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.

Etan Patz Case: Doctors Assess Mental State of Murder Suspect Pedro Hernandez

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - Pedro Hernandez, the man who has confessed to killing 6-year-old Etan Patz in one of New York City's and the country's most notorious missing child cases, remains in a psychiatric hospital as court-appointed doctors assess his mental state.
Defense lawyers said Hernandez, 51, has schizophrenia and a history of hallucinations and it's unclear how much that will factor in the case charging him with the Etan's 1979 murder.

If Hernandez' psychiatric record becomes an issue, he'll encounter a justice system that seeks to strike a balance between recognizing mental illness and holding people responsible for their actions. It is a balance that has shifted back and forth over more than a century and a half.


Hernandez confessed last week and is now charged with Patz's murder. The boy vanished on his way to school in his lower Manhattan neighborhood. The suspect, who had worked at a convenience store near Etan's home, confessed after hours of police questioning, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said on Friday. Kelly said Hernandez told police he lured the boy to the convenience store with the promise of a soda. He then took him into the basement and choked him.


After defense lawyer Harvey Fishbein told a judge that Hernandez was schizophrenic, bipolar, had had visual and auditory hallucinations, and had been on psychiatric medication for some time, the judge ordered an examination to see whether he was mentally fit to stand trial.



The results aren't yet known and either side could challenge the findings and get another exam. It will ultimately be up to a judge to declare whether Hernandez can go to trial. If not, he would be sent to a psychiatric hospital and evaluated periodically to see whether he had improved enough to go to court. Most people found unfit are eventually returned to court, legal experts say.



Such exams aim to assess whether someone is well enough to participate in a trial and aid his or her own defense. They are separate from an insanity defense, which revolves around the defendant's psychological state at the time of the alleged crime.



In New York and many other states, defendants have to prove they were so mentally ill that they didn't know what they were doing was wrong. If successful, they are sent to psychiatric hospitals until judged well enough for release, if ever.



One of Hernandez's sisters, Norma Hernandez, said Tuesday that she went to police in Camden, N.J., years ago to report a rumor he had confessed at a prayer group. Camden police declined to comment on her remarks.



Meanwhile, Etan's father made clear that the attention to the case since Hernandez's arrest last week had taken a toll, telling reporters they had "managed to make a difficult situation even worse."



"It is past time for you to leave me, my family and my neighbors alone," Stan Patz said in a note posted on his apartment building's door.

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It's a tragedy they had to lose their son, especially in such a henious way, but that goes to show why you should NEVER LET YOUR CHILD ROAM THE STREETS ALONE.  Especially only six years old!

WTF, even if it was the 1950s that is something you NEVER DO. Or even if just to walk "around the corner"... NEVER DO IT.

(AP) WATERVILLE, Maine - Law enforcement officials said Thursday for the first time that they believe a toddler who disappeared in the days leading up to Christmas is no longer alive.






Officials pressing for more information about Ayla Reynolds' whereabouts also announced at a news conference that a $30,000 reward for information on the case will expire June 30. They appealed for anyone with information leading to Ayla's whereabouts to contact police.





"To the person or persons responsible for her disappearance, we ask that you now come forward, accept responsibility for what you have done, show us that you are human and relieve yourself, Ayla's family and this community of this burden," said John Nale, a lawyer who led the effort to raise the reward money from local residents and businesses.





Ayla was 20 months old when she was reported missing Dec. 17 from her father's home in Waterville. The toddler had last been seen wearing polka dot pajamas with the words "Daddy's Princess" on them. She had a cast on her broken left arm.





Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said investigators remain determined to solve the mystery of Ayla's disappearance.





"It has been 166 days since she was reported missing from her home in Waterville, and the work and the investigation goes on. There will be more searches, more dives and more interviews. And we are in this for the long haul. This case will never close until Ayla is found," McCausland said.





Before the news conference, detectives called Ayla's parents to deliver the somber news that they no longer believe she'll be found alive. Asked if police believe a crime was committed, McCausland said, "We believe foul play has been involved ... this is a criminal investigation."





In Portland, Ayla's mother, Trista Reynolds, and her father and mother, burst into tears while watching the news conference.





"Everybody broke down. I'm still crying. I'm still hurting now," said Ronald Reynolds, Ayla's grandfather, in Portland. "Why Ayla? She never bothered anybody. She never hurt anybody. Why hurt Ayla?"





"My worst nightmare has come true," said Trista Reynolds on video captured from her father's home.





Ayla's father, Justin DiPietro, told police he was thankful for the information, said McCausland, adding, "His reaction was no reaction."





DiPietro has said he thinks Ayla was abducted, but police say there's no evidence of that. No arrests have been made in the case.





State police confirmed that Ayla's blood was found in DiPietro's house and said DiPietro, his girlfriend and his sister who were there the night Ayla disappeared know more than they're telling police.





Police repeated that assertion on Thursday when asked about the father. "We believe he knows more than he's told us," McCausland said.





Neither DiPietro nor a lawyer hired by members of his family returned a call. There was no answer when a reporter knocked on DiPietro's door.





After Ayla was reported missing, dozens of game wardens, FBI agents and local and state police officers participated in the search in this central Maine city of 16,000 residents about 20 miles north of the state capital, Augusta.





Police checked trash bins and FBI agents knocked on doors. Officials even went so far as to drain a stream so wardens could get a better look.





Recently, divers searched the Kennebec River and retrieved some items. Investigators declined to comment on those items Thursday.





Investigators said that they have received more than 1,100 tips and that people shouldn't expect it to be solved overnight, McCausland said. "This isn't `CSI' where everything is solved in 60 minutes," he said.

Three Years Later, Parisot Homicide Investigation Continues

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.

