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.

Fire-Fighting Arsonist Sentenced to 10 Years

PYRO

FAIRFIELD - A former volunteer firefighter got 10 years in prison today for a string of arsons.


Christopher Message had been accused of setting fires in Fairfield, Monroe and Easton.



Message told the court he suffered from mental and emotional issues that were worsened by substance abuse.

Sisters Died of Smoke Inhalation

Westport, CT- Hours before they were killed in a fiery crash on the northbound Merritt Parkway on Saturday morning, Tiffany and Chantel Osorio were in New York City, having a blast celebrating Chantel's 24th birthday.
The sisters, both Stratford residents and graduates of Notre Dame High School in Fairfield, tweeted Friday night about the celebratory day, and headed back to Connecticut early Saturday.
They were found dead inside a Chevy Cobalt at about 6:30 a.m. Saturday near the Fairfield-Westport border. State Police said that Chantel was driving the car owned by Tiffany when it veered left over a soft grass median, then swerved right across both travel lanes. The car went off the right side of the road, striking a tree. The vehicle then spun around, striking a second tree and bursting into flames.
The crash was initially reported as a brush fire, and firefighters from Westport and Fairfield responded to the scene. The flames engulfed the entire vehicle, and both women were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the accident report.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Farmington said Tuesday that both women died of smoke inhalation. The cause of their deaths was accidental.

Earlier Friday, an account registered to Chantel Osorio tweeted: "My week was rough but my birthday has been goin great. Thank you all that have wished me happy birthday so far !!!"

State police confirmed Monday night that the sisters died in the crash

Before leaving for New York City, Chantel tweeted she was "city-bound," and before the pair headed back to Connecticut, Tiffany Osorio tweeted "Omw (on may way) back to CT now."
The sisters were remembered Monday as outgoing and fun-loving.
"There was that one or two seconds of shock," said the Rev. Peter Cipriani, the school chaplain at Notre Dame High School. "And then immediately I felt the tears well into my eyes."

Cipriani taught Tiffany when she was a student at Notre Dame.
"Someone like that -- it makes you excited to get out of bed each day and come to a place like this," said Cipriani, "and that's why it's just devastating the world has lost someone like that."
"The first word that comes to mind in describing Tiffany is `sass,' " he said. "I don't think I've known a more sassier girl, and yet I mean that as the biggest compliment. Wherever you happened to be in the school, you knew that Tiffany was close by -- you just had to listen -- but at the same time, very fun. That's what she was able to use her sass for -- more than anything, was for fun, get a few chuckles out of people.
Cipriani didn't know Chantel as well, but when he looked Monday at her yearbook photo, he was taken aback by the quote she chose to go with her photo:

"Life is short and so am I, so I'm going to do the best with them both before I die."
Chantel Osorio, who graduated from Southern Connecticut State University in 2009, held a state license as a pharmacy technician, according to an online database.

A poster memorializing the sisters is circulating on Facebook, and people throughout the community are taking to Twitter to leave their condolences.

Mike Millea tweeted that he had homeroom with Chantel all four years at Notre Dame.
"I cannot believe that she's gone," he wrote.

Dawud Peterson wrote on Facebook that his children were friends with the Osorio sisters.
"When my family heard the news, we were devastated," he wrote.
Shereffia Francis uploaded the poster on her Facebook page.
"You were both so young, the good die young and my prayer go out to your family, your parents especially," she wrote. "You ladies will be missed and never forgotten ...watch over us thru tough times."

The account @SportsFairfield, which covers sports throughout the county, tweeted "Our thoughts are with the #NDFairfield community and the Osorio family as they mourn the loss of alumni Tiffany and Chantel."

Man Found Dead after Minivan Explosion on Merritt Parkway

FAIRFIELD -- A Bridgeport man died in an explosive van fire late Wednesday on the Merritt Parkway in Fairfield, State Police said.

The victim was identified Thursday afternoon as 50-year-old Omar Valencia, of Bridgeport.

State police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said Fairfield firefighters found Valencia's body in the brush near the parkway about 70 feet from the van, which had exploded into flames as Valencia was traveling southbound on the parkway near exit 46.

Vance said the cause of the fire does not appear suspicious.

Connie Wocell, a Papurah Road resident who called the fire department just after 11 p.m. to report the fire, said she was asleep in her house and was awakened by a screaming sound.

Wocell said she has seen and heard coyotes in her yard, which is about four yards away from the parkway and partially blocked from the road by woods, and thought the screaming sounded like that. But then Wocell looked out one of her picture windows and saw flames.

"I heard the screaming and that was almost instantaneously followed by a huge explosion, like a bomb," Wocell said by phone. "That set the dogs barking and I heard what sounded like car horns, so I jumped up to see what was going on and saw the car was on fire. It was such a huge inferno."

Wocell said she did not hear anyone talking or see any people after the explosion and did not hear any additional screaming.

