Kenneth Ireland-Barbara Pelkey Archives

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By DARRYL CAMPAGNA fice bad been forcibly entered, if the victim's personal effects or the office Rec()rd-'0~y! interior had been disturbed, or if a WALLINGFORD - The body of a murder weapon had been recovered.

30-year-old Wallingford woman, an Related story. page 11 apparent murder victim, was found Wednesday morning at the company "The Information is limited," he where she had been working a night said. "It would all be speculation at shift,poIice saig. this point."

The body of Bfj,biii ~filtOf 31lf The victim, who was married ana<-c:.

Wharton BrooK hve was {und on the mother of four, had been working the office floor. shortly after 6:30 ~.m. a shift from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., Curran at R.. S Moldmg & Manu!a~t\lr!ll8~ said. It is not known if she was work­ according to Thomas J. Curran, a Po­ ing the shift alone, he added. lice Department spokesman. Curran R S Molding was closed Wednesday said Pelkey was found by another em­ and the office cordoned off because of sn ployee. the murder investigation, and compa- Wl "Preliminary indications are that ny officials could not be reached for th she was assaulted prior to her death," comment.

The victim's body was removed w said Curran. "There were some phys­ from the scene about 12:20 p.m. sr ical injuries around the head."

Curran refused to comment on the Wednesday. An autopsy is scheduled exact cause of death, or on whether today, according to a spokeswoman a~ the victim had been sexually as­ for the medical examiner's office in d; saulted.

Police have not announced any sus­ ....See DEADI. page 4 Ie

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t/Death (Continued from page 1) Farmington. The spokeswoman said no further information about the vic­ tim could be released. , A team of police officers searched around parked vehicles outside of the office and the hillside east of the building while the scene inside was in­ vestigated.

R S Molding is in an L-shaped one­ and two-story building in an industri­

al office park off of North Plains In­ dustrial Road. The complex's small offices are in adjoining rows in the buildings, with exterior main en­ trances, and most have nearly Ooor­ to-ceiling glass fronts and glass doors. , Tenants in surrounding offices said the area was quiet and isplated at night, but had virtually no burglaries or serious vandalism.

By night., in,,1~~!rial area

quiet 'like a ghost town"

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By DARRYL CAMPAGNA

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By day, the industrial park where Bi~a~ was appar­ ently mur ere us dwith deliy· ery trucks and the sound of machinery though warehouse doors. But by night, tenants and ··business owners there say, the of­ fices and surrounding parking lots are silent, deserted and isolated.

"It's like a ghost town," said Ke· vin Benefield, 21, an employee of Central Connecticut Caterers, 53 Capital Drive.

Benefield said he has worked late some nights and has noticed how quiet the area becomes. He said that he knew the victim, who worked a few doors away in the row of connected offices and ware­

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Benefield

houses, "just to say hello."

The body of the 30-year-old wom­ an was found shortly after 6: 30 a.m. Wednesday morning in the of­ fice of the R S Molding & Manufac­ turing, 49 Capital Drive, where SM workea, according to Thomas J. Curran, Police Department spokesman.

Related story, page 1 Pelkey, who lived at 31 B Whar­ ton Brook Drive, had been working a shift from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., Cur­ ran said. It is not known if the vic­ tim, who was married and the mother of four children, was work· ing the shift alone, Curran said.

Most of the businesses in the park close by 5:30 p.m., according to tenants in surrounding offices.

The industrial park is off the ... See NIGHT. page 23

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WALLI!' ~Night (Continued from page 21) North Plains Industrial Road. Most of the businesses there and in surround­ 1 ing buildings are small engineering r firms and Ught industrial companies.

There are few gas stations, conve­ 1 nience stores, or residences in the­ area, and, tenants say, none of the brightly lit, late-night activity of nearby Route 5.

American Development Corp., of 30 North Plains Industrial Road, man­ ages the industrial park, according to tenants. When reached at his home, Kenneth Geremia, president of Amer­ ican Development, refused to com­ ment on security measures at the buildings. . Tenants said the area was well-lit at night, bad no history of burglaries or serious vandalism, and that most of the tenants knew their neighbors in surrounding offices.

But even though the area has had - little reported crime, tenants who oc­

casionally work late say they are cau­

tious. And for that reasG1t. !6tr1Eff9.1C

~-:., l'Jeli@ve tJie victim may have e known her attacker and opened the door. n "At night, a girl, would you open '. the door?" asked John Hughes, owner n of ~astern Tape and Suppfy Company tin tOe building where the victim was d found. "I wouldn't, myself, in an in· dustrial area."

"I've been here after dark - you go d It up this road and never see a car," !- said Ernie Trumpold, an employee of , Quality Engineering Services Inc., at the base of Capital Drive.

As news of the murder spread, em· ployees in neighboring businesses in the park expressed fear of working late and said they were uneasy about walking to their cars in back parking lots. nOne womafi who asked not to be d identified said it is often her job to e walk around her firm's' office and 1- lock it up at night. "Idon't think I will l. anymore," she said.

>- "It's really isolated," agreed anoth­

,n er woman. She recalled a friend bad

worked late one night and discovered her car bad a fiat tire.

"There's no place you can go (for help) short of hiking out to Route 5," said the woman. '.0 "I'm really shocked about the hly whole thing," said Dave Flood. owner r~· of Northford Sheet Metal.

