Nana who lived in a car
She traveled so very, very far
With a bunny and a G.

She traveled to places cold and hot
To where it was sunny and where it was not
With a bunny and a G

She ate and cooked foods of all different kinds
And had a very kind and pretty mind
And so did the bunny and the G

She had four granddaughters
Who loved them so
The Nana the bunny and the G

Three of them now play in Heaven
And the Nana drives them around in her car there
With a stuffed animal bunny and a G.

Riley Fitzpatrick, 7, says a prayer for the Badger family in front of 2267 Shippan Ave.

The house as it looked on google map, September 2008.

Creepy in Greenwich: Part One

Part One- 14 Lincoln Avenue

Lincoln Avenue, close to the heart of Greenwich and just off of the prestigious Greenwich Avenue, is home to a house full of very traumatic history.

A family of 3, all stricken by a rare disease, Marfan's Syndrome, all found slain at number 14 on this street.

The two children, one boy and one girl, were found shot dead while apparently sleeping, then the mother was found with the gun in her hand and was shot to death as well.


This is in 1982.

I was born in 1985, and have never heard any mention of this town tragedy in all my years (now 26) as a resident. I only came about researching this event after my mother mentioned something like that happening in town years ago.


I very much wonder if whoever's living in the house is aware of this, I'm sure they must be do to laws and all... But I can't imagine living in a house with such a history!

----

Here's an original Norwalk Hour article, dated September 4th, 1982:

And an original New York Times article, dated September 4th, 1982:
3 IN GREENWICH ARE FOUND SLAIN AT THEIR HOME

A woman and her 14-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son were found shot to death in their Greenwich, Conn., home yesterday morning, and the police later said the mother, who had a recent history of depression, apparently had killed the children and herself.

The police said all three were afflicted with Marfan's Syndrome, a genetic disease of the ocular, skeletal and cardiovascular systems that had severely impaired the children's eyesight and had rendered the mother legally blind.

The slayings were the first in the affluent suburb 20 miles north of New York City in more than six years. Greenwich, a community of sedate homes and landscaped corporate headquarters, has 60,000 residents and a reputation as one of the country's safest cities.

The police said the victims, 43-year-old Linda V. Sandor and her children, Michelle and Scott, had each been shot once in the head. They were found in separate upstairs bedrooms of their recently purchased eight-room, $130,000 home at 14 Lincoln Avenue in central Greenwich, at 10:40 A.M. by a stepson, Richard, who called the police. Husband Reportedly at Work

Mrs. Sandor's husband, Michael, a Greenwich building contractor, had left the house about 8 A.M. and was at work when the slayings occurred, according to the Greenwich Police Chief, Thomas G. Keegan, and his deputy chief, John J. Cornelius.

''Both children had been shot once in the head, while in their beds, apparently asleep,'' Chief Keegan said. Mrs. Sandor, he said, was found fully clothed, lying beside a .38-caliber handgun that was apparently used in the killings. It had been purchased by Mrs. Sandor at a local gun store on Thursday, the chief said.

''Preliminary investigation and testing indicate that the fatal wound to Linda was self-inflicted,'' said Chief Keegan, who added that there was ''no evidence of foul play.''

The chief said that Mrs. Sandor ''had been suffering from severe depression and had attempted suicide earlier this year.'' A factor in that depression, the Chief said, may have been the disease that had afflicted the family. The woman was becoming progressively more blind and may not have wanted her children to suffer further, the Chief said. Both children wore heavy corrective lenses.

The family had moved into the three-story frame home from the Glenville section of Greenwich in July and was not well-known to neighbors. Mr. Sandor had been renovating the white-shingled home, whose small yard yesterday was strewn with lumber, concrete blocks and other building materials.

5 Killed in Christmas Morning House Fire

Who could fathom such a thing happening on Christmas morning? What a world..


LA Times-A Christmas morning house fire in an upscale Stamford neighborhood killed five people, three of them children, leaving neighbors and firefighters in tears.

Firefighters rescued two people from the blaze: Madonna Badger, 47, the mother of the children, and a man whose identity was not available. Badger is a New York advertising executive. Police later said the man was a contractor renovating the home, and the two dead adults were Badger's parents, who were visiting for Christmas.

Neighbor Charles Mangano said he saw rescuers walking Badger and the man away from the house toward an ambulance.

"I heard her say, 'My whole life is in there,' as she walked out," Mangano said. "They were both obviously in a state of shock."

Neighbors in the Shippan Point neighborhood, which juts into Long Island Sound, said they were awakened by screaming and ran outside to see fire consuming the house.

"I heard someone yell, 'Help, help, help me!' and I started sprinting up my driveway," Mangano told the Advocate of Stamford. Firefighters were already there.

"I just came out as a neighbor," he said. "There's really nothing I could do."

Stamford Fire Chief Antonio Conte said firefighters got the call at 4:52 a.m. and arrived to find the house engulfed. They rescued Badger and the man, but could not reach the other five.

"There was so much flame and heat it drove the firefighters back," Conte said. "They tried several times. We knew all five were in there. We just couldn't get to them."

Conte became emotional as he talked about the fire.

"I've been on this job 38 years," he said, his voice cracking. "Not an easy day."

Stamford's fire marshal is investigating, but Conte said it would probably take several days to determine what happened.

Badger had three daughters — a 10-year-old and 7-year-old twins. Her husband, Matthew Badger, was in New York City. Police said they drove him to Stamford on Sunday.

Badger bought the three-story, 3,300-square-foot, five-bedroom house overlooking Long Island Sound in December 2010 for $1.72 million. The house had been undergoing extensive renovations, neighbors said.

Becki Anderson, 43, of Stamford grew up in the home and said her parents sold it to Badger.

"Our hearts go out to Madonna and her family," Anderson said. "Our entire community is shocked and stunned."

Anderson said she and her husband took a long walk Christmas afternoon, and everyone they met was talking about the fire.

"Everybody's speaking in hushed tones, and it's sad," she said. "I don't think it matters it's Christmas. It would be sad any day of the year."

Badger, an advertising executive who founded the New York-based Badger & Winters Group, gained fame for Calvin Klein underwear and Obsession perfume ads. She founded her company at the age of 30.

Stamford, a city of 117,000, is about 25 miles northeast of New York City.

"It is a terrible, terrible day," Mayor Michael Pavia said. "There probably has not been a worse Christmas day in the city of Stamford."

Attack On a 77 Year Old Woman

This story hits us personally.. Our good family friend's daughter is the grand-daughter of the woman attacked... (Her ex's mother is the victim).

How horrible to have happened during the holiays. Our friend is all shaken up, and I feel so horrible for her daughter- I hope she doesn't lose her grandma on the holiays.

BRIDGEPORT - An elderly Bridgeport woman is seriously injured after police say a man attacked her with a broken bottle as she was crossing the street.

Police say Marvin Narcisse stabbed an elderly woman while he was in his underwear.

Witnesses say the 77-year-old woman was walking across Williams Street earlier today when a man ran from across the street in his underwear, tackled her to the ground and beat her.

Residents in the area say they intervened to help the victim. "I kept stomping on him because he kept reaching for the lady," says one resident. "I kept stomping on his face."

The suspect was taken into custody, and faces attempted murder charges. He is being held on $1 million bond.

The woman was rushed to the hospital. Officials have not released any information on her condition or her identity.