CT CT - WM DEVIN HOWELL, New Britain, 2003 and possibly earlier

[luckyseven]

W.D.H. is turning out to be one very strong suspect.

Looks like you're right on the money.

Sources ID Suspected Serial Killer

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.

 

[smile22]

Howell was just id as the man yesterday I had my brother look him up and he found a photo of his van omg I so remember that van as it had two toned coloring on it me and my brother used to see it in he area of were we lived it was a long time ago so we can't remember much about him the article said he did odd jobs in the area so that's probably why


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[rosie_lee]

Howell was just id as the man yesterday I had my brother look him up and he found a photo of his van omg I so remember that van as it had two toned coloring on it me and my brother used to see it in he area of were we lived it was a long time ago so we can't remember much about him the article said he did odd jobs in the area so that's probably why


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That has got to be an absolutely frightening thought knowing what you do about him!

 

[smile22]

That has got to be an absolutely frightening thought knowing what you do about him!

Yea it's scary. I don't know him or ever seen him face to face in person but yet his van stands out because of the colors. Also his dumping ground was less than a half a mile from where I grew up so it makes it more closer to home. It's as those women died way to young way to soon


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[Caitlin]

I am looking forward to hearing what evidence the state has. I suspect that the blood of the other woman in the van matches one of the bodies found, or that one of the bodies found is N.A.- ideally both. The families of these women need closure. May justice be swift.

 

[Skigirl]

This case is hard to stomach. I wonder if the body count will or should stop at 7, given how long it took them to locate the second set of four. He was very busy in 2003. The prosecutor says that he had no reason at the time to think this guy killed additional people (thus the plea in Nilsa Haydie Arizmendi's case), but blood of unidentified victims was found in the van. Also, videos of women they are still trying to identify. Ugh.

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Sources-ID-Suspected-Serial-Killer-303430541.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/conn-serial-killer-jailed-2003-murder-report-article-1.2219138 (grainy pic of attractive unidentified woman with crack pipe)

Here are some namus cases that match the general age range of the previous victims during the same timeframe
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/393/0/
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/3382/2?current_page=case_information
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/389/8?current_page=circumstances
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/26821/9?current_page=case_information

 

[LR1]

I am looking forward to hearing what evidence the state has. I suspect that the blood of the other woman in the van matches one of the bodies found, or that one of the bodies found is N.A.- ideally both. The families of these women need closure. May justice be swift.

When they searched the site a few weeks back I can't help but think that they knew what they would find. They had made other re-searches in the past but this time it seems like they went all in with the resources needed to find what they knew was there. I wouldn't be surprised if they had planted an informant and this guy was just dumb enough to take the bait. We know from earlier reports how even before being convicted for his current sentence this guy was using other inmates to pass on threats. So there's history of him not keeping his pie hole shut.

They might have suspected it was him since 07 but identifying the first three took some time and when they finally did the victims were similar in that they struggled with addiction and spent time on the streets not to mention the time frame. When Ms. Menard was finally Id'd last year there was a big show with the establishing of the Task force and the almost unheard of size of the reward money. All this might have very well made him unable to resist running his mouth. All just speculation of course.

 

[Caitlin]

Here is a little more about W.D.H.'s criminal past. I have been trying to find out more about him and his personal life but it is turning into quite the task. There isn't too much to find about him (yet) on the internet, but I'm sure once he is charged people who knew him in the past will come forward.

http://wtnh.com/2015/05/12/new-britain-suspected-serial-killer-identified/

William Howell’s Criminal Past

2000: Driving After Being Declared a Habitual Defender (Case was nolled)
2002: Failing to Obtain a Bus License (Case was nolled; family says he was a bus driver)
2005: Wanted as a Fugitive From Justice
2007: Convicted of Manslaughter
2007: Convicted of Intimidating a Witness
As of now, he has not been charged with the murders of the victims found in New Britain, and is scheduled to be released from Connecticut Department of Correction in 2019.

His family has seemingly turned on him:

Howell’s family members say he has a drug-related past and has been in trouble most of his life, “one thing after another,” causing many to cut ties with him. He not only has a criminal record in Connecticut, but also Virginia.

There is also an interesting theory on how he came upon the dumping grounds:

When Arizmendi diappeared, Howell had been in Connecticut working odd jobs around Wethersfield, Hartford, New Britain, and West Hartford. Those jobs may have been how Howell learned about the area. One theory is that maybe he was dumping grass there and that is how he came to know it.

