Identified! CT - New Britain, Human remains behind strip mall, Apr'15 - Marilyn Gonzalez

Police said the three sets of remains found belonged to women who had gone missing in 2003. Police said that after examining the remains in 2007, they were able to identify the remains as those of Diane Cusack, Mary Jane Menard, and Joyvaline Martinez. The deaths of these three women had been previously ruled to be homicides.
Officers said that between their 2007 investigation and today, the area has been periodically searched in an attempt to find any additional human remains. Last Tuesday (April 21st), officers began searching the area again using specially trained canines and equipment. On Tuesday (April 28th), additional human remains were found.

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hewinkedatme! said:

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/...pdate-in-Serial-Homicides-Case-303210871.html

The New Britain police just wrapped up a press conference. In addition to Cusack, Martinez and Menard, at least FOUR more additional sets of remains have been discovered, and one of THOSE has already been identified as Melanie Camilini who went missing from Seymour, CT in 2003. Police have a suspect in custody on an unrelated charge. They believed all 7 people were killed by the same person, and that the newly discovered remains have been there for over a decade.

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On May 13, 2005, Howell was arrested in Virginia and charged with Arizmendi's murder. At the time of her disappearance, he was living in Connecticut and earned his living doing odd jobs and cutting grass at homes and businesses in Wethersfield, Hartford, New Britain and West Hartford. Howell told authorities Arizmendi's blood was in his van because she and her boyfriend had gotten into a fight there. He was on trial in January 2007 when he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Howell entered an Alford Plea, meaning that he did not admit he had killed Arizmendi but acknowledged there was sufficient evidence to convict him in her death. He also pleaded guilty to intimidating a witness.

Arizmendi's remains have never been located. Authorities believe Howell may have also murdered the unidentified female whose blood was found in his van, but he has not been charged.

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carbuff said:

I'm meeting my daughter at Westfarms Mall for lunch tomorrow. I'll let you know if I see anything interesting.

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carbuff said:

Forgot to update this -- no, I couldn't see anything from the road. They had apparently finished by the time I was there. But the area is still heavily treed and quite isolated even in the daytime. It's right at the end of the exit ramp from route 9 in an area that is even now pretty empty after the malls close at night. He could have pulled off the highway and been behind the restaurant (don't know if it was there at the time) in less than half a minute. Even if he had been seen, he would most likely have been taken for an employee leaving after closing up.

Rumor on the street was that the man they suspect went to jail in 2007 and that's why there aren't any killings more recent than that. Sounds like the media articles are saying more or less the same thing?

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FiveFelines said:

Other women missing in CT, pre-2005: Bettina Scott, Marilyn Gonzalez, Zelma Ortiz, Evelyn Frisco. Also Daniel Whistnant, who lived as a woman.

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The man suspected of killing at least seven people and burying their bodies behind a New Britain shopping center has been identified as William Devin Howell, 45, who is imprisoned at Garner Correctional Institution, on unrelated manslaughter charges, multiple sources familiar with the investigation tell NBC Connecticut exclusively.
Howell’s current 15-year sentence stems from the homicide of Nilsa Arizmendi, a 33-year-old Wethersfield resident who disappeared in 2003. Her body was never recovered. Howell was on trial for her murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in a deal with prosecutors in 2007, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice website.
Howell was taken into custody in North Carolina in 2004 and his van – which Arizmendi was last seen entering – was seized as evidence. Authorities said they found Arizmendi’s blood in the van, along with the blood of another, unidentified person. They also found a videotape with footage that shows two other women, according to the DCJ. Their identities – and their fates – are unknown.

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FiveFelines said:

Other women missing in CT, pre-2005: Bettina Scott, Marilyn Gonzalez, Zelma Ortiz, Evelyn Frisco. Also Daniel Whistnant, who lived as a woman.

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