From ctnow.com
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Violent Death Probed
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Woman Found In Basement

By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY
Courant Staff Writer

July 12, 2004

EAST HARTFORD -- A woman found dead in her apartment house basement over
the weekend was attacked so violently that police are uncertain as to
her exact cause of death.

"There are indications that there are several different possible causes
of death," Lt. Curt Stoldt said.

Police have tentatively identified the 37-year-old woman, but will not
release her identity until it is confirmed through an autopsy, scheduled
for today.

The autopsy also may show what caused her death, police said.

A police sergeant and two patrol officers found the woman's body in the
basement of a building at 200 Nutmeg Lane in Woodcliff Estates early
Saturday, Stoldt said. The officers had responded to a call from the
woman's husband and other family members, who had noticed damage to a
common door leading to the basement area, he said.

She had died several hours before she was found, he said.

The husband had reported her missing Friday morning, after she had
failed to arrive home. Her car was in the complex parking lot, Stoldt
said.

The couple had no children and no history of domestic violence, he said.


The woman was found in a building that is next to Showcase Cinemas and
the Stop & Shop supermarket. Its basement houses banks of garages
accessible through common hallways, residents said Sunday. Although the
hallways are locked, tenants can use apartment keys to get in, one
resident said.

About a dozen local investigators, plus representatives of the Hartford
state's attorney's office and state police forensic laboratory,
responded to the scene Saturday, Stoldt said. Police gathered a large
amount of evidence in the basement and surrounding area throughout the
day, he said.

"I mobilized every investigator available to me," Stoldt said. "We did a
complete canvass - interviewed hundreds of people. We did extensive
searches of the area." The search included bushes surrounding businesses
and vacant lots, he said. Police believe she was killed in the area.

"When we left yesterday, I was satisfied that there was nothing left for
us to do at the scene," he said. On Sunday, investigators were finishing
their paperwork, he said, and today they will review it.

"We've pretty much done all the site work, following up on all leads and
everything," Stoldt said. "Now we're at the point where we have to sit
back and really study the facts of the case."

On Sunday, there was no sign that a violent crime had occurred at the
building. Children and parents swam in the pool across the street.

Neighbors were surprised to hear what had happened at the complex, which
some said had improved markedly since it changed owners a few years ago.
Officials from the new management company, Tarragon Management, could
not be reached Sunday.

"Nothing like this has ever happened in the complex," said Angela
Miller, who has lived there for more than a decade. She said gang
members roamed the grounds years ago, but Tarragon "cleaned up this
complex," in part by putting up a gate at the entrance near the theater.
It is locked every night at 6 p.m., she said.

Dave Mitchell, who has lived in Building 200 for seven years, said,
"I've got to tell you the truth, when I heard it I was shocked. This is
a quiet community."

He said his girlfriend was supposed to come over Sunday, but she opted
not to because of the homicide.

"I don't know if it was someone [the victim] knew, or just a random
thing," he said Sunday.

He, too, has his concerns about safety, he said.

"I thought about it when I went to sleep last night, believe me."
Copyright 2004, Hartford Courant

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