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~B8r- ~r8~-" , ".j< #.:) - ~ h~iii" a ~•.~~ .. clals: WALLINGFORD - Barbara Pelkey, residf 30, of 31B Wharton Brook Drive, wife honol of Arthur V. Pelkey Sr'l.4i.ed W~dnes. liT day, an apparent murder vi>J,i)ll (Sjg-lin tl: ry, page 13). 0··1' -3 -cr~ for Born Nov. 27, 1955, in Castine, Arrr Maine, daughter of Hazen and Sireta of ( Herrick Hatch Sr. of Wallingford, she the) had lived in Wallingford for most of yea her life. She had been employed by exp the R S Molding Co. in Wallingford.

Besides her husband and parents, an she is survived by a son, Arthur V. cal Pelkey Jr., and three daughters, Amy Lynn Pelkey, Kathryn Pelkey and lor Linda Gail Pelkey, all of Wallingford; he a brother, Hazen G. Hatch Jr., of Wal- th lingford; two sisters, Sandra Morton St of Meriden and Sharon Peirano of til Wallingford; her paternal grandpa. e( rents, Mr. and Mrs. Ward (Alice) R Hatch of Penobscot, Maine, and Mr. and Mrs. Russell (Minnie) Gray of Sedgwick, Maine.

The funeral will be held Saturday at J 10:30 a.m. at the First Baptist Church

with the Rev. Walter Y. Josephson of·

ficiating. Burial will be at In Memori·

am Cemetery. The B.C. Bailey «

Funeral Home, 273 S. Elm St., is in

charge of the arrangements.

(..:...../

II

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ruled homicide ----~=~---;;;;---"'-'~--'-

By DARRYL CAMPAGNA Record-Journal staff

The death of a 30-year-old woman whose body was found Wednesday morning in an office where she worked, was a homicide, according to autopsy results released by the Chief State Medical Examiner's office Thursday.

Barw i1fi .pied from injuries cause y a unt object that was struck against her head and neck according. to Dr. ~dward McDonough of the Chief Medical Examiner's of­ fice (Obituary, page 2).

where the couple lived with their four children.

"They're not speaking to no one and they'd appreciate it if they were left alone," said a 1I'0man who arrived to visit the famil).

But neighbor; and former co-work­ ers of Barbara Pelkey described a family that ap;>eared to live quietly and a woman \I'ho worked well at her job.

"They hardl!' talked to anybody," said neighbor nelson Ortiz, who said the family ha( lived there at least four or live yelrs. "The one I knew best was the hu.band. Once in a while I stopped at th, house and we had a

The autopsy r~suJtS-were an-~ion at'the firm, which is in an mdustrial park off North Plains In­ Issued by police, but gave no other in- dustrial Road. formation about the victim or the time of her death.

Police still will not comment on Police will not comment on whether whether the office was forcibly en­ Pelkey was working her Tuesday tered or if a murder weapon has been night shift alone at R S Molding &: recovered.

"In any major investigation, you Manufacturing, 4& Capital Drive. The victim's body was found on the office have to exercise caution," said Thom­ floor by another employee early as J. Curran, Police Department Wednesday morning. ~pokesll!an. "The investigation is be­ Officials at R S Molding could not mg contmued and we have detectives be reached for comment Wednesday working overtime. "

or Thursday.

Arthur Pelkey, the victim's hus­ The company remained closed to­ band, remained in seclusion thurs­ day as police continued their investi­ day at the Wharton Brook Drive home ~unced Thursday m a press release

few beers together."

Barbara Pelkey worked at BHS In­ dustries Ltd., 23B North Plains Indus­ trial Road, a few minutes from the office where she died, from 1983 to March 1986, according to Blair Beach, BHS president.

"As an employee, she was excel­ lent," recalled Beach. "Her only problem was absenteeism. I would say in general it was basically related to her children. She had trouble get­ ting babysitters."

Pelkey wove fiberglass furniture at BHS for $5 an hour, Beach said, and left on good terms with the company.

"We do not pay an awful lot of mon-

ey here, and she wanted to earn a bet­ ter wage," he said.

Both Beach and Dave Stevens, the company's foreman, praised Pelkey's work.

"Very conscientious," recalled Ste­ vens. "On the quiet side, no question about that."

Both men said they did not know Pelkey bad taken anoth..r job so close by.

"I just couldn't believe it (Wednes­ day) night when I heard her name on the radio," added Stevens. "You al- ' ways bear about things happening to other people, and all of a sudden it's· someone you know."

Police'believe Pelkey

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The man who raped and murriered last September w(j~ffi';~"1Mi has already been interviewed by detectives, according to a detailed psychological profile of the killer released by detectives Fri­ day.

Those two assertions are included in a profile that experts at the FBI's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime in Virginia have spent nearly four months compiling about the killer, said Detective Lt. William Butka. , The center's track record indicates that such profiles, based on analysis of the physical evidence collected by police combined with statistical infor­ mation on criminal behavior taken from thousands of other violent crimes, are often highly accurate.

"We're getting an excellent crimi­ nal personality of him," said Butka of Pelkey's murderer, who is still at large. "This information certainly points us in new directions. Not only

are we reinterviewing people, but we are going back to ground zero and starting again based on this informa­ tion."

The profile was compiled by FBI criminology experts who analyzed photographs, autopsy reports and in­ vestigative interviews and used their own expertise and statistical informa­ tion to come up with their psychologi­ cal description, Butka said.

Pelkey's body was found early on the morning of Sept. 3 at the offices of R S Molding & Manufacturing, 49 Capital Drive, where she had been working a night shift alone. She died sometime during the night after being raped and beaten, according to police and state medicllt examiner reports.

Detectives still cannot attach a name, a face or a physical description to the killer from the information in the profile, Butka said. But the profile has given detectives a detailed theory of the killer's habits, personality and emotional reactions, he said.

This was probably the first time he had killed, according to the profile.

He went into the R S Molding offices intending to rape Pelkey, and was probably drunk when he did it.

