FAIRFIELD, Conn. The popular term is cold cases. The name is even used to headline the page asking for information on the years-old cases on the Fairfield Police Departments new website. Yet the term is somewhat of a misnomer. Police never drop an investigation, especially when the cases are as haunting as the three homicides left unsolved in Fairfield.
Theyre still very much active investigations, said Sgt. Suzanne Lussier, the Fairfield Police Departments public information officer. We have detectives working on these cases even today.
The three crimes involve victims with little in common: a newborn infant, an adult woman and a 17-year-old boy. Two happened in the same year 1986 and involved still unidentified victims. The third victim was Kyle Schneider, a kid well known and well liked at Fairfield Warde High School. But his murder has not proven any easier to solve in the three and a half years since it occurred.
The oldest case is also the grisliest. On March 14, 1986, Fairfield Police discovered the body of an infant in the woods surrounding Lake Mohegan. The body was mutilated, especially the babys face. Investigators believe the victim was just over a day old at the time of death.
Later tests showed that the cause of death was asphyxia, not the wounds to the face. Police believe the body was used in a religious ritual. The injuries are not consistent with just the mere abandonment of a newborn baby, then-Capt. Joseph Sambrook said at the time, as reported by The Associated Press.
The case was reopened just last year, when Gov. Dannel Malloy announced a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Just a few months later, a second unidentified body was found in Fairfield, though on the opposite side of town. An adult woman was discovered near the railroad tracks in Southport, just off the Old Post Road. It was later determined that she had been strangled. Police believe she came from New Haven but have been unable to find out much else about her.
In 2008, the Fairfield Warde community was hit hard by the death of one of its own. Wilton native Kyle Schneider had transferred to the school after moving back to Connecticut before his sophomore year. He was a fan of music, playing saxophone in the schools jazz bands, and was also an accomplished singer and bassist. He was due to graduate from Warde in 2009.
But on May 1, 2008, Schneiders father Douglas returned to their Congress Street home to find the teen dead from a gunshot wound to the head in their pool house. Police attempted to interview friends and family at the time but were unable to identify any suspects.
Lussier said last week she believes that, in the three and a half years since Schneiders death, friends with information might be more likely to come forward as adults. This is very much a case that I think can be solved, Lussier said.
Detectives are assigned to each case. Anyone who wishes to come forward with information may send tips anonymously, via text message, through the Text-a-tip line. Potential witnesses can also contact the Detective Bureau at 203-254-4840.
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