The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Man charged with stealing remains from Stratford cemetery
STRATFORD » Every day that Joe Smith goes to the final resting place of his grandparents at Union Cemetery, he feels an empty spot in his heart because their remains are gone.
Their ashes were stolen one night last year along with the urns of 16 other people.
But Smith got some satisfaction Friday when police arrested the suspected grave robber, Aneudy Davila, a Bronx, N.Y., man. Police said Davila used the ashes in religious ceremonies.
A witness told police he’d seen Davila’s girlfriend, Janette Mateo, conducting rituals involving dead chickens and cigars with the ashes.
The witness also told police that Davila asked if he could borrow a vacuum cleaner to clean up some dust he had in his van.
Davila, 36, was charged Friday with interference with a cemetery, criminal mischief and sixth-degree larceny.
“I’m just so grateful to the police for catching this guy,” said Smith, of Bridgeport. The remains of his grandparents, Sidney and Dorothy Corris, had been stolen.
“This will help me and my family and I’m sure the other families whose ashes of loved ones were stolen to have some closure,” Smith said. “Having your loved ones remains stolen is very traumatic.”
On June 23, 2016, police said they were called to the historic Temple Court cemetery for a break in.
When officers got to the scene, police said they found a columbarium, a sealed granite vault that contains remains, had been broken into and 18 urns containing cremated human remains were missing.
A circle had been burned in the grass around the vault, police said.
The case went unsolved for several months until police said the witness came forward.
The witness told police that shortly after the cemetery break-in, Davila had come to his home carrying a large plastic bag. When the witness looked into the bag police said he saw a number of metal urns, some with names and flags on them.
There were also a number of old-looking photographs of people.
Police said they later raided Mateo’s home on Naugatuck Avenue in Milford and found the remains of chickens and other items used in the practice of Santeria, a Caribbean/African religion. They did not find any urns, and while they said Mateo admitted conducting Santeria rituals, she denied having anything to do with the cemetery break-in.
Davila was later arrested on unrelated charges in Milford. Police said when he surrendered at police headquarters there he was carrying a large bag. When police looked in the bag they said they found tools consistent with those used to break into the cemetery vault, along with several photographs that had been taken from the vault.
The Union Cemetery is behind the Stratford United Methodist Church. The oldest grave markers there date to before the Revolution and there are many from the 19th century.
The columbarium, badly damaged in the crime, has since been rebuilt. However, the names of the 18 whose cremains were stolen now appear on a stone to the left of the structure.
At the time of the crime, it was thought that the suspect smashed open the columbarium to get at the urns; sometimes they’re made of precious metals.
Davila was released Friday after posting $5,000 bond.
Staff writer John Burgeson contribted to this story.