The killer was in a state of height­ ened anxiety after the murder and probably began to drink heavily, according to the profile. People who knew him and saw him soon after the murder would have noticed his anx­ ious .. nervous behavior and would have thought something was wrong with him, the anaylsts claim.

In the months since the murder, friends, family and co-workers 'of the killer would have noticed extreme changes in his behavior, which they would probably have attributed to personal problems, according to the profile. , The killer probably knew Pelkey and also knew that she was working alone in the office the night she died, according to the profile. He works in the area of the North Plains Industri­ al Park where Pelkey died, and detec­ tives have already interviewed him during the investigation, according to the profile.

Butka said he would not comment on whether there are any suspects, or whether the killer is believed to live as well as work in town.

The profile has enabled detectives to "substantiate" leads they are al-

eady working on in an investigation ilat Butka has repeatedly called frustrating."

FBI experts who reviewed the de­ artment's investigation declared it exhaustive and complete" and while ley cannot say who the killer is, they 1n say that he is already part of the ~partment's extensive investigative ~cords, Butka said.

The 30-year-old Pelkey was mar­ ed and the mother of four children. riends and co-workers described her : a conscientious, quiet, hard-work­ g woman who was devoted to her mily, Butka said. [n the first weeks after the murder, ~ detective division poured all of its

staff into a nearly round-the-clock ef­ fort to find the killer, Butka said.

Since then, two detectives have been working nearly full-time on the inves­ tigation.

"It's been a terrible drain on us," said Butka. "We've had some in­ stances where we thought we had high hopes in the investigation, only to be discouraged, especially in the early stages."

In early October, Gov. William A. O'Neill authorized a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Neither burglary nor robbery was a motive in Pelkey's murder, according to the profile, but her pocketbook was taken from the office by her killer.

Detectives are still searching for it.

The pocketbook was of red/pink canvas fabric, about IS inches long by 6 inches wide, and about 18 inches high with two shoulder straps, according to descriptions detectives released soon after the murder. It contained a wallet with blue and red stripes and some small personal items and papers pertaining to the Pelkey family.

Psychological profiles provided by the FBI in other murder cases have resulted in arrests when investigators were redirected to people they had al­ ready interviewed, Butka noted.

"We've done a lot, and we're not giving up," he said.

By DARRYL CAMPAGNA Record-Journa.l staff

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'N~_~l~~ds y~! i~¥)wu1fder investigation

By DARRYL CAMPAGNA Record-Journal staff In the five weeks since the murder of ~arbara ~t~ the search for her kiIer Ms !it ~tectives on a frus­ trating investigation that has spanned the length of the Atlantic coast but produced no suspect, according to po­ lice.

"There is a lot of frustration," said Detective Lt. William Butka, who heads the investigation. Butka will ; say little else about the case.

I Last week, it was announced that " Gov. William A. O'Neill had autho­ I, rixed a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect in the murder of the 30­ , year-old woman.

But the announcement of the re­ ,ward has not resulted in any arrest. \For the detectives, the case still ',means not only frustration, but nearly

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round-the-clock and out of the state, according to Thomas J. Curran, Police Department spokes­ man.

"We're following all leads," Curran said. "We have a group of detectives working ~n the case on a full-time ba­ sis. " Detectives have made two trips to Rhode Island to check murders in those st~es for similarities to the Pel­ key case, Curran said.

Leads lin Florida, New Jersey and MassachUsetts have also been fol­ lowed, according to Curran.

All out~of-state and local leads are still being investigated, Curran said.

The Flu's Human Resource De­ partment has profiled the case and entered the profile in a national com­ puter data bank at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., Curran said. The data bank enables investigators to compare similarities among mur­ ders, according to Curran.

Certain, key details about the case

.................._ _ _ __

'There isla lot of frustration. ' ' I l - Lt. William Butta ;,

have al$o been sent·~o all of the New England states with the help of the Connecticut Statel Police, Curran said.

I Pelkey died somlime during the late shift she was rking alone the night of Sept. 2 at R Molding & Man­ ufacturing, 49 Cap tal Drive. Her body was found on thf office floor ear­ ly the next mornin31 by another em­ ployee.

• The autopsy resul~ from the Chief Medical Examiner's office revealed that Pelkey died of ad and neck in­ ~~~~ inflicted With\a blunt instruPolice have never murder weapon was no break-in that nig and no indication that

confirmed if a undo There was t at the office, he business en­

try door had been locked and then un­ locked to let someone in, according to Curran.

Police are stilI searching for Pel­ key's pocketbook, which was taken from the R S Molding office the night she died, Curran said. The pocket­ book resembles a canvas tote bag, is made of red/pink canvas fabric. It measures about 18 inches by 6 inches wide, and about 18 inches high and has two shoulder straps, Curran s4id.

The pocketbook contained a wallet with blue and red stripes and some small personal items and papers per­ taining to the Pelkey family. Curran said.

Curran stressed that. if found, the pocketbook should not be removed or touched..

Butka

Trial testimony begins

in Pelkey murder case

By Peter Urban

Nov 1 4

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VVII NEW HAVEN - The trial of Ken., neth F. Ireland Jr., the 19-year-old 19Ianchester man accused of raping and killing a Wallingford woman in 1986, began Monday with a state med­ ical examiner testifying that the woman died of multiple blows to the head.

Ireland, of 23B Esquire Drive, is charged with felony murder, first-de­ gree sexual assault and second-de­ gree burglary in the death of 30-year­ old BJlrbara Pelkev.on Sept. 3, 1986.