"It didn't make any sense," she said. Wocell said she did not see any other car in the area or hear a crash before the screaming and explosion. She said she could hear many more explosions as tires and other vehicle parts caught fire.

Firefighters arrived on the scene and found a 1997 Chrysler Town and Country minivan fully involved in fire, Assistant Fire Chief George Gomola said. Magnesium was exploding and burning, and the tires and gasoline tank had erupted.

After firefighters extinguished the vehicle blaze and brush fire, which took about 10 minutes, they discovered the male victim's body. There were no other occupants of the vehicle found after the fire was put out, Gomola said.

A source indicated that there were footprints, apparently the victim's, visible in the grass from the van to where the body was found.

Adding to the confusion, an elderly woman driving past the fire became distracted and struck another vehicle that had pulled over in the right lane in front of the burning car so the driver of that car could try to help, Gomola said. The woman was injured and taken to St. Vincent's Medical Center to be treated for minor injuries. The stopped Mitsubishi was not occupied at the time of the accident.

Investigators cleared the scene by around 9:30 a.m. and the minivan was taken by flatbed to the state police Troop G barracks in Bridgeport.

In a statement Thursday morning, acting First Selectman Sherri Steeneck thanked firefighters for "their professionalism and hard work."

 

At Sentencing Will DiMeo Apologize?

CT Post- Barbara Caggiano doesn't recall Christopher DiMeo apologizing to her and her family and even if he did, it wouldn't have made a difference.

"I mean, what was he going to say? `Hey I'm sorry I killed your son-in-law, now please forgive me?' " Caggiano said.

On Aug. 26, 2005, DiMeo was sentenced in New York to life in prison without release for the December 2004 murder of Thomas Renison during the robbery of Renison's Glen Head, N.Y., jewelry store.

On May 6, DiMeo is to be sentenced in Superior Court here for the Feb. 2, 2005, murders of Fairfield jewelers Tim and Kim Donnelly.

As in New York, DiMeo will be receiving a prison term of life without the possibility of release.

As a result of the jury's verdict, Judge Robert Devlin's hands are tied. He can only sentence DiMeo to life without the possibility of release and nothing DiMeo may or may not say at the hearing can affect that.But as he did in New York, DiMeo is expected to say something to Donnelly family members in the courtroom.

DiMeo made a long scripted-sounding speech during the New York sentencing hearing characterized in court by Senior Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Corradino as a remorseless "tale of woe."

"First off and most importantly, I would like to express to Mr. Renison's family, that I'm very sorry for the extreme and ultimate loss that I have caused them," he began. "I know that to hear words could never help diminish the severe pain that I've caused; but I hope at the same time that me serving the rest of my life in prison gives them some sort of closure. I also know that nothing I say or do could ever change the pain they feel. All I can tell them is that my apology is sincere and heartfelt."

Then DiMeo launched into a nearly 900-word speech about his poor upbringing and the dangers of using heroin.

But for Caggiano, and her family, it made no difference.

"What he said didn't give me any closure, I'll never have closure," she said. "It's just lucky that the police got him when they did or he would have killed more people."

Bridgeport drug kingpin Russell Peeler Jr. was in the same position as DiMeo as he stood before Devlin in December 2007 to be sentenced to death for ordering the 1999 murders of 8-year-old Leroy "B.J." Brown and his mother, Karen Clarke. But he didn't apologize.

"This whole process has been a farce!" Peeler shouted. "I had nothing to do with killing these people. He (former State's Attorney Jonathan Benedict) opened up his checkbook to prosecute me. I had nothing to do with killing these people ... This prosecutor, Mr. Benedict, is the wickedest person ever."

But his statement had no effect on the sentence; Peeler sits on death row.

Benedict and others say while it is a criminal's right to have their say, it may only mean something to the family of the victim.

"If the jury has found for death, or even in cases where the jury has reached a decision for life without parole, it's an automatic punishment," Benedict said. "So what the defendant has to say at the time of sentencing is interesting, but it can in no way affect the outcome."

He said it would be interesting to see whether DiMeo does say something at his sentencing hearing. "He could say something that conceivably could help the victims' family with closure,'' he said, "but I don't expect it."

Greenwich Man Dies From Injuries Suffered in Fairfield Bus Crash

Greenwich, CT- A former Greenwich man, who as a Navy pilot survived being shot down during the Vietnam War's Tet offensive, died over the weekend from injuries suffered in a Fairfield bus accident last week, police said Monday.

The man, who was in the accident Friday and died Sunday, according to his ex-wife, was identified as Francis Defreitas, 68. His ex-wife Gail, a Darien resident, said he formerly lived in Greenwich but had moved to Westport.

