Stamford man charged in ‘heinous’ murder

STAMFORD — A South End homeless man was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with killing 93yearold Isabella Mehner for her wedding ring in late September.

Robert Simmons, 51, whose address is the men’s shelter on Pacific Street, was charged with felony murder, murder and home invasion. Both felony murder and murder carry minimum sentences of 25 years but can be punishable by up to 60 years in prison.

Police say Simmons targeted

Mehner and it was not a random act of violence. They said Simmons was familiar with Mehner and had worked at her home in the past.

On Sept. 25, at about 8 p.m., police responded to 565 Cove Road after Mehner’s daughter found her unresponsive at the bottom of the cellar stairs. Through an investigation and with the assistance of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, police determined the injuries sustained by Mehner were not consistent with a fall and her death was ruled a homicide.

Based of video footage of the area, investigators tracked down Simmons two days later only to discover he was wearing jeans with Mehner’s blood on them, according to his arrest warrant.

At Simmons’ arraignment at the Stamford courthouse early Wednesday afternoon, Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Paul Ferencek said Simmons had numerous convictions for larcenies and violations of probation going back 30 years.

Ferencek implored Judge Bruce Hudock to keep the courtappearance bond at $2 million for Simmons, who was dressed in a redandwhite stripped shirt and who spent much of the arraignment gripping and releasing his hands that were locked together in handcuffs.

Public Defender Mark Welsh, who represented Simmons for his arraignment, said his client did not have a chance of posting a bond for even half that amount. Hudock, however, kept the bond at $2 million and scheduled Simmons to return to court on Dec. 10.

The courthouse’s senior public defender, Howard Ehring, who will be representing Simmons going forward, declined to comment on the allegations, saying that he has not yet read Simmons 12page arrest warrant that includes the evidence police and the state say they have against him.

Capt. Richard Conklin called Mehner’s murder one of the most “heinous and vile” crimes he has been a witness to in his 39year career with the Stamford Police Department.

Mehner’s daughter Sandra Manzke said she could not thank the police enough for all the hard work they did.