Updated Mom News from CT
Kevin
Seeking A Motive
By JOSH KOVNER and MARIE K. SHANAHAN
This story ran in the Courant July 29, 1998
WINDSOR -- After 7-year-old Jarrell Todd Cuyler was slain in his bed
July 9, police had only a vague, almost incredible account of masked
intruders in the night from the boy's terrified mother, Tammi Cuyler.
A week later, a picture of a cold-blooded crime began to emerge with the
arrest of Chasity West, the murder suspect who investigators say had an
unrealistic vision of a life with Cuyler's ex-husband.
Tuesday, police arrested Alexis Grajales, 18, of East Hartford, accused
of being her accomplice, and added more details to the portrait they've
been working on for nearly three weeks.
Grajales owned the Casio watch that Tammi Cuyler had ripped from the
wrist of one of the intruders, sources said. West had given him the
watch, investigators said.
Grajales gave a 7 1/2-hour interview and statement to police beginning
late Monday. Just before his arrest Tuesday afternoon, he met with
prosecutors and agreed to testify against West, sources said. In return,
he will not face the death penalty.
Investigators believe they have established a context for the crime:
Tammi and Arnold Cuyler shared custody of Jarrell and 3-year-old Lindsey
Nicole Cuyler, and West, who was dating Arnold Cuyler, may have believed
the children stood in her way. West, who is Tammi Cuyler's first cousin,
got involved with Arnold Cuyler after the couple's divorce 18 months
ago.
Sources said West, 23, wanted to take off to the South with Cuyler, 34,
but Cuyler refused, saying he had to stay near his children.
ALEX GRAJALES, left, looks out the window of a Windsor, Conn., police
squad car as he is driven from Windsor Police Headquarters on his way to
arraignment in Enfield, Conn., Superior Court. Grajales was arrested and
charged with one count of felony murder, one count of first degree
burglary and one count of first degree kidnaping in connection with the
death of Jarrell Cuyler in Windsor, Conn., July 9, 1998. The sources
said the suspects tried to make the crime look like the brutal,
drug-related killings of three people in Hartford on June 9, exactly one
month earlier.
But investigators still can't understand the mind-set behind such a
savage attack.
"There are still questions that I've been asked from day one that we're
still searching for answers for," Windsor police Capt. Peter McDermott
said at a news conference Tuesday. Thirty Windsor and state police
investigators have worked on the case.
"There's a sense that the job isn't totally done yet," McDermott said.
"The people involved in this investigation really bought into this
emotionally. They had to refocus their energies and make the emotion
part of the goal of solving the case. It's been very tough for a lot of
these guys."
For family members, the arrest of Grajales brought a restrained
reaction.
"It is a good thing, if the police do have the right people," said Mary
Frances Crapps of Bloomfield, the children's paternal grandmother. "But
the part we still can't understand is why? Jarrell didn't do anything."
"We'll just have to wait and see and try to keep going."
Grajales is a 1998 graduate of East Hartford High School who worked
briefly at Aetna. He is accused of breaking into the Cuyler home and
pinning down Tammi Cuyler in another part of the house as the killer
slashed Jarrell to death, nearly decapitating him, and wounding his
then-2-year-old sister in the mother's bedroom.
Grajales, his bail set at $2.5 million, was charged with felony murder,
defined as a killing that occurs during the course of a felony, burglary
and kidnapping. The latter charge would stem from pinning down Tammi
Cuyler.
Cuyler told police the man who held her said, "Shut ... up and no one
gets hurt."
West is accused of wielding the knife. She is charged with capital
felony, burglary and assault. She would face the death penalty.
The first major break in the case came when Lindsey Cuyler was able to
tell police that the attacker was a woman, not a man as her mother had
assumed.
When investigators asked family members if there was someone in the
family capable of this, West's name came up, sources said.
Soon, Grajales, a boyfriend of one of West's cousins, became a suspect
as well, after investigators determined that West had given Grajales the
Casio watch.
At some point, police caught an unusual break. As publicity about the
case mounted, Grajales' lawyer, Joseph Moniz, contacted Windsor police
and said his client might be willing to share information about the
Casio watch and the case.
"The media's help in this investigation stimulated some discussion that
created this situation," McDermott said of Grajales' arrest. Police had
released a picture of the Casio watch to the media hours after the
crime.
On July 17, police searched Grajales' home at 87 Pratt St., East
Hartford, for 14 hours, videotaping the inside and outside, removing
boxes and towing away Grajales' car, neighbors said.
Last Thursday, detectives searched Grajales' desk at Aetna and left with
his computer disk and e-mail. He'd worked at Aetna since March 2, and
was fired two days before the police search for what a company spokesman
said were "performance-related reasons."
Late Monday, Grajales went to Windsor police headquarters with Moniz,
who declined to comment Tuesday.
Grajales was cooperating with investigators. After interviewing him,
police returned to West's house at 40 Overlook Drive on Tuesday and took
a series of photographs.
For the past two years, Grajales has lived on Pratt Street with his
mother, Juana Grajales, and step-sister, Gladys Perez.
Neighbors knew little about Grajales or his family. Many found news of
his arrest unsettling.
"We knew something was up when the police came and searched the house
the same day [Chasity West] was arrested," said neighbor Gill Torres.
"Knowing that someone who could have killed a child lived just down the
street from my kids -- it makes me uneasy."
Grajales -- tall and thin, wearing wire-rimmed glasses, oversized Tommy
Hilfiger blue jeans and a short-sleeved red checkered shirt -- was
arraigned late Tuesday afternoon in Superior Court in Enfield. He showed
no emotion as he stood before Judge Frank D'Addabbo. At the request of
Moniz, his family did not come to court.
Assistant State's Attorney Rosita Creamer argued for $5 million bail;
Moniz argued for a much lower amount, saying his client had no criminal
record. The judge set bail at $2.5 million, and granted Moniz's request
to keep Grajales segregated from other prisoners.
Earlier Tuesday, West appeared in Hartford Superior Court. Standing in
leg irons and handcuffs, she could hardly be seen behind the 10 sheriffs
who were guarding her in front of a packed court gallery.
West's lawyer, Hubert J. Santos, requested any evidence from the state
that would be favorable to his client. Santos asked in particular for
any information on two masked men mentioned in early news reports on the
crime, based on Tammi Cuyler's statement.
Judge Patrick Clifford asked the prosecution to comply.
West did not enter a plea. Outside, Santos said West "denies the
accusations and plans to vigorously defend [herself]."
Relatives of West and Jarrell Cuyler raced from the courthouse after the
hearing to avoid news reporters.
Courant Staff Writers Thomas D. Williams, George Watson and Christine
Dempsey contributed to this story.