 

[Caitlin]

Another article, this one showing a history of violence. http://www.wfsb.com/story/29041819/new-britain-suspected-serial-killer-identified-by-sources

A previous girlfriend of Howell's said he ripped the telephone from the wall once to prevent her from calling police, restraining her from running away from him, and punched her in the left eye, the back of the head, and in the stomach.

A neighbor of W.D.H. also called him and his gf at the time unfriendly.

Here are two women who fit the missing time frame... Don't know if the first has connections to where W.D.H. was active.
Monica Hartnett, 44, missing since sometime in January of 2003 from Danbury, Connecticut
Marilyn Mendez Gonzalez, 26, missing since May 15, 2003 from Waterbury, Connecticut

 

[Caitlin]

Also, he grew up in Harwinton, CT (NW) according to this article:
http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Suspected-Connecticut-serial-killer-identified-6258233.php#page-2

I wonder, then, what his connection to Virginia was.

 

[mysteriew]

Here is a little more about W.D.H.'s criminal past. I have been trying to find out more about him and his personal life but it is turning into quite the task. There isn't too much to find about him (yet) on the internet, but I'm sure once he is charged people who knew him in the past will come forward.

http://wtnh.com/2015/05/12/new-britain-suspected-serial-killer-identified/

His family has seemingly turned on him:

There is also an interesting theory on how he came upon the dumping grounds:

I wonder where he lived in Virginia. It would be interesting to check him against any missing women in Virginia.

 

[mysteriew]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/1...7-victims-found-in-connecticut-serial-killer/

 

[mysteriew]

Another article, this one showing a history of violence. http://www.wfsb.com/story/29041819/new-britain-suspected-serial-killer-identified-by-sources



A neighbor of W.D.H. also called him and his gf at the time unfriendly.

Here are two women who fit the missing time frame... Don't know if the first has connections to where W.D.H. was active.
Monica Hartnett, 44, missing since sometime in January of 2003 from Danbury, Connecticut
Marilyn Mendez Gonzalez, 26, missing since May 15, 2003 from Waterbury, Connecticut

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...killer-suspect-was-kindhearted-boyfriend.html

Some are still defending him

 

[mysteriew]

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Sources-ID-Suspected-Serial-Killer-303430541.html

Good history of the case

 

[mysteriew]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/conn-serial-killer-jailed-2003-murder-report-article-1.2219138

Another good history

 

[Caitlin]

The found Nilsa:

At a press conference, police said they found the remains of Nilsa Arizmendi, a Wethersfield woman who was reported missing in 2003 when she was 34, and Daniel Whistnant, 44, who was reported missing in New Britain on June 25, 2003.

They also found a male:

Daniel Whistnant, 44, who was reported missing in New Britain on June 25, 2003.

There is good background info in this article as well.

Court records said Howell lived in Connecticut, North Carolina and Virginia in the early 2000s. While in New Britain, he lived at 307 Washington St. with a girlfriend and did landscaping in the area. He also owned a landscaping company in Hampton, Va., called AAA Landscape & Maintenance. His family was from Hampton and he visited there in the winter.

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-new-britain-serial-killer-male-bones-20150513-story.html

 

[mysteriew]

From your article it looks like he lived in Connecticut, Virginia and N. Carolina in the 2000's. It also says the he has criminal convictions in multiple states between Connecticut and Georgia.

I wonder why the man was killed because that looks like a change in victimology. Or is it really related? After all they have already found one other body in the same area that they say is not related.

 

[mysteriew]

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/whistnant_daniel.html

Charley Project for Daniel Whistnant. Sometimes went by the name Janice Roberts. Transgendered.

 

[Caitlin]

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/whistnant_daniel.html

Charley Project for Daniel Whistnant. Sometimes went by the name Janice Roberts. Transgendered.

Thanks, mysteriew. Hadn't had time to look him up yet. It would totally make sense why he was a victim if he was living as woman at the time of his disappearance.

 

[rhetthat]

It is very friightening! His girlfriend Dorothy was my BFF. We were together when we met him at Illusion's dance club. They spent so much time at my home! The picture they have of them in one of these articles was taken at my home. It is sickening! The last time I saw him they were at my house for dinner and my son - 15 yrs old at the time - had disrespected me. Devin instanly snapped, jumped up and started choking him. It was very chaotic. We called the PD and he was asked not to return to my home!