Stabbings/Murder in Chaplin!

[Chris Komuves]

In case you hadn't heard...

http://www.norwichbulletin.com/carousel/x1793847047/State-police-on-scene-of-stabbing-in-Chaplin#axzz1nDJkqEtN

This is absolutely horrible!  I guess I naively thought that we'd be free of violence like this in a small rural town like ours.  With the rash of recent burglaries and now murder, people are getting scared (and I'm getting angry....and scared too, for those I care about).

Does anyone know more about what happened here?

Chris

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Christopher S. Komuves  <c...@kom.com>

     http://chris.komuves.org

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[khi...@charter.net]

no we don't know anything---but the state police should at least give us an update--and tell the community if we need to be aware of suspicious activities or people.  I think that someone from the town administration should contact the state police and let us know what  if anything we need to be made aware of--i.e.--were there a number of break ins lately? if so where and at what time of the day--this is information that is at least made available to areas that have community block watches.

Can anyone contact the state police for na update?

Pat

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[Oodyb...@aol.com]

Apparently, Utopia cannot exist when the proper means for the defense of ones individual right to Life is not immediately at hand. Failure to prepare is preparing for failure. 

 

As soon as there is a completed report from our resident trooper, Trooper Black, it should be made available through all communication channels within the towns infrastructure, through means not unlike this electronic forum. Precious time and funds have gone into the planning and protocol for these types of things via consistent influx of revenues from the taxpayer. When things of such practical, life altering, import can be passed along swiftly it must be done so, in accordance with the consistent mores absolutely necessary, and traditionally inherent, in those public officials trusted with the task of public safety (I am completely unaware of a "rash of recent burglaries"). I think that would go a long way towards easing the fears and concerns that some may have. If a current report is not available quickly, it is certainly understandable, however, it shouldn't deter from taking a few minutes every couple of hours, during a crisis, to update residents on the specifics...in this particular matter especially. That should be one of the "perks" of hiring a resident trooper, as opposed to waiting for the local Troop to notify the increasingly less objective local press. It is also important to not hinder the likelyhood of catching the suspect by disseminating key info needed for apprehension...a fine line indeed.

 

Hey, at least we get to be regularly informed of nature walks and such other life or death matters involving the sustenance of our apparent betters...like birds, foliage, and full moon beams at Goodwin Forest etc., etc., right?

 

We must be kept well informed if at all possible, to be able to prepare accordingly, for the best interests involving the safety of loved ones and neighbors. We could scrap the redundant nature of the elementary school's messaging system for wet road delays and cancellations, and use re-alocated funds for a similar system involving reports from our Resident Trooper, for example.

 

I live on Mountain Laurel and was within earshot of this tragically, horrible carnage experienced by my defenseless fellow man--unfortunately my 11 year old son also heard it. Take my word for it, whoever it was, was definitely scared too.

 

My advice is for everyone to educate themselves on any and all law abiding ways to train and prepare for the time when your preparational awareness, and your actions are the only things you have available to determine wether you, or a family member, is seriously "altered", or God forbid, prematurely removed from the relatively short  time we are Blessed with here on this Earth. Your life, or your neighbors, may depend on your ability to be prepared to act accordingly. 

 

It is a statistical fact that criminals will be deterred from an area that is notoriously known as "not so easy-pickens" for those who feel at liberty to take whatever they please or act above the law in any manner they may choose, at any time. A state detective here on scene informed me yesterday that the illegal immigrant/heroin problem is growing out of control in Willimantic unlike what they have been used to in the past. Do we dare propose an educated guess and speculate this had something to do with that statistic from the horses mouth? 

 

Until he/she is caught, this criminal now thinks they have a chance of getting away with murder in our small town. Let's do all we can as law abiding citizens to prove such an idea is brazenly fallacious at best. If we each do our own individual due diligence in preparing, we will remain a strong community.   

[Laume Steven]

Ody, you sound, angry, scared and armed.  I hope the Jehovahs or Girl Scouts don't show up on your door step and have you get all trigger happy.

In your rather wordy response some of what you said made a great deal of sense to me.  Having one part time (40 Hr a week) Resident State Trooper is not a deterrent to crime in our community.  If we do not have a police force capable of stopping crime, aside from the occasional speeder, then what is the point?  I agree that one of the primary jobs of "our" trooper should be to inform the law abiding citizens of our community, in a timely manner, of the problems that might exist.  I haven't been to a selectman's meeting for a while but the trooper used to report a few traffic stops and a domestic incident or two every month.  This old information served very little purpose.  In today's world there is no reason why we could not be updated on a daily or even hourly basis in the time of a crisis.

