However, her DNA matched that found at the crime scene. Yet, Janet kept insisting that she was innocent and even claimed that the cut on her hand was from a light bulb. It was indeed quite difficult for their loved ones to accept the gruesome and untimely deaths. King was shot three times, stabbed several times and struck in the head with a glass jar. Janet Griffin will spend the rest of her days in prison for the 1993 murders of two Middletown residents after a jury found reason Wednesday to spare her life. Janet was ultimately convicted of two counts of murder in addition to a single count of a capital felony. Prosecutors said Griffin carefully plotted Stellers murder for weeks in a desperate attempt to win back Coccia, who was her former lover. Under that law, Griffin could be spared the death penalty if the jury finds there was a single mitigating factor, such as mental incapacity at the time of the crime. Click here to access data collected by the Middletown Police Department as well as other Connecticut police departments related to motor vehicle stops made by officers. Erik Ofgang, eofgang@connecticutmag.com Jan. 19, 2021 8 The same jury that decided Griffins guilt will decide whether she lives or dies. Police called Le's death a case of workplace violence. He is accused of being Griffins accomplice, egging her on during the murders and, at one point, handing her a knife to use as a weapon. In 2009 Adam Dobrzanski slit the throat of his 20-year-old daughter in December 2009 in an attempt to spite his wife, who was divorcinghim. Envelopes for Enhanced Driver/Police Officer Communications, Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.). View the voter registration of Janet L Crosetti-Jackson (age 57) from Middletown, Connecticut. The seven-minute tape was played for the jury four times. A jury found that Patricia Lynn Steller and her nephew Ronald King were killed in 1993 by Janet Griffin with help from Griffins coworker Gordon "Butch" Fruean Jr. Griffin, 72, is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole at York Correctional Institution after being convicted in 1996, according to prison records. am sorry I ruined lives and I am sorry for taking Annie Le's life. Born in 1774 in New London, Connecticut, she was an intellectually disabled young girl of Pequot Indian descent. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Welcome to the new courant.com: Whats changed, FAQs and more, CT man found guilty of narcotics, firearm offenses, Hartford Civilian Police Review Board inspector general resigns, With old Ames HQ in Rocky Hill demolished, state kicks in nearly $1 million for multi-use development, Parkinsons symptoms eased by non-surgical procedure, study shows, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. The capital felony charge, which is punishable by death or life in prison, hinged on the jurys finding that Griffin murdered two people in the same violent rage. It was never determined how it happened, but investigators surmise that the attackers activated it while cutting the telephone line. that were instructing him to kill certain people: a pedophile priest, a The same jury had found Griffin guilty of the murder and capital felony charges April 22. The two men then poured gasoline all around the house and the two surviving girls and lit the house on first. Outside the courtroom, Loso was hugged by Gina Coccia, the woman who had lived with Griffin before becoming romantically involved with Steller. Prosecutors said the killing was ordered by party co-founder Bobby Seale, whose 1970 trial in New Haven became a cause celebre for the radical left. found murdered in their home, stabbed repeatedly. Elizabeth's husband, John She and two of her children died in the fire. the crime.Police said Smith killed 43-year-old Angel "Tun Tun" Gonzalez Make a life-giving gestu However, in 1950, six years after the incident, Segee stepped forward and claimed responsibility, stating that a dream about an Indian riding a flaming horse told him to start the fire. I looked at him. The show will air June 4 at 9 p.m. Its a cliche but a textbook case when it comes to investigating a homicide, Siena said. The small community of Middletown, Connecticut, was left completely shocked when Patricia Lynn Steller and Ronald Kings double-murder came to light. When they returned to her home, Hayes sexually assaulted Hawke-Petit and then strangled her. In November, a state jury convicted 39-year-old Cornel Myers of murder in the 2018 slaying of Danielle Fasciocco, a fifth-grade teacher at the Betances STEM Magnet School in Hartford. when he had tasted the blood it had given him a sexual sensation," "Two days after Christmas, a mother and two of her young children were Police said the day before Tyree Lincoln Smith hacked to death a homeless man in an Now retired Middletown police Detective Robert Barone reviews his case files pertaining to the November 1993 double murder of Patricia Lynn Steller and her nephew Ronald King. Once put on trial, Janet put in a formal plea of not guilty. Middletown man sentenced to 57 years in Hartford teacher's murder, 2023 Hearst Media Services Connecticut, LLC, Kids' book written by Middletown nurse based on tales he told son, Ex-Middletown official gets suspended sentence in DUI case, CT officials grant initial approval for Middletown charter school, Middletown Dem Kai Belton handily wins 100th House seat, Protesters