"SIie suffered at least four or five blows to the head - possibly more," Dr. Edward T. McDonough, an asso­ Record·Journal staff

ciate state medical examiner who conducted the forensic examination of Pelkey, testified in New Haven Su­ perior Court.

Pelky was found dead on Sept. 3, 1986 at the R.S. Molging and Man­ ufacturing Co., Qn Capitol Drive in Willingford, where she had worked the night shift alone. .

McDonough, testifying before a 12­ member jury, said that the blows, which fractured both sides of her skull, were too damaging to have been caused by a fist but could have been caused by a mallet displayed by state's attorney Michael Dearington,

Please see Ireland I p.10

D Ireland trial who is prosecuting the case.

Bruises on Pelkey's head, neck and chest had the same distinct moon­ shape, which McDonough said indi­ cated that the instrument used to strike Pelkey had a flat surface with a curved shape about two-inches in di­ ameter. The mallet, he said, fit the description although he admitted an­ other instrument could have been used.

As McDonough described a lengthy list of injuries suffered by Pelkey, Ireland sat stone-faced, thumbing through papers on his lawyer's desk and only occasionally glanced at the witness stand. He is being rep­ resented by public defender Donald D. Dakers.

Meanwhile the victim's mother, Si­ reta Hatch, sat quietly sobbing in the back of the courtroom with her son, Hazen G. Hatch, Jr., and daughter Sharon Periano.

In addition to the fractures to the sides of her skull, Pelkey was badly bruised around the eyes, had a frac­ tured right cheekbone, a torn left ear, a cut on the back of her head, a circu· lar bruise along the left·side of her neck, and two horseshoe-shaped bruises on her chest, according to Mc· Donough.

"There were too many blows on too many different parts of the body to be accidental," he said.

McDonough also testified that Pel­ key had been sexually abused. She probably died between three and five hours after arriving at work that night, he said.

NOV 14 1989 ..

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Pelkey worked the third shift, from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., operating a molding machine that made plastic items from dies. She had worked at the company for about three weeks at the time of her death.

Ernest Hernandez of Camp Street, Meriden, a co-worker of Pelkey's, tes­ tified that he found her body about a half-hour after he arrived to start the morning shift.

Hernandez said that when he ar­ rived, Pelkey was not at the work­ bench where she normally waited for him to relieve her. Believing she was in the bathroom, he began work; af­ ter half an hour, Hernandez said he grew concerned and decided to check the bathroom.

He found her lying naked on the floor in the company office, next to the bathroom. Hernandez said he im­ mediately phoned police.

Ireland is being held at the Commu- . nity Correctional Center on Whalley Avenue in lieu of $400,000 bond.

The trial before Judge Joseph T. Gormley Jr., will continue today.

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Jrints at death site ~

~ouldn~t be matched

~

NOV 1 ~ 1989

3y Kim T. Conley Record·Journal staff

NEW HAVEN - Hairs and finger­ prints found at the Wallingford facto­ ry where Barbara Pelkey was slain could not" be identified as those of Kenneth F. Ireland Jr., a police offi­ cer and forensIc specla'ist testified in New Haven Superior Court Tuesday.

Ireland, 19, of Manchester, is being tried in the rape and bludgeoning death of Pelkey, who was found dead Sept. 3, 1986, in the Capital Avenue office of the R.S. Molding and Man­ O ufacturing Co._ where she worked the ii1ght shift alone.

• Ireland is charged with felony mur­ der, first-degree sexual assault and second-degree burglary.

In the second day of testimony, Wallingford Detective Sgt. Thomas Hanley testified that 28 fing~rprints were taken from the factory office, workshop and Pelkey's car in the of was found arIY.....er•...m.••... er.orning

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,:'e 28 fingerprints, 22 were posi­

!identified as belonging to ei­

ther Pelkey, her employer, ..I!!!.!lliL SanzarQ, or two other factoryem::­ ployees, Hanley testified.

The remaining six fingerprints were not identified and were not found to match Ireland's fingerprints or any of the fingerprints of more than 40 people whose fingerprints were taken during the investigation, Hanley told the court.

Ireland was fingerprinted in con­ nection with the case in September 1987, Hanley said.

Ber~ Noyjtcq, criminalist at the State olice me Lab in Meriden, testl Ie t at aIrs ta en from the scene were "microscopically dissi­ milar" from head and body hairs tak­ en from Ireland.

Novitch testified that forensic tests revealed that semen taken from Pel­ key's body belonged to a man classi­ fied as a "non-secretor." Non­ secretors do not secrete evidence of their blood type in their bodilyJluids.

Approximately 20 percent bf the population are non-secretors..Blood tests revealed Ireland was also a non-

Please see Prints I p.14 I

LJ Prints-unma!cl,ed:

secretor, Novitch said.

NOV 1 5 .l98Djngsrprints and hair taken as eviDuring a ~robablE~-cause hearing dence did not match samples taken last year, Mary Lou Flaler of Wal­ from MaGoon a~d his ~~longings, lingford testified that Ireland and Hanley and Novltch testIfIed Tues- .

Lee MaGoon were in her kitchen and day. bragged about the killing. Flaler said MaGoon was found t~ be a s~cretor the two admitted to repeatedly rap­ with type B blood, Novltch saId. ing Pelkey with a third man, identi­ Ireland is being held at the Com­ fied only as "Mo." munity CorrectioMI Center on Whal­ Pelkey was beaten to death be­ ley Avenue i~ lieu of ~400,OO~ ba!l. cause she wouldn't cooperate when Testimony In the tnal, whIch IS be­ the three men demanded sex, accord­ ing heard by a 12-member jury be­ ing to Flaler, who is expected t? testi· fo:e Jud.ge Joseph T. ~ormley Jr., fy for the prosecution at the tnal. wIll contmue today and IS expected to MaGoon drowned in June 1987. last into next week.

