CT - John Chakalos, 87, Windsor, 20 December 2013 *Grandson arrested in 2022, found dead in 2023*

ctkid

Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2013
Messages
750
Reaction score
25
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/nation...as-lights-display-found-shot-dead-in-his-home

(CNN) -- A man known for his grand 6 million-light Christmas display was found shot and killed in his home on Friday morning.

A family member found John Chakalos, 87, in his home in Windsor, Connecticut, according a Windsor police department press release. The medical examiner's office ruled that Chakalos died of a gunshot wound to the head.

The police are conducting an active homicide investigation, based on the condition of the body when it was found and because police did not recover a weapon at the scene, Windsor police Capt. Tom Lepore said.
 
I read about this earlier. So tragic, and he just lost his wife to cancer not long ago.

"Not only do they warm the heart of thousands of people who come through, they warm the hearts of hundreds of people in the community who benefit from food and cash donations," said Val Starbuck, a Joan's Food Pantry volunteer.
 
To live 87 years, bring so much joy to so many, and to end up murdered...

A crying shame!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 
A video of the light display at Chakalos Estate in Chesterfield, NH.
.
[video=youtube;S16JaOwee0Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S16JaOwee0Y[/video]

Interestingly, he was not murdered at that estate. He was murdered at a second property he owned in Connecticut
 
According to Windsor (Conn.) Police Capt. Tom LePore, his department began investigating the suspicious death of the 87-year-old man immediately after being called to his home on Overlook Drive in Windsor at 8:25 a.m. Friday. He said Chakalos' body was discovered by a family member. Joy Washburn, the caretaker of Chakalos' property at 140 Pond Brook Road in Chesterfield, told the Reformer a private investigator called her around 3 p.m. to inform her Chakalos was found deceased by one of his daughters.

http://www.benningtonbanner.com/localnews/ci_24799627/n-h-man-rsquo-s-death-considered-homicide

Within 6.5 hours of the body being found a private investigator is hired and is on the job. The PI got to the caretaker before the police did? Wow...
 
Ya - it sounds like the PI hit the ground running.....and the statement from LE almost sounds defensive (or maybe I'm just reading that into it?)

From your link Gene:

"According to Windsor (Conn.) Police Capt. Tom LePore, his department began investigating the suspicious death of the 87-year-old man immediately after being called to his home on Overlook Drive in Windsor at 8:25 a.m. Friday."

"We have been investigating nonstop since then to unravel the story," LaPore said, adding that suicide has been all but ruled out."
 
This murder really bothers me. Chakalos seemed like such a good man and such a good grandfather. His Christmas lighting displays were so generous particularly since all of the proceeds went to charity. In his obituary it mentions "He showered his grandchildren, nieces and nephews with paternal love". From what I have seen in the social media, that seems very true.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/hartfordcourant/obituary.aspx?pid=168768026

It is a pity that such an apparently good man met with such a violent death.

But I wonder why it is so quiet? No news in the media at all, even though he made such a huge contribution in his community. Was he well known other than the Christmas lighting tradition? Is there anyone from this forum who is local to the community?
 
This murder really bothers me. Chakalos seemed like such a good man and such a good grandfather. His Christmas lighting displays were so generous particularly since all of the proceeds went to charity. In his obituary it mentions "He showered his grandchildren, nieces and nephews with paternal love". From what I have seen in the social media, that seems very true.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/hartfordcourant/obituary.aspx?pid=168768026

It is a pity that such an apparently good man met with such a violent death.

But I wonder why it is so quiet? No news in the media at all, even though he made such a huge contribution in his community. Was he well known other than the Christmas lighting tradition? Is there anyone from this forum who is local to the community?

BBM: From memory of that area (Windsor, CT) and in a very general sense, it is a quiet, suburb of Hartford. Very middle class, low crime, nice area.
This atrocity is very unusual for that area, imo.
There are surrounding towns with higher crime rates though.
 
This murder really bothers me. Chakalos seemed like such a good man and such a good grandfather. His Christmas lighting displays were so generous particularly since all of the proceeds went to charity. In his obituary it mentions "He showered his grandchildren, nieces and nephews with paternal love". From what I have seen in the social media, that seems very true.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/hartfordcourant/obituary.aspx?pid=168768026

It is a pity that such an apparently good man met with such a violent death.

But I wonder why it is so quiet? No news in the media at all, even though he made such a huge contribution in his community. Was he well known other than the Christmas lighting tradition? Is there anyone from this forum who is local to the community?

You're right.....It is strange that there isn't more coverage on this.....especially after all of his community support. Very odd.

That video was amazing to watch....what a beautiful display for everyone to enjoy. He was a very kind and generous man.
 
There has been a complete vacuum of information about this case which I find very strange. No news, no updates. Seems like this is headed for the cold case file.

Today, I found something that may be of interest. A parcel of land that was owned by one of Mr Chakalos's companies has been approved for rezoning.

http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_24924979/chesterfield-zba-accepts-request-variance

A six acre parcel is going to be divided into 5 parcels of 0.88 to 1.4 acres.

