Homicide Investigation

from a press release:

The Norwalk Police Department is investigating the death of an unidentified Hispanic male.

A motorist called 911 on Sunday at 4:39 a.m. reporting a man laying down in the roadway on Marlin Drive. The motorist stated that initially the object in the road appeared to be a pile of clothing but upon closer inspection determined that it was a person.

Officers responding to the call checked the area and located a man face down in the roadway near 32 Marlin Drive. The officers checked the man for vital signs and found none. Norwalk Hospital Paramedics responded, evaluated his medical condition and pronounced death at 4:55 a.m.

Officers observed indications of head trauma, blood on his face and noted an accumulation of blood on the pavement beneath his face.

Officers also observed that one of his front pants pockets had been turned inside out, perhaps suggesting that he was the victim of a robbery. The man did not have a wallet or identification.

The man is described as a Hispanic male in his 30′s, wearing a red short sleeve polo shirt, black jeans and black boots. The man was determined to be 5’ 7” tall, weighing 238 pounds.

Investigators canvassed the residential neighborhood and local businesses conducting interviews in an effort to learn more about the incident and determine the man’s identity.

An autopsy was conducted Monday by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Farmington. The cause of death was determined to be Blunt Traumatic Head Injury, Circumstances Pending Further Investigation.

Tuesday, as the investigation progressed, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner listed the cause of death as Blunt Traumatic Head Injury and determined the manner of death to be Homicide.

Investigators have made significant progress in determining the victim’s identity using fingerprints that were submitted for comparison using the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). Release of the victim’s identity is pending confirmation and notification of the next of kin.

Investigators are examining all possibilities in determining the details of what occurred including the possibility that the injuries were sustained at a different physical location.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Norwalk Police:

Norwalk Police Tipline at 203-854-3111

Anonymous Internet tips can be submitted via the anonymous tip link at the Norwalk Police website at: www.norwalkpd.com

Anonymous text tips can be submitted by typing “NPD” into the text field, followed by the message, and sending it to CRIMES (274637)

  • Wondering…

    Let me start by stating: God rest the faithfully departed and may his family have closure and peace.

    Now, Is Marlin drive part of the so-called ‘Sunken City’ of Norwalk?

  • Secondhand Rose

    To Wondering: It’s one of the lead-in streets. The “sunken” area is in the middle of the development. If you turn off Cutrone Road onto Marlin Drive and at the end of the street turn right and follow the roadway around in a circle, you’ll pass the area of sinking houses. You can tell them by the sagging roofs, odd leaning of the walls, and in at least one case, by the chain-link fence surrounding the property.

    The reason these houses have been sinking is because the housing development was built in what had been a huge swamp. We kids who grew up in the area were well aware of the quicksand and deep water and were warned against playing in there for many years, long before this development was ever built.

    On a side note, they’ve identified the murder victim on the Stamford Advocate’s website.

  • Wondering

    Yes I saw that on the Advocate and by all accounts a good hard working man. God rest his soul.

    Wow, I never knew the history of the infamous ‘Sunken city’. Were there any lawsuits or financial compensation? When were they built? And quicksand, are there any known pictures/photos of the the property before development?

  • http://Yahoo Just Me

    Of course there were lawsuits, but the builder was represented by Bob Slavitt and that pretty much in those days meant he wasn’t going to feel too much pain.
    On the other hand, I can remember when my husband and I were house-hunting in the early 70′s it didn’t take me long to figure out what you could get for what we wanted to spend, and when I saw a raised ranch in the same price range as the cute little capes we were being shown, I smelled a rat. Other buyers could have thought the same thing instead of figuring they’d grab up a “bargain”. No such thing in the real estate market – then, now or ever.

  • Secondhand Rose

    I do remember hearing my parents talking about lawsuits for these homes. I’m guessing if you go to the Norwalk Library and review the microfilms for the period between 1964 and 1974 you could probably uncover a few Hour articles about them (if you’re so inclined).

    The same contractor who built the development also was hired by the city to repair the sewer system on our street. The developer was sued for that too, because he managed to leave a huge hole in the road about 5 feet deep and more than 5 feet across which filled with water during a heavy rainstorm, and one of our neighbors drove his car into it while coming home from work that night because the developer didn’t bother to set up sawhorses or signs or close the street. As I recall, there was a hefty settlement for that too, since the neighbor’s car got totaled from the dive into the hole.

  • Wondering

    Wow, so this guy was like a half-assed contractor. Probably got to keep most of his earnings too. Hopefully he’s moved onto something else by now? It’s been about 40yrs or so. If you go the the Parcel Search screen you can see photos of the houses. It’s sad to think how people were ripped off on the American dream. Anyone know anyone who lives there??

  • Secondhand Rose

    I used to know a few people, but they’ve all moved away. Several kids I went to Ponus with lived there, and one of my teachers from Kendall bought a house just 3 plots up from the sinking area. She had a small stream running through her backyard that would flood her property after a rain.

    Most of the people who first bought those houses opened turned around and sold them almost immediately and got out of there ASAP. There was one kid who fell through his own sidewalk into a sinkhole – he was going out the front door on the way to school, jumping from one front step to the other. He jumped down onto the sidewalk and it collapsed underneath him and down into the hole he went. Luckily he didn’t get hurt, but his parents moved out pretty quickly after that. Some homeowners spent a lot of money putting pilings under their basements, but the houses kept right on sinking, and at least one house was completely abandoned.

    The end of the development where the houses are sinking is now mostly owned by lower-income people who really have no other choice – they couldn’t afford a better house, and they can’t afford to sell them and leave. Most realtors are wise to this area now and wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole, so you don’t see much buying and selling these days.

  • OLD TIMER

    The contractor was Ray Wennick and he built a lot of homes in Norwalk that were good value. That project had problems and he offered to buy back any home with a problem, for exactly what it sold for, but, by then people were selling them for a nice profit and nobody sold back to hime. There was a lawsuit, and the city and the original pile driving company were named, along with the builder. It went on for quite a while and some people collected, but nobody was really satisfied.

  • Secondhand Rose

    The project “had problems” because the contractor decided to build in the middle of a SWAMP, and for no other reason. Who in their right mind builds in a swamp, for goshsakes.

    • turfgrrl

      Which is why, following the March storms, I started asking about sump pumps and why we would allow (in zoning) projects built that require a 24/7 sump pump to keep water out of the basement. The answer was that the law (per supremes) allows for people to build on land that is swamp, or otherwise water inundated. North Carolina set the precedents.

  • OLD TIMER

    Wennick had a contract with CL&P to clean out the flyash ponds at Manresa power plant, when they were running scrubbers capturing flyash and he was dumping the flyash in that swamp for years. He knew the flyash fill would not support houses and hired engineers to devise a system to support the houses on piling driven deep into the ground. That is not an unusual process, but was not done sufficiently in this case and the pile driving company and the engineers were also sued. I don’t think they would allow filling a swamp that way today.