Drifter admits killing 6; bodies buried behind strip mall

Hartford — An East Coast drifter who authorities say killed seven people in Connecticut during a 2003 series of slayings and sexual assaults while driving a van he called the Murder Mobile pleaded guilty on Friday in connection with six of the slayings.

William Devin Howell pleaded guilty to six counts of murder during a hearing in New Britain Superior Court. Howell, who’s 47 years old, is expected to be sentenced in November to 360 years in prison.

The Hampton, Va., native previously was convicted of manslaughter in one victim’s death and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The guilty pleas Friday confirmed that he is the most prolific serial killer in Connecticut history — not including the killers in mass shootings such as the Newtown school massacre.

The bodies of all seven victims were found buried in a wooded area behind a strip mall in New Britain. Three bodies were found in 2007, and the other remains were discovered in 2015 when authorities went back to the site.

Howell’s lawyers said his guilty plea avoids a trial and saves taxpayers nearly $1 million.

“By pleading guilty today, William Howell wanted to spare the victims’ families further emotional pain through a lengthy and drawn out trial that would have taken several weeks, if not months,” the lawyers, Jeffrey Kestenband and William Paetzold, said in a statement.

New Britain State’s Attorney Brian Preleski praised a task force of local, state and federal authorities that investigated the killings and expressed “our deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of these innocent victims.”

All seven victims disappeared in 2003, when Howell was mowing lawns and working other odd jobs. They were identified as Joyvaline Martinez, 24, of East Hartford; Diane Cusack, 53, of New Britain; Mary Jane Menard, 40, of New Britain; Melanie Ruth Camilini, 29, of Seymour; Marilyn Gonzalez, 26, of Waterbury; Danny Lee Whistnant, 44, of New Britain; and Nilsa Arizmendi, 33, of Wethersfield.

Howell was arrested in May 2005 in Hampton, Va., in connection with Arizmendi’s death and later pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

He sexually assaulted three of the women and kept one of the bodies in his van for two weeks, sleeping next to the body and calling the victim his “baby,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit. He also told a cellmate there was a monster inside him, described himself as a “sick ripper” and called his van the Murder Mobile, according to the warrant.