It is interesting to me that the lawyer said "told the Reformer he is unsure how the property owner's makeup has shifted since the Chakalos family patriarch, John Chakalos, was found dead in his Windsor, Conn., home"

Why wouldn't he know this?
 
Just stumbled across this article

http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/...cle_c997c5d6-43e4-5cb3-aea4-c0600bbf4656.html

What impressed me was this statement



The Chakaloses began decorating their property more than a decade ago for family and friends to enjoy. Then they opened it to the public, a tradition that continued for a few years thereafter. The Chakaloses took about a four-year hiatus, but decided to begin again in the past couple of years.

Ericson said she believes the public display returned for the couple’s grandchildren to see and enjoy.

This is consistent with everything I have read elsewhere. Seems this couple lived for their grandchildren. Their grandchildren must be struggling with this. I wonder if we will ever learn who did this terrible thing to such a generous man?
 
Remember that outward appearances can be deceiving. The standard response up here (Chesterfield, NH) when asked what happened is "wonder who he didn't pay this time". The rezoning was appealed and will start again in the coming months. The display is beautiful. This was his vacation home up here. A 14 bedroom, 17 bathroom vacation home. He was a local (Keene) boy who made good, but there is a reason he had so much success. I have not had business dealings with him, but I know some who did. Not everyone loved him.
I'm pretty sure this won't be solved, but it would be nice to be proved wrong. No one deserves this.
 
An article about the rezone:

He said the Chakalos family controls the company but was unsure how its makeup has shifted since the Chakalos family patriarch, John Chakalos, was found dead in his Windsor, Conn., home on Friday, Dec. 20. A medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. Saturley said the death is a family affair and he is not in a position to talk about it.


http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_25128346/chesterfield-zba-will-rehear-spofford-hall-request

The death is a "family affair" odd choice of words IMO.
 
This is an interesting development in the case of John Chakalos:

"A bookkeeper from Rhode Island is facing charges that he stole more than $400,000 over six years from a wealthy real estate developer who was found shot to death in his Windsor home in December. William D. Satti, 55, of Pawtucket, R.I., was charged May 6 with first-degree larceny. He remains jailed in lieu of $250,000 bond, records show."

http://www.journalinquirer.com/crim...cle_f98d8420-e28e-11e3-8119-0019bb2963f4.html

Stranger still is that he was arrested on May 6, the article was written on May 23 and as far as I can tell, this was the only article written about it. Why so little interest in this case from the local media?
 
thanks for the update Gene. this is so odd....hope the whole truth will come out soon as to what happened and who murdered mr. chakalos. I simply don't get the lack of media attention.
 
2 newer articles: The bookkeeper cleared in Mr. Chakalo's murder but remains in custody on the embezzling charge. The article is a subscription but you can see the main important details.
http://www.journalinquirer.com/crim...cle_7ceebaee-0910-11e4-9d2d-0019bb2963f4.html

The next one talks about how a detective who was assigned the task of applying for a subpoena of cell phone records on 11 telephone numbers of individuals of interest to detectives in the investigation withheld information in the murder case. He was demoted to a patrolman. (Seems to me he should be charged and loose his job completely.)

http://www.journalinquirer.com/town...cle_1a2976ba-0776-11e4-b987-0019bb2963f4.html
 
From December:

http://www.wfsb.com/story/27694653/windsor-murder-remains-unsolved-one-year-later

A murder mystery in the town of Windsor remains unsolved one year later. Police said 87-year-old John Chakalos was shot and killed inside his home and now his family is looking for your help finding the person responsible.

This time of year is tough for the Chakalos family. They lost their mom just days before Thanksgiving and just a few weeks later their dad was murdered. Now, they said they're looking for some closure...

Chakalos ran an investment company out of his home. He and his late wife, Rita, were philanthropists. They split their time between Connecticut and New Hampshire where they had a home known for its holiday lights display.
 
From June:

http://www.courant.com/breaking-news/hc-windsor-embezzler-murder-0602-20150601-story.html

A bookkeeper who stole more than $400,000 from his employer, a Windsor businessman who was murdered in December 2013, was sentenced Monday to 3 1/2 years in prison.

William D. Satti, 56, admitted that he stole from John Chakalos, but insisted he did not take the $416,000 the state says he embezzled. The thefts occurred between 2009 and 2013 and were discovered in the aftermath of Chakalos' murder.

From December:

http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/...cle_4ca909d5-d3e7-50a8-8afa-c8bc9740eea7.html

Capt. Thomas LePore said his department is also looking for a break in its probe of Chakalos’ death.

The department’s investigation is still active; the case has not run cold, he said, and police continue to review information previously gathered at the crime scene and in interviews.

“There are no new leads that I can discuss,” he said. When asked if Connecticut police had any new leads at all, LePore said, “I can’t discuss that.” He declined to release the approximate time of Chakalos’ death, the type of gun that was used, or where his body was found in the Overlook Drive home.
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
185
Guests online
2,073
Total visitors
2,258

Forum statistics

Threads
589,952
Messages
17,928,128
Members
228,014
Latest member
Back2theGardenAgain
Back
Top