Tip Kept Cold Case Alive

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by Melissa Bailey | Dec 28, 2011 3:55 pm

(7) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Legal Writes

Melissa Bailey Photo Seven years after his aunt was beaten to death in an abandoned Grand Avenue building, Charles Dohna can finally drive down Grand Avenue with a sense of relief, thanks to the persistence of New Haven homicide detectives.

Dohna is the nephew of Louise Soules, who was found dead alongside her boyfriend, Michael Mobley, on July 24, 2004, in an abandoned building at 776-780 Grand Ave.

The “heaviness” the family had felt for years was lifted this week, when police announced they had cracked the double-murder case, said Dohna (at center in the photo above, with other members of the victims’ families). He made the remarks at a midday press conference Wednesday at police headquarters, where detectives recounted two key turns in the case.

The press event came one day after Detective Mike Wuchek secured an arrest warrant for a 59-year-old man who is sitting in a Florida jail on unrelated charges. He is wanted on two counts of murder. Soules, 37, and Mobley, 38, were both beaten to death.

State Superior Court Judge David Gold signed the warrant, which carries a $1 million bond.

Contributed Photo The warrant will be served once the suspect is extradited to Connecticut, Wuchek said.

Police Chief Dean Esserman credited Wuchek and his fellow colleagues—Detective Jim Naccarato, retired Sgt. Martin Dadio, and retired Detective Stacy Spell —for sticking with the case.

“No one stopped working on this case,” Esserman said.

Evidence from the scene which detectives recovered and had tested included DNA from a cigarette butt, fingerprints from a vodka bottle, and semen-stained bloody clothing, according to someone familiar with the investigation.

Click here to read a full account of the case by the Register’s William Kaempffer, who first reported it Wednesday morning. Click here to read a story on a previous “cold case” solved as part of the cops’ renewed effort to revisit unsolved murders.

Wuchek has experience cracking cold cases: click here to read about a shooting case he solved two years after it happened.

He said his first break in this case came in 2009, in a conversation with the family of a victim of an unrelated crime. Wuchek was working with the family on the other case. The family came forward with a tip: A man had “bragged to them that he had committed the double homicide on Grand Avenue.”

The family gave the name of the bragger. It was the first time Wuchek had heard the name. The guy had a criminal history of “assault, sexual assault, kidnapping, drug/narcotic violations, weapons violations, aggravated assault, burglary, fugitive from justice, and assault on the police,” according to police. He had been arrested for those crimes in New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida and his native South Carolina.

Detectives proceeded to look for the suspect for the next two years. That proved hard because of the man’s transience. Like the victims, the suspect was homeless at the time of the killings, Wuchek said.

The second break came in April 2011, when detectives learned that the suspect had been locked up Orange County, Florida, on an unrelated domestic assault charge, for which he’s still being held.

Wuchek and Naccarato got a warrant to obtain the suspect’s DNA. It linked him to the scene, they said.

They quietly went down to Florida last week to interview the suspect. He didn’t confess to the crime, Wuchek said.

This week, police told the families of the victims they had cracked the case.

Angela Mobley (pictured) said “we never gave up hope” that cops would find the person who killed her brother.

“A big burden is lifted off of us,” she said Wednesday.

“I can find peace for once,” said John Soules, Louise’s son. He said his mom was “a caring person.”

“She didn’t mess with nobody. I’m not really sure what happened.”

Dohna, Soules’ nephew, said over the years he has often driven by the Grand Avenue building where his aunt was killed. It sits near the I-91 overpass, across the street from Adriana’s Restaurant & Wine Bar.

“I just kept praying,” he said, “every time I go by there.”

“Now I can go by with relief.”

Comments

posted by: Insider 093 on December 28, 2011 6:46pm

Great job Detective Wuchek and glad to see retired officers were appreciated. ...
Detective Wuchek is a true Detective who will leave a great name when he retires and should receive much recognition. Thanks You Detectives Wuchek, Jim Naccarato, retired Sgt. Martin Dadio, and retired Detective Stacy Spell. True investigators

posted by: EVELYN on December 29, 2011 11:17am

@Angela Mobley- I am so happy for you that this has come about. You have been through alot and your brother deserves justice. My prayers are always with you and the family and also of the young lady who was victimized.

posted by: Pedro Soto on December 29, 2011 11:26am

This is really great news. I can actually see this building from my house, and I remember the day that police swarmed it and discovered what was inside.
Really great work on the part of the NHPD.
One small point regarding the article. The building in question is not in Fair Haven, but is actually in Wooster Square. Fair Haven begins on the other side of the Mill River, and this building actually abuts St. John St, which is most certainly in Wooster Square.

[Mistake fixed. Thank you.]

posted by: ANTONIO on December 29, 2011 1:10pm

Great job by past and present members of the NHPD. Great job Wucheck, when you done wrong and he is after you look out, he doesn’t rest until your caught.

posted by: Gone but not forgotten on December 29, 2011 1:50pm

I ended up seeing some of the photos of the crime scene recently, without knowing the story behind them, and they haunt me still—especially wondering if the victims were a priority, or if the horrific crime would remained unsolved. Very glad the NHPD stayed involved over the years to give the victims and their families the dignity and closure that everyone deserves.

posted by: Antonio on December 29, 2011 2:01pm

Detective Woo is no joke once he gets his hooks into you your all done..

posted by: ANN BOYD on December 30, 2011 4:46pm

i remember louise from upper sheldon avenue years ago she was very young and plesant she would alwawys come around the corner to goodrich st. to play with my children later in years i would see her down town new haven still very quiet and soft spoken just last year i wondered where she could be not seeing her for some years still saying what happen to louise i was very shock when watching the news to see her face i yell out to my grand son thats louise i know her my prayers go out to her family so sorry for their lost she was a very nice person

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