MERIDEN, CT — Meriden police are now investigating as a homicide the death of a 35-year-old man whose remains firefighters found after putting out a small fire on Hicks Avenue early Thursday, Oct. 8. Detectives found that he had been shot several times, police said in a release Saturday, Oct. 10.
WFSB reported that the man also had burns from the brush fire, and that police said it was not yet clear when the injuries happened. Police have not released a cause of death.
A Small Fire, Then the Remains
At about 4:02 a.m. Thursday, police and firefighters were sent to the corner of Hicks Avenue and North Colony Road after a report of an unknown fire, Deputy Police Chief Jerry Scully said. "The fire department located a small fire on Hicks Avenue. Upon extinguishing the fire, they located human remains," Scully told WTIC. He said no building was involved, and police at first handled the case as an untimely death.
Asked how long the remains had been there, police told WFSB "no comment."
Who Is Working the Case
On Thursday, the fire marshal, prosecutors from the New Haven State's Attorney's Office, the state medical examiner's office and State Police K-9 teams joined Meriden police at the scene, NBC Connecticut reported. "We're just leaving no stone unturned at this point," Scully told the station.
WFSB reported a second police presence less than half a mile farther down North Colony Road, which police have not tied to the Hicks Avenue scene, and a group of police recruits searching the roadside between the two spots.
Police closed Hicks Avenue from Gracey Avenue to North Colony Road on Thursday, along with North Colony Road from the 800 block to Nancy Lane. The roads reopened after a morning-long closure, WFSB reported.