I was and still am, very disappointed in the lack of information about this latest incident.  Neither the police or the media gave us much to go on.  From what very little they did tell us and some local knowledge I assumed it was a domestic incident and that there was no suspect at large.  The point is we should not have had to guess at this.  The good folks of Chaplin should not have to worry or be scared about what happened if it presents no danger to them.  If there was a knife wielding murderer on the lose you can bet there would be all sorts of police presence on our roads and in our skies.  It is odd that the lack of police activity should be the key to reassurance.

I was only vaguely aware that there have been a rash of break ins here in Chaplin.  If everyone was made aware and given some information as to what to look for, we may be able to help the police catch these people.  As the employers of our Resident Trooper we should be demanding regular updates as to what is going on in our community.  I am not suggesting any sort of vigilante activities but rather the use of our many thousand eyes to help the police do there job.  Regular postings on this board would be a very easy way to accomplish this. 

It makes me very sad for the people directly involved and our community at large that we have had this recent violence.  It would be nice if some form of good came from it, Steve.       

om: "Oodyb...@aol.com" <Oodyb...@aol.com>

To: chapli...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 10:52 PM
Subject: Re: [Chaplin Town Forum] Stabbings/Murder in Chaplin!

[Kitty LeShay]

I am very much in agreement with Steve's point that it is important for residents to be aware of break-ins around town without going to a Selectman's meeting, and to have any information which could help stop them.

I also think it is important for people not to blame this murder on illegal immigrants. It is sort lumping one category of people together which in my book prejudice. Kitty

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From: Laume Steven <sla...@yahoo.com>
To: "chapli...@googlegroups.com" <chapli...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Fri, February 24, 2012 9:47:14 AM

[Anne Burnham]

I'm not sure how many of you subscribe to the Town of Chaplin list serve, but here is the email sent out by our First Selectman yesterday regarding the incident:

 

To all Residents,

As I am sure many of you are aware there was a stabbing and homicide on Mountain Laurel Lane in Chaplin yesterday afternoon. I have just been informed by our Resident Trooper Paul Black that even through there is a continuing investigation into this matter it has been determined that this is an isolated incident. This was not a random house invasion and that the parties involved were know to each other. Residents should not fear for their safety and continue with business as usual without worry.

As a result of Miller Road and Mountain Laurel Lane being closed during the investigation for the better part of today the garbage pickup for those roads will be hopefully take place tomorrow so please leave you barrels at the curb until Willimantic waste can get to them.

For further information you may call the Ct. State Police information line at 860-685-8230.

Thanks for patience, Bill Rose

Personally, I think the above notification given within 24 hours of the incident was reasonable and I appreciated it.  I would think that in a murder investigation which appears to be betweem two parties with a personal relationship (i.e., not a risk to public safety),  law enforcement must complete its investigation to a point before it can make a public announcement.  I expect that if it had been a home invasion or other incident where law enforcement could immediately ascertain that the general public was at risk, an immediate notice to the public would have been "broadcast" (whether by TV, radio, internet, or use of the schools' telephone notification system).  I think back 20 years ago to when Trooper Bagshaw was ambushed and murdered at the corner of Routes 6 and 203 by two armed suspects who remained at large, the public notification was immediate and comprehensive. 

 

Anne Burnham

From: Laume Steven <sla...@yahoo.com>
To: "chapli...@googlegroups.com" <chapli...@googlegroups.com>

Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 9:47 AM

[LYNCH, Catherine (Emeritus)]

May I suggest that people who have signed up for this forum might also be interested in signing up for the town's "newsletter," also via googlegroups. You can sign up through the town's webpage or through a link on the example here

http://groups.google.com/group/chaplinct/browse_thread/thread/dcb17c022a677b6e

which contains a timely and informative update from the first selectman on the stabbing incident.

 

Katie Lynch

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From: chapli...@googlegroups.com [chapli...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Kitty LeShay [kitt...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 11:01 AM
To: chapli...@googlegroups.com

[Laume Steven]

"Personally, I think the above notification given within 24 hours of the incident was reasonable and I appreciated it."

Sorry to disagree but the police must have known what the situation was within an hour of the initial incident.  To have wait over 20 hours to be informed, by our first selectman, that there was no danger to the general population, is not reasonable in my mind, Steve.