Around 2:30 p.m. Friday, Defreitas was standing in a Coastal Link Milford Transit District bus that was traveling in Fairfield, according to Fairfield police spokeswoman Sgt. Susan Lussier. He was thrown backward when the bus was cut off by a dark red Volkswagen that pulled over from the Post Road's left lane to the right, turning right onto Reef Road.

Defreitas suffered serious head injuries and was taken to St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, Lussier said.

"It was just a freak accident," Gail Defreitas said. "It must have been his stop because he was standing."

Police are searching for the driver of the Volkswagen, which is described as having a tan convertible top.

Even though Francis and Gail Defreitas were divorced, the couple kept in touch.

"He was a very upbeat; he saw the positive in everything," she said. "There was no negative in his world. If there was, he didn't talk about it."

The couple were originally from Hudson, Mass. Francis Defreitas joined the Navy and became a pilot, flying C-131 "Samaritan" transport planes, she said. He flew on missions in which leaflets were distributed and propaganda broadcast against the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong, she said.

During one mission, he was shot down but landed safely, she said. He also flew non-combat missions during his time in the Navy, including flying scientists into the eye of a hurricane and near volcanoes after they erupted, she said.

In civilian life, he threw himself into the computer industry, especially software sales, she said.

"Anything about computers he liked," she said. Among the companies he worked for was Xerox, she said.

Francis Defreitas rode buses because poor sight in one eye prevented him from driving, Gail Defreitas said.

An athletic person who never smoke or drank, he agreed to become an organ donor, Gail Defreitas said.

"They kept him on life support until Sunday. He donated two kidneys and a liver, and he saved three lives. He would have been happy about that," Gail Defreitas said.

The bus was slowing down on its approach to the bus stop just east of Reef Road, Lussier said. Witnesses said they believe the driver of the Volkswagen pulled into the driveway leading to the parking garage behind Borders bookstore.

"We are actively attempting to locate and talk to the operator of the VW or anyone who may have witnessed this incident," Lussier said.

Gail Defreitas said the couple were married for 20 years, but divorced in 1987. After the divorce, Francis Defreitas moved to Greenwich, where he worked at the time in computer software sales, she said.

Theyhave four children, all boys. The family was going to discuss funeral arrangements Monday evening, she said.

Witness: Motorists Heroically Pulled 2 From Burning Car

FAIRFIELD - A woman who witnessed a devastating car fire on I-95 in Fairfield over the weekend says she was overwhelmed by the incredible acts of heroism she saw as fellow motorists freed two people trapped by smoke and flames.

Gloria Raymond says about 20 people braved the fire as they tried to get to the couple trapped inside the car.

Raymond says a group of men grabbed the 63-year-old driver who told them his wife was still in the vehicle. She says one of the men then went to the car and pulled her out through the back passenger-side door.

The victim’s wife, 67-year-old Mary Hughes, later died from her injuries.

Jury Selected in DiMeo Murder Trial

FAIRFIELD - A jury has been selected for the trial of a man accused of murdering two Fairfield jewelers in their store.

Chri DiMeo is accused of killing Tim and Kim Donnelly during a robbery in 2005.

DiMeo's ex-girlfriend already has pleaded guilty in the case.

DiMeo could receive the death penalty if he is convicted.
His trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 18.
Jury selection under way in Fairfield double murder trial

Arrest Made in Fairfield Lewd Behavior Case

(11/01/10) FAIRFIELD - Fairfield police say they have arrested a man who engaged in lewd sexual behavior in two stores.

The incidents allegedly took place in Kohl's and Marshall's stores where police say Jean Leconte, 22, of Bridgeport, exposed himself to female victims while they were shopping. In one of the incidents, police say Leconte also masturbated.

Police have charged Leconte with fourth-degree sexual assault and public indecency in connection with the incidents.

Authorities say Leconte is also facing similar charges in Trumbull.

Fairfield Man Kills Self After Homeland St. Standoff

Fairfield Citizen- Houses on Homeland Street were evacuated early Sunday after an armed man barricaded himself in a neighborhood home, threatening to kill himself.

Police were dispatched to 160 Homeland St. about 4:50 a.m. Sunday after the mother of Michael D'Avanzo, 44, reported that her son was threatening to kill himself. D'Avanzo, who owns both rifles and hand guns, was loading one of the weapons when she fled from the residence, which they shared.

The mother believed she heard one gun shot as she left, she told police. D'Avanzo was considered by officers who arrived on the scene to be a barricaded subject, armed and dangerous.

Officers from the Fairfield Emergency Services Unit secured a perimeter around the home, and helped to evacuate nearby residences. They were assisted by the Bridgeport ESU and its utility vehicle, which is able to withstand gun fire.

After several unsuccessful attempts by Fairfield police negotiators to reach Michael D'Avanzo by phone, ESU officers entered the residence and found the man's body in a bedroom, apparently the victim of a self-inflicted gun shot wound.

Detectives are continuing to investigate the incident.