New Haven Independent

That’s the story Chaves (pictured) told to police in Phoenix, Arizona. He was arrested there this week, ending a months-long manhunt that began when Anderson’s body was found at Branford’s TA Travel Center in April.

The details of Chaves’ confession are contained in his arrest warrant affidavit, released on Tuesday by Branford police. The document recounts the months in which detectives pieced together the details of Chaves’s background.

A picture emerges of a drifter with a troubled past. Chaves traveled the country hitching rides with truckers and working as a lumper. He had a criminal record in several states and a child that had died at a very young age.

The document also recounts how close police came to catching Chaves in July, before he bolted out of a truck and disappeared for another five months.

Read the affidavit here.

Here are the outlines of the story, according to the affidavit:

At the time of the murder, Chaves was working as a lumper for Cesar Cerrudo, the trucker who discovered Anderson’s body in his trailer. Cerrudo had met Chaves just a couple of weeks before the murder, when he hired him as a helper in Tennessee.

Chaves slept in the trailer; Cerrudo slept in his truck. After stops in Pennsylvania and Washington D.C., the pair ended up at the Branford truck stop, where they were passinging time until the next job.

At 5 p.m. on Apr. 15, the evening of the murder, Cerrudo was approached by Anderson, who asked if he could sleep in his trailer. The two had never met. Cerrudo told police that Anderson seemed to have been drinking, but he gave him permission to sleep in the back.

Surveillance footage from the truck stop showed Anderson and Chaves leaving the building together at 6:23 p.m. At 8:41 p.m., Chaves returned alone. Shortly after that, Chaves disappeared.

The next day, Cerrudo noticed what looked like blood or vomit on the ground near where Chaves usually entered the trailer. But it wasn’t until the following day that Cerrudo opened up the trailer and discovered Anderson’s body inside.

That’s when the police investigation began. Cops discovered that Anderson had had an argument with his employer — another truck driver — on the evening of the murder. The truck driver had paid him his wages of $215, and Anderson had walked off. No money was found on his body later.

Branford Detective William DeGoursey interviewed Cerrudo, who reported that Chaves had said that he had worked as a lumper in Lake Tahoe for several years. He had said he had a criminal record and had served time in California. He had also said he had a child who had died as an infant. He and his then girlfriend of wife both blamed each other for the death.

Det. DeGoursey then contacted a moving company in Reno, Nevada, and a Reno cop named Detective Fogarty. The cops were able to identify Chaves as the same Michael Chaves who had been arrested in 2001 and pled guilty to a domestic violence charge. Police then turned up an “extensive criminal arrest record” including arrests in California, Nevada, Texas, and Washington.

On July 11, Chaves was featured on an episode of the TV show America’s Most Wanted. The next day at noon, a trucker named David Boswell was in Texas, talking on his cell phone with his ex-wife. She told him about the TV show. He told her that Chaves was in his truck. Boswell later told Branford police he’d picked up Chaves in El Paso and and was taking him to San Antonio. He was letting Chaves sleep in his cab. Boswell was able to describe Chaves’ arm tattoos — a tribal band and a Tasmanian Devil — to Branford police.

But Chaves got away. He suddenly asked Boswell to pull over, saying he wasn’t feeling well. Boswell stopped at mile marker 361 in Ozona, Texas. Chaves got out and started to run. Boswell never saw him again.

Police got their next break on Dec. 28: Phoenix police called Branford to say that they’d picked up Chaves on a trespassing charge. Phoenix police told Branford cops that Chaves had confessed to the murder of Dale Anderson.

Chaves told Phoenix detectives that Anderson had been drinking and he urinated in the part of the trailer where Chaves had been sleeping. Chaves got angry. Anderson picked up a baseball bat and threatened him. Chaves grabbed the bat and hit him four or five times. Realizing that Anderson was dead, Chaves “freaked out” and left the truck. He put the bat into a different trailer and left with another trucker.

DNA

The arrest warrant affidavit details several pieces of DNA evidence recovered from the crime scene. Police found DNA on a Pall Mall cigarette filter outside the truck and DNA belonging to Anderson and an unknown person inside the trailer. DNA on Chaves’ pillow matched that on the cigarette filter. The same DNA was found in the right front pocket of Anderson’s jeans. Chaves has not submitted to a DNA test.

The extradition of Chaves from Arizona has not yet begun. The process is expected to begin next week.