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From: Anne Burnham <aburn...@yahoo.com>
To: "chapli...@googlegroups.com" <chapli...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 11:21 AM

[Oodyb...@aol.com]

@Slaume : You didn't have anything new/different to add to my initial comment besides the adolescent nature of a highly speculative, ad hominem attack on my reputation. Thanks; your a real class act. My family has two households in this town, and we've been paying taxes here for a cumulative 55+ years. Your credibility, as well as any genuine cause for concern you may have in this matter, should certainly be called into question if that is how you enter a serious forum such as this and proceed to claim: " It would be nice if some form of good came from it". I'm sure others  would also appreciate a little more respect for the magnitude of this issue, Sir. 

 

Back to the adult topic:

Now that there has been two relatively comparable,separate situations, involving similar circumstances in our town (Mrs. Messenger on Singleton Rd., and now this), there needs to be a cost effective analysis done on the level of service we have received, both with and without the costly Resident Trooper. We may find that the actual service we get, can be achieved through a different, less costly, means. For example, we used to utilize the services of Mr. Ricky Nichols to provide constabulary surveillance throughout the town, in somewhat of an official capacity, at a much lesser cost.

 

Still, my opinion remains that nothing beats the situational awareness of each and every individual taxpaying citizen as our best defense in any community affairs, until the applicable authorities are available for any assistance, if need be. If there is enough concern in your neighborhood, than organize some sort of crime-watch with your neighbors. I am always absolutely willing to personally help any of my fellow citizens in many capacities, but these days I cannot afford paying any more money for someone else's inability to deal with their own fears, and in turn, having to rely on a service in which I help fund, that may or may not be there when myself (or anyone else), most need it.

 

I have always believed that the initial hiring of our Resident Trooper was a knee jerk reaction to help coddle the naive notion that, someone not in your immediate area of need, will always be there, no matter what, to save your family from harm. That is just not acceptable to me, or my dwindling household budget, with specific regard to the most efficient way in caring for the safety of my family, in any given situation.

 

If we can come out of this tragedy saving tens of thousands of our tax  dollars(rapidly decreasing in value these days) in the budget, it would be a good thing.    

[Oodyb...@aol.com]

I don't think that Detective Luther was blaming illegal immigrants when he made that statement to me at all. I am of the opinion that he was just stating a fact that may require awareness to those concerned for the safety of themselves or others; we spoke in terms of being family men. He also has a family. In fact Ms. Kitty, I fail to see any statement, other than yours, in this forum, that resembles assigning blame to anybody for this murder, let alone illegal immigrants.Try to stay on topic. The facts have yet to conclude anything of practical use for the residents of Chaplin with regard to this murder, other than the murderer is still on the loose. That fact should concern all area residents.

 

It is my understanding that this forum is best utilized in getting some ideas out to help others cope and best prepare for issues that effect our families, the town of Chaplin, and all surrounding areas. Maximum benefit can be achieved in times of crisis, using this forum, if we can avoid the name calling and finger pointing.

 

In a message dated 2/24/2012 11:03:30 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, kitt...@yahoo.com writes:

I am very much in agreement with Steve's point that it is important for residents to be aware of break-ins around town without going to a Selectman's meeting, and to have any information which could help stop them.

I also think it is important for people not to blame this murder on illegal immigrants. It is sort lumping one category of people together which in my book prejudice. Kitty

From: Laume Steven <sla...@yahoo.com>
To: "chapli...@googlegroups.com" <chapli...@googlegroups.com>

Sent: Fri, February 24, 2012 9:47:14 AM

[John Reynolds]

If there is no danger to the general public, why is the murderer still on the loose? Who was the women that was stabbed, and maybe I caught, or read, it wrong but some one implied that the murder was done by a person of an ethnic  minority. I agree with Steve and Kitty more information should be given out to the public. 

Having What! Is called a Resident State Trooper who is not a resident of our town, for forty hours a week is not very much time for him to work the whole town for what we are paying the State Police for his services. Now I like Paul Black I think he is a fine man, But I can't get him to stop the speeding on my Rd. How is he suppose to stop a murderer. I just think that things like this should be put up on the web site a lot sooner. 

The People who are crying wolf seem to want everything, to be perfect, it isn't, every thing is wrong. thre police are not doing there job ect. Things like this go on all the time just listen to the news nightly and you will see that this happens in every town. My daughter lives in Mansfield and they had a bunch of break ins the person was finally caught. The same thing happened in Ashford recently. What we need to do is be aware of who is in our neighborhood and make your neighbors aware of it, and of course the Police.

 

John Reynolds

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From: Laume Steven <sla...@yahoo.com>
To: "chapli...@googlegroups.com" <chapli...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Fri, February 24, 2012 9:47:14 AM