Witnesses: Ireland bo.sted of rape-murder .

.

Nov '

By KIm Conley

Record-Journal staff

1 6 1989

Flaler both testified that Ireland and Ma­ d F Goon told them the three men then took In often explicit testimony, Car and laler both Pelkey into the office area and took turns testl'f'led that Ireland and Goon told them the three forcing her to perform a variety of sexual , a c t s with them. ' men took Pelkey ... and to k turns forcmg her to Flaler testified that .Ireland told bim: "She (Pelkey) was killed because sbe ' • I' perform a variety of sexua acts with them. didn't do what they wanted."

• .,

NEW HAVEN ~ K~Eeth F. Ireland Jr. bragged and Joked a out rapmg and trning Barbara Pelk~YJeveral days after the 3D-fear-ola WallIngford woman was found dead at the Wallingford factory f where she worked, witnesses testified ,. .

Wednesday.

The statements came in the third day of earlier because she wouldn't cooperate ; m the early mornmg hours of Sept. ~, 1986, when they demanded she have sex with t because they wante.d to have sex With Peltestimony at the New Haven Superior Court murder trial of Ireland, a 19-year­ them. ' key, who was wo~kmg there alone.

John Card said he had known MaGoon , HMo" ~as the first to aPl?roach Pelkey, old Manc~ester resident. ~reland is charged WIth felony murder, fIrst-degree f~r several years ~ecause MaGoon and :, Card s,~ld ,~rel?nd told him. When she sexual assault and second-degree bur­ hiS brother were f f l e n d s . ; struck Mo WIth a coffee cup, MaGoon glary.

MaGoon, also known as Donald Glover: • said the man picked up a instrument from John Card and Mar\v Lou Fla~", of drowned in June 1987 at the'age of 21.

I . the workshop and beat her over the head North turnpike Rola,allihgIor , both Card and Flaler said that MaGoon and with it, Card testified. The state has aItestified for the state that Ireland andl&tL Ireland told them that they and a third .leged that Pelkey was beaten to death ~ came to their home on a SunffiiY" man, identified only as "Mo," went into ',with a wooden mallet taken from the the office of R.S Molding and Maniac- I, workshop. arter'iiOOn in September 1986 and said they In often explicit testimony, Card and had beaten Pelkey to death a week or two Juring on capItal Avenue in Walifng

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While the defendant remained expre$'s­ ionless Ireland's mother, CJ;WUY C~ania ~nd Pelkey's mother and sist, 4 ~ Ha c and Sharon Perjapo. all fie urmg parts of the testimony. ; During a break in the testimony, ~atania told a reporter, "You can't beheve everything you hear."

Flaler testified that MaGoon and Ire­ land said that before the men left the fltc­ tory, MaGoon replaced a phone cord t~t had come out of the wall during the in¢i­ dent and telephoned his wife, who had 'to . t, Please see Ireland tnalt p.1:4

o Ireland trial

get up for work.

Ireland and MaGoon said the three men then left the factory in Mo's car, burned the bloodied shirts they were wearing and then went to a doughnut shop for coffee and cigarettes Flaler testified. ' Under cross-examination by Public Defender Donald D. Dakers, Card and Flaler said they did not tell police about what MaGoon and Ireland had told them until they were questioned by detectives in September 1987.

"John felt police had enough evi足 dence that they would arrest them," Flaler said. "I didn't want to get in足 volved ... I had two children I didn't want dragged through the mud. I was selfish. I'm sorry."

Card and Flaler denied that they made statements in order to get $20 足 000 in reward money offered by th~ state for information leading to a con-

_NOV161989

viction in the case.

"I don't want the money," Flaler said. "The money should go to the family where it belongs."

Testimony in the case will continue today.

Ireland is being held at the Commu足 nity Correctional Center on Whalley Avenue in lieu of $400,000 bail.

I

I ,

I Ireland's

comment~i: linked to killing

The state alleges that Ireland, ~e MaGoon and third man, known only as "Mo": NEW HAVEN _ I\enneth F. Ireland Jr.• went ibto t~e small factory that nignnQ spoke of a woman's rape and bludgeoning have sex WIth Pelkey. . death in the months after 30-year-old Bar..;, MaGoon: who drowned In Lake Beseck bara pelke~ was found slain two women at ~ge 21 In June 1987, ha? worked at a. busmess next to R.S: ~old!~g f~r several , told a jury 4hursday.'

The women testified in New Haven Su- months ?efor~ .the klllmg. Mo has nev- ~ perior Court where the the 19-year-old er b~en Identlfle~ ?r arrest.ed. .

Manchester 'man is on trial for felony WItnesses testIfIed earlIer thIS ':V eek murder, rape and burglary in the Pelkey that .Ma~o~n frequen~ly spent mghts slee~mg m hIS Ford sta!lon wagon parked case.

Pelkey who lived on Wharton Brook outSIde the factory durIng the months he Drive, w~s found dead Sept. 3, 1986 at the worked there.

ItS. Molding and Manufacturing Co. on A state medical examiner testified on CapItal Drlve In Wallingford, were 'she Monday that Pelkey, a married mother of worked the night shift alone, making four children, was raped repeatedly and plastic parts for waterbeds. beaten to death with a wooden mallet.

By Kim T. Conley NOV 1 1 1989

Record-Journal staff

D Ireland trial base of his fingers.

Lisa Kozjkowsti, also from Man­ ch~ster, testified she was living with Ireland in a Manchester rooming house in May 1988 when he said he had raped and killed a woman.

