Biggest news stories in Connecticut in 2020
With the end of 2020, we look back at some of the news stories that have come to define this unparalleled year.
In Connecticut, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of more than 5,500 people, including a 30-year old trainer with no underlying conditions. Other big news items included the death of Fotis Dulos, who was accused of killing his missing wife, Jennifer.
On the lighter side of things, a “feud” between the city of Danbury and HBO comedian John Oliver caught the attention of the state — and the nation. It ended up being one of Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton’s last big hurrahs as mayor; he announced he is becoming the state’s new tax commissioner after nearly two decades as mayor.
These along with others were the Connecticut news stories that caught readers’ attention this year.
Fotis Dulos, 52, accused of killing wife Jennifer Dulos, dies at N.Y. hospital
On the morning of Jan. 28, police reported to the house of Fotis Dulos after he failed to appear for an emergency bond hearing. Police said Dulos had attempted to poison himself with carbon monoxide in his garage in Farmington. After initial reports that Dulos was unresponsive and had died, medics were able to
revive the 52-year-old. However, he did die after two days of medical treatment, his lawyer Norm Pattis announced, further complicating the case of the missing Jennifer Dulos.
As the case shifted over to Dulos’ ex-girlfriend Michelle Troconis and former lawyer Kent Mawhinney, details still remained scarce as to the whereabouts of Jennifer Dulos. Attorney Christopher Hug, the administrator of Fotis Dulos’ estate, requested that the court officially declare Jennifer Dulos dead, though no motion has yet been made to do so. Currently, Troconis remains on GPS monitoring while Mawhinney has been released on bond.
Tom Brady’s rumored move to Greenwich
Rumor had it earlier this year that NFL star Tom Brady and his wife, model Gisele Bundchen, has purchased a home in Greenwich. The town was abuzz with the idea. Fred Whalen, a retired attorney, said Brady would be “an asset to the town of Greenwich.” “I’m delighted,” he said. “I think it’s a good thing. I think he’s a good guy.”
In the end, though, Brady joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and moved his family to Florida, not Connecticut.
Coronavirus hits Connecticut
On March 8, Gov. Ned Lamont announced the first COVID-19 case in Connecticut. Nine months and more than 5,500 deaths later, Connecticut has been battered by a pandemic that continues to rage. From personal stories of loss to businesses succumbing to the economic climate or opening against all odds,
Hearst Connecticut Media has been on the ground covering the widespread effects of the pandemic as they happen in real time.
As of Dec. 21, Connecticut had 162,782 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 5,581 coronavirus-related deaths.
Wife of Connecticut’s first coronavirus patient: ‘My husband got really sick, really fast’
The first Connecticut resident who tested positive for the coronavirus was in a coma at Danbury Hospital in March, while his wife and twin infant sons were quarantined at home.
Chris Tillett, 45, of Wilton, began showing symptoms shortly after he returned from a work conference in California on Feb. 28, his wife said in an interview. He spent 10 days in a medically induced coma recovering from the respiratory illness COVID-19. He’s had to re-learn how to swallow, talk, walk and even use the bathroom. While he’s reminded of the disease each day with lingering effects such as energy lags and some muscle pain, he was back to “80 to 85 percent of where I was before” as of November.
Cops: Man kills young children, himself in Norwalk murder-suicide
In late March, Norwalk residents were shocked when a family member found the bodies of a man and his children in a garage.
According to police, Yimi Moncada, 27, killed his two young children, Gisselle, 5, and Jesus, 4, before killing himself. A medical examiner later confirmed the cause of death as a murder-suicide.
The children were staying with their father for the weekend, but a family member notified police when they did not return on time.
Family: ‘Perfectly healthy’ Norwalk trainer, 30, dies after contracting coronavirus
A 30-year-old personal trainer whose sister says was “perfectly healthy” became one of the state’s youngest to die after contracting the coronavirus in April. Dan Spano, whose family said he had no underlying conditions, died at
Norwalk Hospital. Spano began feeling sick on March 24, according to his older sister, Melissa Castiglia. Spano first had a fever and then developed a cough that progressed into a major illness, his sister said.
A high school football player, Spano volunteered with Pop Warner and graduated from Coastal Carolina University in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in sports recreation and management. “He was just wonderful,” his older sister Melissa Castiglia said Sunday, April 12. “Nobody can really say anything bad about him.”
‘A tidal wave’: New Yorkers snapping up Conn. homes as they flee the city
The pandemic triggered a trickling stream of New Yorkers to move to Connecticut and escape the city. Realtors sold single-family homes to city folk who were ready to pay on the spot.
After a burst of activity in the closing weeks of winter this year, Connecticut agents had braced for a buying lull through the summer months amid continuing uncertainty over the impact of COVID-19. But as the human tragedy has unfolded, the instinct for flight from the city continued ot take hold. The boom continued through the summer, fall and even into winter with agents expecting no slow down going into 2021.
Westport wedding goes viral after ex accuses groom of cheating
When a New York couple got married at Westport’s Museum of Contemporary Art last month, they likely didn’t expect their wedding announcement would draw so much interest. Lauren Maillian and Robert Palmer met in January 2017 at the New York Sports Club in Harlem, N.Y., according to their Aug. 7 wedding announcement in the New York Times. A correction to he wedding announcement later ran stating that Palmer had previously been married.
And then Nikyta Moreno told her side of that story in The New York Post. She indicated that she learned from the Maillian-Palmer wedding announcement that her ex-husband — Palmer — had cheated on her during their marriage.
“According to the article, the couple, Rob and Lauren, started their relationship in January 2017. It also said that he had never been married,” Moreno wrote in the Post. “That was news to me — because I was his wife in January 2017.”
John Oliver-Danbury feud
Comedian John Oliver secretly visited Danbury in October for the John Oliver Memorial Sewage Plant ribbon-cutting. Why? It all started with an August episode of “Last Week Tonight” during which the HBO host trashed Danbury. The segment prompted a response from a child news anchor and the city’s minor league hockey team.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton responded by sharing a video on social media in which he revealed a new name for the city’s sewage plant: the John Oliver Memorial Sewage Plant. Oliver’s response was that he would donate money to local charities if the name change did, in fact, officially happen. And Boughton’s response was that he would do it if, and only if, Oliver attended the ribbon cutting in person.
The rest is history.
Feds: 7 Hartford women charged in Victoria’s Secret scheme
Seven Connecticut women, between the ages of 19 and 21, were arrested in October and charged with conspiracy and fraud offenses after allegedly stealing over $100,000 from L Brand, the parent company of Victoria’s Secret.
As part of the alleged scheme, federal authorities said the women stole items from stores in Connecticut and Massachusetts, then returned the stolen item through a “no original receipt” return. This return method allowed the suspects to get gift cards for the store in the value of the allegedly stolen item, the indictment said.
Each woman was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. They were each released on a $100,000 bond.