12 years, 7 bodies and 1 killer
Police say seven people found dead in a small stretch of woods in New Britain, Connecticut, are all the victims of the same serial killer.
The conclusion has been 12 years in the making.
In 2007, a hunter found human remains in the woods behind a strip mall. Police searched the area and found two more bodies. Over the next seven years, the three victims were identified as Diane Cusack, 53; Joyvaline Martinez, 23; and Mary Jane Menard, 40. Police said they were all murdered in 2003 by the same person.
Last month, a serial killer task force made up of several local police departments returned to the area with cadaver dogs and found more human bones. At the time, investigators were unsure if the remains were from the three women found years before, or if there were more bodies.
On Monday, New Britain police said in a news conference that the remains came from four more victims, bringing the killer’s total to seven. One was given a name: Melanie Ruth Camilini. She was 29 when she disappeared in 2003.
She was identified on what would have been her 42nd birthday.
Authorities said they have a suspect in the case, but would not release his name. According to the Hartford Courant, he is currently in prison and no danger to the public.
If one person is convicted of all seven murders, he will be one of the most prolific serial killers in the state’s history, according to the New Britain Herald. Michael Ross was convicted of murdering four women in 1987 and pleaded guilty to murdering two others in 1985. He confessed to two more murders in another state but was never tried for them. He was executed in 2005.
Eerily, the body of a teenage girl was found in the same woods as the other seven in 1995, but police said the cases were unrelated.
Elizabeth Honsch had been shot in the head shortly before her body was found. Her mother, Marcia, was found over a week later in Tolland, Massachusetts. The women were not identified until last year, when Robert Honsch, Elizabeth’s father and Marcia’s husband, was found living under a different name with a new wife and family in Ohio. He was arrested and charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty, and his trial is scheduled to begin in January.
Though the 15 acres of woods are overgrown and difficult to access, they are surrounded by civilization: a highway passes through on one side; a neighborhood dotted with peaceful homes borders another; a Courtyard Marriott looks over the tree; and Westfarms mall and Corbins Corner, two popular shopping spots, are just a few blocks away.
Correction: the original version of this story said it would have been Melanie Ruth Camilini’s 43rd birthday. It would have been her 42nd.
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