According to Kozikowski, the cou­ ple had been drinking and were lying in bed after having sex when Ireland suddenly said, "Yeh, I raped her."

When Kozikowski asked him what he had said, Ireland responded, "Yeh, I raped her and I killed her, too,"

A Wallingord couple testified on Wednesday that MaGoon and Ireland told them several days aft~r the slaying that they had raped and kIlled Pelkey when she refused to have sex with them.

On Thursday, Jennifer Champagne, of Manchester, testirfed she was hVIng wnh Ireland in October 1986 when he told her of a woman in Wallingford that had been raRed and killed with a hammer.

(Ireland) was all messed up at the time," Champagne said. "He was all coked out."

Champagne s~id Ireland. did ~ot elab?rate and she dId not questIOn hIm about It. The state has maintained throughout the four-day trial that published reports

Please see Ireland I p_20

.:

NOV 1 7 1969

Kozikowski testified.

Under cross-examination, Kozikowski acknowledged Ireland may have been asleep when the statement was made.

Both women said they did not re­ port Ireland's statements to the police because they did not want to get in­ volved.

Witnesses for the prosecution have described Ireland in 1986 as a tall teenager with shoulder-length, dirty-

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about the slaying never revealed thai Pel­ key had been killed with a mallet.

In 1987, after Ireland was questioned by Wallingford detectives about the murder; Ireland asked Champagne to change a tattoo on his right hand that read "Kill" to read "Rick," Ireland's nickname, Champagne testified.

"He said if the case went to trial (the tattoo) could affect the decision," she told the court.

At the request of State's Attorney Michael Dearington, Ireland, who has show~ no emo~ion !hroughout the trial, ~eft hIS seat beSIde hIs. lawyer and showed Jurors the tattoo, WhICh runs across the

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IJ

blond hair who drank alcohol and used cocaine. _.

Each day he has appeared in court in a dark blue suit with his brown haie­ cut short. ..

Testimony is expected to continu" today with the state's final witness in the case. u Ireland is being held in the Commu"~ nity Correction Center on Whalley Avenue in New Haven in lieu of $300,­ 000 bail, an official said. "

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Evidence against Ireland challenged

By Kim T. conleyNOV 1 8 1989

the night shift alone. bail.

The state has alleged that Ireland was The state's case has been based largely -one of three men who entered the R.S. on circumstantial evidence and the testiNEW HAVEN - Public defender Don- Molding and Manufacturing Inc. building mony of four witnesses who said that Ireaid D. Dakers attempted to discredit the on Capitol Avenue and that Ireland raped land talked to them about the killing. state's case against Kenneth F. Ireland Pelkey and beat her to death with a While two witnesses testified that IreJr. Friday, saying the evidence presented workshop mallet. . land revealed details of the slaying, two far does not implicate Ireland in the Lee Magoon whom the state maintains . others testified that his statements were was with Ire land during the incident. vague and acknowledged under cross-exdeath of Barbara Pelkey.

Dakers is representing Ireland, 19, of drowned in Lake Beseck in Middlefield in amination that they were unsure whether Manchester, who is being. tried on 1987. Neither he nor the third man identi- he actually made the statements. charges of felony murder, first-degree fied in court Friday as Max "MOl ArizFingerprints taken at the crime scene, rape and second-degree burglary in the .wendj :fas charged in the case. hair found there and semen taken from death of Pelkey.

Court officials were unable to provide Pelkey's body did not provide conclusive Pelkey, a 30-year-old mother of four, an age or address for Arizmendi. evidence that Ireland, Magoon or Arizwas found raped and beaten to death in Ireland was arrested in August 1988 and mendi were ever at the scene, police and the early morning hours of Sept. 3, 1986, in is being held at the Community Correctio- forensic experts testified. the Wallingford factory where she worked nal Center on Whalley Avenue on $300,000, State's Attorney Michael Dearington Record-Journal staff

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D Ireland trial

had Hanley restate that several de­ tails of the crime that Ireland alleged­ ly talked about with some witnesses for the prosecution - for example, in­ formation about the weapon that was used or Pelkey's clothes - were nev­ er mentioned in published reports.

Wallingford Detective Steve Davis then testified that Ramon Cyrul, a factory employee who was the last person to see Pelkey alive, was one of several initial suspects in the case.

Dakers attempted to cast doubt on the police investigation by arguing that Cyrul remained at the factory that night later than usual and his car

was spotted by police not far from the factory about 1 a.m. the day of the killing.

In addition, Dakers said Cyrul lied in statements to police when he said he had never been in the factory of­ fice. Police testified that Cyrul's fin­ gerprint was discovered on the back of an office chair on which Pelkey's clothes were found.

Davis testified that Cyrul said he made the false statement because he had been sleeping in the office at night and was afraid of losing his job.

Davis also testified that Edmund Card was one of several suspects in

Nov

rested the state's case Friday morning without calling his last scheduled witness.

Dakers then requested copies of any statements made to police by Magoon or Arizmendi concerning the case.

The request was granted and Dakers called Wallingford Detective Sgt. Thomas Hanley to testify. Hanley testified earlier as a witness for the state.

Under direct examination by Dakers, Hanley acknowledged that based on fo­ rensic and circumstantial evidence found at the scene, police were never able to determine that Pelkey was raped and killed by more than one assailant.

During cross examination, Dearington

1 8 rg8g

the murder in September 1987 when his brother, John Card, and John Card's girlfriend, Mary Lou Flaler, made statements to police implicat­ ing Ireland in the slaying.

Before court adjourned Friday af­ ternoon, Judge Joseph T. Gormley Jr. said he would take the weekend to re­ view a request by Dakers to enter into evidence statements made to police

by Magoon and Arizmendi in which the two men implicated each other in the crime, but not Ireland.

