Affidavit: Woman was beaten to death

Document details evidence police used in charging West Haven man with murder

GUILFORD — A West Haven man allegedly killed his wife, a Guilford woman, in July by striking her dozens of times with a weapon, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Robert Faison, 45, of Campbell Avenue was arrested Wednesday and charged with murder in connection with the death of Lindsey Hopkins, 42, according to Guilford police.

An affidavit from Guilford police Detective Daniel Morrell detailing the case against Faison was released by the Connecticut judicial branch.

Officers were called to do a well-being check on July 22, finding a woman “on the living room floor with obvious trauma to her head and body,” Morrell wrote in the affidavit.

The woman’s name is redacted in the affidavit; police previously identified Hopkins as the victim in the case.

On July 22, a claw hammer and a screwdriver were found in the living room and while searching woods on the property, Morrell found an ax laying on the ground, according to the affidavit. It did not appear to have been out in the elements long Morrell wrote in the affidavit.

DNA evidence from the ax handle later indicated a mix of two contributors, one of which was 100 billion times more likely to be Faison than an unknown individual, according to the affidavit. DNA from a stain on the ax handle was found to be from a woman, 100 billion times more likely to be Hopkins than an unknown person, according to the affidavit.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later determined that Hopkins had died of a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the head and neck, according to the affidavit.

She had suffered a series of lacerations, been “bludgeoned repeatedly,” causing fractures; her arm was broken. In all, Hopkins was found to have 23 blunt-force injuries, 16 of which were to the head and neck, and five sharp force injuries, the affidavit says.

A medical investigator and a doctor with the office both said the ax found behind the home may have been used to cause the injuries, according to the affidavit.

The medical investigator, Melissa Edelberg, arrived at the scene at 2 a.m.; she said Hopkins had been dead for at least three days, the affidavit says.

In the medical examiner’s report, Forensic Anthropologist Kristen HartnettMcCann wrote, in part that the “combination of blunt force and sharp force trauma suggests that a sharp instrument may have been used...,” Morrell noted in the affidavit.

A nearby resident told police that she had heard “like something, not someone,” falling down the stairs of the residence in question on July 18, according to the affidavit. She paused the movie she was watching to listen.

It “sounded like something metal hitting the stairs,” she later told police.

The resident told police that a man she knew as “Rob” had parked nearby a few nights earlier. She previously heard what she termed arguments between the man and Hopkins coming from the residence, she told police.

Police and a probation officer attempted to contact Faison, according to the affidavit. He was Hopkins’ husband, police have said.

“All calls and voicemail messages left went unanswered and unreturned,” Morrell wrote in the affidavit. “Further, Faison made no attempts whatsoever to contact police, friends, nor family of (Hopkins) to check on her well-being or to inquire about her whereabouts.”

An individual attempted to use a debit card belonging to Hopkins 26 times after her estimated time of death, beginning on July 18, but failed to enter the correct PIN, Morrell said.

Surveillance footage from Waterbury and New York City “clearly showed” Faison attempting to use the card in some of the transactions.

Faison later was found in a shelter in New York City on July 30 and arrested for violation of probation, Morrell wrote in the affidavit.

Among his belongings, police allegedly found a debit card belonging to Hopkins, as well as a Connecticut vehicle title for a 2006 Nissan Maxima that indicated Faison had purchased it on July 16, he wrote.

Police later determined that Faison allegedly sold a Pontiac Grand Am to two men outside of Four J’s Deli in New Haven on July 18, Morrell wrote in the affidavit.

One of the men later told police they originally brokered a deal to buy the car for $600 by paying $200 on three consecutive days. They paid $200 on the first day and $200 on the second day, but Faison did not return for the third installment, according to the affidavit.

The Nissan Maxima later was found in Bridgeport on July 31, Morrell wrote in the affidavit. There was blood on the trunk liner, he wrote; it was linked to Hopkins.

During the investigation, police spoke with Faison’s relative, who friends and acquaintances had described as “the only person” Faison “would go to should he be in trouble or need any help,” Morrell wrote in the affidavit.

In an initial interview on July 24, the relative said they had last seen Faison on July 20, when he left his cellphone at their house. He had not gotten in touch in a few days, which was unusual, the relative told police.

But the relative later told police they had last seen Faison on July 22, not July 20.

Faison made four calls to the relative while incarcerated for alleged violation of probation, Morrell wrote in the affidavit.

In the first, on Aug. 5, he allegedly made a reference to being “in a lot of trouble”; in the second, on Aug. 17, he said he’d “take whatever they (expletive) offer me, fifteen or twenty”; in the third, on Aug. 23, he asked the relative to have “any chick” write him while he’s incarcerated.

In the fourth, on Aug. 30, the relative allegedly said that people had suggested “you probably had enough of the wom [sic],” and said that “maybe your mind just snapped and you had enough of what happened.”

Faison’s cellphone and Hopkins’ phone were found to have communicated with calls and texts “well over 1,400 times” between May 31 and July 18, including more than 125 times between July 12 and 18.

After July 18, before Faison’s phone seemingly was shut off on the 23rd, there was no further communication between the two, Morrell wrote in the affidavit.

Faison is being held in lieu of $2 million bail . The case was transferred to Part A proceedings, where more serious matters are adjudicated.

He has not yet entered a plea regarding the charge of murder, and is next scheduled to appear in court Oct. 25.

According to her obituary, Hopkins “had a huge caring heart. She loved to make people laugh and was always helping others in any way she could. Last year, during the pandemic, she made face masks for those who needed them.”

She was the daughter of Catharine W. Hopkins of Madison and the late Douglas B. Hopkins, according to the obituary, and is survived by her daughter, Emilie M. Albert of North Branford, her brother, Walker R. Hopkins of Madison, as well as many aunts, uncles and cousins.

Faison