Henry Lee: Evidence in Parisot Case Taken as Far as Science Will Allow

WILTON -- Scientifically, nothing more can be done with forensic evidence in the Nicholas Parisot homicide, according to Wilton Police.

Forensic scientist Henry Lee, founder and professor of the Forensic Science Program at the University of New Haven, was recently brought in to review all reports and forensic evidence in the Wilton homicide case, said Chief Michael Lombardo of the Wilton Police Department.

"We have been in constant contact with Dr. Henry Lee and his associates in the past couple months," said Lombardo. "He has reviewed the case and determined that there's nothing further we can do with this evidence, scientifically, at this point. He told us that we have taken the evidence as far as science will allow."

Nearly two years ago -- June 13, 2008 -- Parisot, 13, was riding his motorized bike on a trail in a wooded area near Hickory Hill and Hillbrook roads and struck a rope strung across the trail. He suffered severe injuries to his neck and body, resulting in his death shortly thereafter. Wilton police labeled the case a criminal homicide, but have yet to bring charges against anyone.

Lee has assisted in more than 6,000 investigative cases, including the O.J. Simpson case, review of the JFK assassination and the death of JonBenet Ramsey, according to his website, www.drhenrylee.com.

Wilton Police Lt. Donald Wakeman said the department brought in Lee because he is widely known as an excellent forensic scientist throughout the state and the country. Lee was also the director of the Connecticut State Police Forensic Science Laboratory, said Wakeman.

"Because of Dr. Lee's connection with many personnel in Connecticut, we were able to request him to look at our case," said Wakeman. "We were very happy he was willing to look over all of the evidence."

Wakeman said that Lee, the FBI forensic lab and the state forensic lab have all thoroughly reviewed all of the evidence that was collected from the crime scene and all reports involving the case.

"We know that Dr. Lee, the FBI and the state have all thoroughly looked over every bit of evidence we have," said Wakeman. "And Dr. Lee has concurred, along with the other labs, that there isn't anything more we can do with this forensic evidence."

According to Wakeman, police still have the same suspect in the case, and the department is continuing to pursue information that will enable an arrest to be made.

"At this point, there is not any new information to report," said Wakeman. "The case remains a top priority and is still open."

Last June, Nicholas Parisot's parents, Wilton residents Rick Parisot and Katherine Throckmorton, of 274 Nod Hill Road, filed a civil suit against Glenn and Barbara Knight, formerly of Wilton, and their 12-year-old son, claiming the "willful and malicious conduct" of the 12-year-old caused the death of Nicholas Parisot.

The civil suit, which seeks more than $15,000 in damages, alleges the 12-year-old male "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."

On Jan. 11, 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 for $1,030,000 and moved to Placentia, Calif. 

Defense Claims Parisot's Death Caused by His Own 'Negligence'

WILTON -- A Wilton family is claiming that the death of Nicholas Parisot was likely caused by his own negligence and not by the "willful and malicious conduct" of a 12-year-old member of that family.

This past June, Wilton residents Rick Parisot and Katherine Throckmorton, of 274 Nod Hill Road, filed a civil suit against Glenn and Barbara Knight and their 12-year-old son, all of 97 Hickory Hill Road, claiming the 12-year-old caused the death of their son, Nicholas Parisot.

On the afternoon of June 13, 2008, 13-year-old Parisot, 13, was riding his motorized bike on a trail in a wooded area near Hickory Hill and Hillbrook roads and struck a rope strung across the trail. Parisot suffered severe fatal injuries to his neck and body, resulting in his death shortly thereafter. Wilton police labeled the case a criminal homicide, but have yet to bring charges against anyone.

The civil suit, which seeks damages in excess of $15,000, alleges the 12-year-old male "strung a rope across a trail in the area of the woods to the rear of his family's property." The court document states 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."

The Knights, through their attorney Kevin Murphy, responded to the allegations on Jan. 11.

"If the plaintiffs sustained any injuries or damages as are alleged in their complaint, said 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 document reads.

The paperwork also states that 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."

According to David Golub, Rick Parisot and Throckmorton's attorney, this is an outrageous defense.

"Nick Parisot was literally ambushed on the trail. There is no basis to say that the victim was negligent," said Golub. "He (the 12-year-old defendant) refuses to testify, he claims he wasn't there. If he wasn't there, how does he know that Nick wasn't negligent?"

The Knights also filed a motion for a protective order on Nov. 5 and again on Jan. 11. According to the court documents, the protective order was issued "to protect the defendant, including but not limited to protect the constitutional rights" (of the defendant). The motion also stated "the court in this matter must grant the protective order filed in this case to preserve the defendant's Fifth Amendment rights."

The Knights and their attorney did not return calls for this story.

According to Rob Peragine, an attorney at the East Hartford-based Adler Law Group, LLC, which specializes in personal injury and wrongful death suits, there are many reasons someone would file a protective order in a civil suit. In this case, the Knights likely filed a protective order so the 12-year-old would not have to testify specific information in civil court that would be incriminating, said Peragine, who is not involved in the Parisot suit.

"If someone makes a statement in a civil court, they are under oath and anything said can be used against you," he said.

According to Lt. Donald Wakeman of the Wilton Police Department, the case is currently open and is still being actively investigated. He has said that officers have interviewed numerous adults and children in the case, and the Knight family was included in those interviews.

Wakeman said Wednesday that pertinent information has been developed that points towards a specific suspect, and the department will continue to pursue information that will enable an arrest to be made, no matter how long that takes.

"This case is still open and still being investigated. There is nothing new to report on as of right now," said Wakeman on Wednesday. "The department considers the investigation (to be) far too important to close out prior to an arrest being made. However, beyond that, we feel an obligation to the family of Nicholas Parisot, to provide them some degree of closure by following through with an arrest."

The Parisot family could not be reached for this story.