Testimony is expected to conclude Monday.

Please see Ireland I p.12

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Ireland to testify in murder trial

By Darryl Campagna NOV 2 1 1989

Record·Journal staff

NEW HAVEN - Kenneth F. Ireland J •. , charged in the rape and slaying of Barbara Pelke~ is scheduled to testify in his own de::­ fense today, Ircland's lawyer. public defender Donald D. Dakers, announced late Monday that he planned tu ask the 19-year-old Manchester man to testify.

"I do intcnd to put this defendant on the stand," Dakers told Superior Court Judge Jo­ seph T. Gormley Jr. Dakers' announcement was the first indica­ tion in six days of testimony that Ireland would testify. Dakers refused to comment af­ terward on his decision to put his client on the stand.

Ireland is being tried on charges of felony murder. first-degree rape and second-degree burglary in connection with Pelkey's death.

Ireland, a tall. slender young man, entered the courtroom Monday smiling. He sat quiet­

ly, playing with a paper clip.

Pelkey, a 30-year-old Wallingford woman, was raped and beaten to death in the early morning of Sept. 3, 1986 in a Wallingford fac­ tory where she had worked the night shift alone.

The state maintains that two other men were with Ireland at the time of Pelkey's death. One of the men, \&e MagoQIl. drowned in 1987. The other man was identified in testi­ mony last week as Max "Mo" Arizmendi; his age and address have never been dlscusS't;d in . court.

Gormley ruled Monday that police statements taken from Magoon and Arizmen­ dicontained hearsay evidence about Ireland and that he would uphold objections by State's Attorney Michael DearingtQn to the use of those statements. Hearsay eVfi1ence is based on what someone has told a witness, not on the witness's personal knowledge or observation, and is rarely permitted in court.

Dakers said he had wanted to ask Walling­ ford Detective Sgt. Steve Davis about the

Kenneth F. Ireland Jr.: Deten Please see Ireland I p.10 dant to testify today.

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D I~~i~iid t~testify ~ statements because he believed they contained "exculpatory" information about Ireland's role in the killing. He chose not to ask about the statements. ~lenda Walter. a defense witness. broke down in tears Monday as she testified that she was afraid of Mary L9u Flaler one of the state's key wit­ nesses. Walter did not say why she was afraid.

In testimony last week. Flaler and her boyfriend ~bD Card both of Wal­ lingford, testi 1ed for tBe state that Ireland and Magoon had visited them soon after Pelkey's death and had talked about their role in the killing.

But Walter testified that she lived t

briefly with Flaler and Card in the fall of 1987 and heard Flaler tell what she planned to do with a $20,000 re­ ward offered by the state in the case.

She also said she considered Flaler an untruthful person whose reputation for truthfulness in the community was, "no good," In response to questions by Dakers, Walter testified that Flaler had said, "Just that they would have a lot more than they would have now and the children would have ... " Her voice trailed off inaudibly.

The $20,000 reward still stands, according to the state's attorney's of­ fice.

Jury

By Kim T. Conley

~yenly 28 1989

Record.Journal staff

NEW HAVEN - Deliberations in the murder trial of ;¥anneth F. Ireland .Jr. broke off Wednes ay afternoon when ~ jury announced it was evenly divided.

Deliberations are expected to resume Monday morning.

The jury of eight men and four women, which began deliberating late Tuesday af­ ternoon, sent a note to Ju.dge Joseph T. Gormley Jr. at about 4 p.m. Wednesday saying an impasse had been reached.

"We are evenly divided on guilt or inno­ cence. Please advise us on our next step," said the note, which Gormley read aloud in New Haven Superior Court.

Saying any further instruction was not likely to bring a verdict by the close of court Wednesday, Gormley dismissed the jury for the holiday and instructed mem­ bers not to discuss the case.

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divided on Ireland

Gormley added that after only 4% hours of jury deliberations Wednesday, he was unsure whether further instruction would be appropriate.

Ireland, a 19-year-old Manchester man, is charged with felony murder, first-de­ gree sexual assault and third-degree bur­ glary in the killing of Barbara Pelker, 30, who was found dead Sept. 198B, In the Wallingford factory where she worked the night shift alone.

Ireland is being held in lieu of $300,000 bail in a New Haven jail.

When court reopens Monday, Gormley could instruct the jury further on certain points of law or on how to continue delib­ erations to reach a consensus.

Should no verdict be reached, attorneys in the case could file motions for a mistri­ al.

Deliberations began Wednesday after jurors heard more than an hour of testi· mony by the state's key witnesses - John

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Card and Mary Lou Flaler

by'a court reporter.

Sii

read back

In testimony last week, Card and Flaler both implicated Ireland in the killing of Pelkey.

Ireland's mother, Cherry Mattingl: of Manchester, said she was encouragei:l that the jury had requested the testimony be read back.

"I'm very optimistic. Every since this morning I've been feeling better about it," said Mattingly, who has sat in court behiJild her son every day since jury selec­ tion began four weeks ago.

Mattingly added that while she believes her son is innocent, she feels sorry for Pelkey's family.

"I feel badly for her family and W'ha,t they have gone through," she said. "1 feel very badly for my son also. He shouldn't have been prosecuted for something he wasn't involved in."

Members of Pelkey's family were not i~ court Wednesday.