want former CT Juvenile Training School 'bulldozed', Middletown District 1 had no special CT election signs for hours, Route 9 in Middletown reopens after car fire, police say, Middletown pair vying to fill late CT lawmaker's seat, Report: CT teacher fired several shots at man before his arrest, Capital Prep Charter School Middletown decides against CJTS site, convicted 39-year-old Cornel Myers of murder, Warrant: Ex-New Fairfield 'lunch lady' sent nude images to student on Snapchat for months before sex assault, Ex-Middletown official pleads guilty to DUI, 6-month jail sentence suspended, Former CT girls soccer coach pleads guilty to sexually assaulting player, No. There was nothing to suspect any untoward incident, and Patricias girlfriend, Gina Coccia, decided to visit the two once they got back from their jobs. The weapons used were a dagger, hatchet, hammer and necktie. 245 deKoven Drive, Middletown, CT 06457. Bail reforms intended to ensure that indigent defendants are not jailed simply for lack of resources won final passage in the Senate early Wednesday on a 29 to 7 , Believe it or not, but the Mafia actually has a rich and colorful history in Connecticut. Kelly Silk was just 32-years-old but had already suffered a long history of mental illness. When asked why he did it, he said that voices told him to kill and eat a helpless homeless man. During the trial, the prosecution painted Griffin as a cold, calculating killer who carefully plotted the murders in an obsessive quest to win back Coccia, her ex-lover. Somehow, during the attack, the memo function on the answering machine was activated and the entire murders caught on audiotape, Barone said. King was killed simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, authorities said. Police began investigating after hearing reports of a man operating a MIDDLETOWN, CT A man has been charged with murder in connection with the killing of a woman in Middletown earlier this year, according to police. When he entered the home, he discovered that a homeless man was already living there, but instead of asking him ever so politely to leave, he took an ax and smashed in his face. - New York McKay said he would have to evaluate the trial transcripts before deciding whether there were grounds for appeal. While he did eventually shoot himself, he barricaded himself in an office before doing so and called his mother to explain to her that he was going to kill himself. Neither Griffin nor Fruean had criminal records. On Friday, March 3, 2023, Hobbs said corrections officials do not . the 12-member jury that Skakel had bludgeoned Moxley to death with his Diabolical on Investigation Discovery takes a closer look at the murders of Patricia Lynn Steller and her nephew, Ronald King, by Janet Griffin, involving Gordon Butch Fruean. 9 UConn womens basketball vs. Georgetown: Time, TV and what you need to know, NY man who killed and skinned Ridgefield dogs was twice told they were not coyotes, warrant shows, CT education board grants initial approval for Middletown charter school, Former mayor, Mormon bishop gets prison for child sex abuse, The Best Private High Schools Near Hartford, Guide to Legal Cannabis Dispensaries in CT, The Best Window Replacement Companies in CT. On December 16, 1970 the Herald-Journal reported that Rice turned himself into police.Read more. On July 23, 2007 a brutal home invasion took place in the home of Dr. Petit William Petit. landscaper, currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for the death of Gordon Butch Fruean II, 32, of Vermont, still faces trial for the murders. It was December of 2011. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sentenced to 45 years in a state asylum. After breaking in, the pair smashed in Dr. William Petits head in with a baseball bat and tied him up in the basement. . MIDDLETOWN A local man has been sentenced to 57 years in prison for the murder of a Hartford teacher at her home in Middletown four years ago, state officials said. They then tied the two girls to their beds and waited until the banks opened, at which point Hayes drove Hawke-Petit to the bank and forced her to withdraw $15,000. Heath, 70-years-old and confined to a wheelchair, was convicted of the Get another one, Griffin could be heard ordering Fruean . Griffin realized that Steller and King were still alive after she ran out of bullets and asked Fruean to hand her a knife from the kitchen, according to the court summary. They were arrested and sentenced to death. On May 20, 1969, Black Panther Warren Kimbro fatally shot Alex Rackley, a 19-year-old Black Panther member who party members believed was an FBI informant. An initial medical inspection proved that the victims had been shot and stabbed multiple times. Oct. 23, 2013 Judge Thomas Bishop rules in favor of Skakel in the appeal, granting him a new trial in Martha Moxley's murder.Click here for a timeline of the case. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. rv camping near quinn's hot springs; hill of grace restaurant closed; list of countries invaded by the us. In 2013, appeal papers filed by Skakel's attorneys implicated his older brother Thomas, who had been a suspect before Michael, in the murder. Thats when Fruean handed her a knife and told her to finish what she started. A jury of seven men and five women found a mitigating factor to preclude the 49-year-old Vermont grandmother from lethal injection.