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killed P ~lk~y --'-~-"~'--~----~"."'''-relP.I

Ireland, a tall, slender 19-year-old Ireland, who was 16 years old when Manchester man, smiled as New Ha­ Pelkey was killed, maintains that he ven County sheriff's officers escorted is innocent, his ·attorney, Public De­ him from the courtroom after the ver­ . fender Donald ,D. Dakers, said after dict was announced. He walked out the verdict was announced. without looking at his mother~ Vhesrx. Dakers said he will appeal the con­ Mattingly, w~o 'Yafi,the onl)'"m~m er viction on the basis of certain rulings OJ effii'erlamIly m court Moiiday. by the judge.

Mattingly appeared stunned, with -Kenneth F. Ire­ NEW. Pelkey, a 30-year-old married land Jr~was convicted by a New Ha­ tears streaming down her face and mother of four described as quiet, Ven SuperiQr Court jury Monday of her arms braced against her seat, as hard-working and devoted to her fam­ raping'flnd murdering Barbara. Pel- she ,watched her son peing led away. ily, had been working a night shift ~-.

"I'm having a hard time believing alone in the isolated Capital Drive In­ The verdict came on what would it," she ~aid, sobbing as she left the dustrIal park: Her battered body was have been Pelkey's 34th bIrthday. found early on the morning ,of Sept. 3, 'courthouse.

19~year-old

facing 85 years HAVEN'

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1986. Police said she had been repeatedly bludgeoned with a instrument and left on the office to die from head injuries.

"It's alm?st like. it's. a pre$.~~ to her, that thiS man IS gomg,y'iror 's what he did to her," said· mother, Si;eta Hatch. cryin d speaking slowly in a teTephoneJnter­ view from her Wallingford home Monday night.

The 12-person jury found Ireland guilty of felony murder, fir '. ee sexual assault and third­ glary. He faces a minimum;.$en ,t-

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of 25 years on the felony murder count and a maximum sentence of 85 years on all three convictions, said State's Attorney Michael Dearington.

Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 12.

After the verdict Judge Joseph T. Gormley raised Ireland's bail from $300,000 to $500,000. Ireland bas been held in state detention facilities since his arrest in August. 1988.

Dearington said the investigation into Pelkey's death remains open.

The state maintains that Ireland was

Kenneth F. Ireland Jr.: MainPlease see Pelkey murder I p.4 tains he- is innocent. . I

-rna Accu:Weathei"'-jore~asi for noon, TUesday. November 28.

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o Pelkey n1llrde~ov if _

onc,of thl.:e men who entered Pel· key's workplace on the night of the murder. One of the men, named in court as Lee Magoon, has since drowned. The third man, named in court as Max or "Mo" ArizmendiLhas never bedn charged in the case. • The jury, made up of eight men and four women, deliberated for a total of 4% hours last Tuesday and Wednes­ day before going home for the Thanksgiving weekend. The jury left the courtroom evenly split on Wednesday.

A verdict was reached Monday af­ ter less than four hours of additional deliberation.

Robert Staneslow of Cheshire, the jury foreman, called the verdict a "tough decision."

"I think the break over Thanksgiv· ir6 gave people time to think," said Staneslow, who called the time off a "turning point."

Staneslow said there: was no single portion of the testimony or evidence that convinced the jury of Ireland's guilt. He said the jury weighed Hev­ erything together, the sum total."

Dearington said he had been "con­ cerned about the status of things Wednesday," and was "pleacllntly su;prised at the outcome."

Dearington said he believed semen found in Pelkey's body was instru­ mental in the guilty verdict. Ireland is a "non-secretor," a man whose blood type cannot be determined through his semen.

About 20 percent of the male pop· ulation are 110n-secretors. The semen in Pelkey's body was from a non·se· cretor, a state police forensic expert had testified.

"The evidence was there to convict him," Dearington said of Ireland.

"The non-secretor status was some· thing that couldn't be challenged."

Dakers said he would appeal Gorm· ley's ruling that the defense could not submit as evidence statements made to Wallingford detectives by ~mund Card a Wallingford man questlonea ~ case. Card, who knew Magoon, had implicated Magoon, Ireland and another man in a statement to detec­ tives, but then retracted that statement.

"I didn't think there was enough ev­ 'ence for a conviction," said Dakers.

"I was surprised ttiey"S:o quickly came to an agreement. It was an un· usual case in many ways."

Fingerprints taken at the crime scene, hair found there and semen taken from Pelkey's body did not pro­ vide conclusive evidence about who was at the scene, police and forensic experts had testified.

Dakers said he had prepared Ire­ land for the possibility of a conviction after the jurors, who appeared grim, broke for an early lunch Monday and advised Gormley that they had nearly achieved a concensus.

Ireland had wanted to testify in his own defense, but Dakers decided not to let him take the stand. He stood by that decision Monday.

"We can all second·guess our­ selves," said Dakers. "Probably if I had to do it all over again, I would do it the same way."

Detective Lt. William Butka of the Wallingford Police Department, who has supervised the investigation from the beginning, said the detectives felt a mixture of relief and strong emotion about the conviction.

"There were some times when we didn't ever know if we would make an arrest," said Butka. "But things have a way of working for the good. This was one of the cases where justice fi· naHy prevailed."

Dearington and Butka both said their relief and satisfaction over the outcome were tempered by thoughts of Pelkey's family.

Pelkey's mother and sisters at· tended most of the six days of testi· mony. They sat, quietly listening and often weeping, as witnesses testified that Ireland and Magoon had joked about the killing and had forced Pel­ key to perform a variety of sexual acts with them.

"This was one of the more brutal ones in terms of unprovoked murder of a totally innocent person," said Dearington.

Staneslow echoed those thoughts as • he described the somber mood in which the jury reflected on the case, which he called "tragic."

"It's not a happy situation for any­ one, from beginning to end, including the decision," he said. "It's a sac ~ case and you can't really feel good, no matter what vou do."