Warrant: Two women were looking for a man who was avoiding them. A Waterbury educator wound up dead
WATERBURY — No one had seen or heard from Shelley Stamp all day on Oct. 29.
A family member tried to call Stamp multiple times, but no one picked up the phone. They reached out to her friends and employer, who also hadn’t heard from the paraprofessional, according to arrest warrant applications from the Waterbury Police Department. It wasn’t until a family member went to Stamp’s apartment on Newbury Street where they made the grisly discovery of the 34-year-old woman who was face down on her living room floor.
First responders were called to the scene around 10 p.m. and found Stamp lying in a blood stain next to a pair of broken glasses. Firefighters and paramedics turned Stamp over and saw a shirt wrapped around her head, face and neck. Part of the garment was also inside her mouth, the arrest warrant applications said.
Stamp was pronounced dead at the scene and police have since charged Heather Anderson, 35, of Naugatuck, and Shannon Gritzbach, 37, of Waterbury, in connection with her homicide.
According to her obituary, Stamp graduated from Crosby High School, received an associate’s degree from Naugatuck Valley Community College and then attended Central Connecticut State University and University of Bridgeport.
Stamp worked with Waterbury Public Schools since 2005 and held several waitress jobs in the area, according to her obituary.
“To know Shelley is to love her,” Stamp’s obituary said. “She had a heart of gold. She certainly had the gift of gab and was taken from us all too soon. Her life was a blessing, her memory a treasure. She was loved beyond words and will (be) missed beyond measure.”
Stamp was initially hired by Waterbury Public Schools as a staff member and later became full-time paraprofessional in 2013. She worked with students with special needs, according to the school district.
“On behalf of Waterbury Public Schools, we extend our deepest condolences to the many people blessed to have known Shelley Stamp,” Superintendent Verna Ruffin said in a statement. “There are not enough words to express the deep sorrow for a life shortened by this tragedy. Our hearts and prayers go out to the family, colleagues, students and staff touched by her.”
According to arrest warrants for Anderson and Gritzbach, the two women drove to the Newbury Street apartment building on the night of Oct. 28. Anderson wanted to meet up with a man and told him on the phone that she needed money, the warrants said.
Anderson and the man were former roommates in one of the building’s apartments. After Anderson
moved out, the man moved to a different unit in the same building. Stamp moved into their previous apartment, the warrants said.
The man told Anderson he had no intention of giving her money and lied about being out of town because he didn’t want to interact with her, according to the arrest warrants. The man told police he heard the women outside the apartment building that night asking other people about him, the warrants stated.
Police said security video footage shows the women arriving at the apartment building around 11:55 p.m. on Oct. 28.
The passenger, later identified as Anderson, got out of the car and tried unsuccessfully to get into the building, the footage showed, according to the warrant.
About 20 minutes later, Anderson was seen on the footage walking back toward the building as Stamp arrived home, the
warrant stated. Anderson later told police she accessed the secure building when Stamp went inside, the warrant stated.
Anderson said she and Gritzbach later went to Stamp’s apartment. Anderson said Gritzbach shoved Stamp with her shoulder, causing her to fall into a microwave stand and onto the floor face down, according to their arrest warrant applications.
After forcing their way into the apartment, Anderson told police she went through Stamp’s belongings, the warrants stated. Anderson took some items from Stamp’s purse, including car keys, $70 in cash, as well as food from the refrigerator, their warrants stated.
Anderson, who said she previously worked as a certified nurse’s assistant, told police she considered calling 911 when she noticed Stamp having agonal breaths, the warrants stated. However, she decided not to and eventually fled the apartment, the warrants stated.
Anderson denied putting anything across Stamp’s mouth or having any further physical altercation, the warrants stated.
Gritzbach claimed she never got out of the car in the parking lot, the warrants stated. However, security footage showed she parked the car and walked toward the building, the warrants stated.
Around 12:45 a.m., on Oct. 29, Gritzbach was seen walking toward the building’s main entrance and out of camera view, the warrants stated. Police noted they were unsure if Gritzbach entered the apartment building, but a Ring camera captured audio of her banging on a door and yelling at someone, the warrants stated.
About three minutes later, Gritzbach can be seen walking from the main entrance and toward the back of the building, the warrants stated. Police said she was not captured on the back door camera. Two minutes later, she can be seen getting back into her car, according to the warrants.
Around 1:30 a.m., footage showed Gritzbach walking north on Newbury Street, the warrants stated. She returned at 2 a.m., and Anderson exited the building a minute later, the warrants stated. The footage showed the women then started yelling and arguing with each other, the warrants stated.
In an interview with police, Gritzbach said had been friends with Anderson for about six months. She said they drove to Waterbury that night because Anderson wanted to meet with a friend. Gritzbach said she saw Anderson and Stamp go inside the building, the warrants stated. She said Anderson was inside for a while before coming back out, the warrants stated.
When detectives were called to Stamp’s apartment on Oct. 29, they noticed her credit and debit cards were missing from her purse.
Police looked through Stamp’s phone and saw the Waterbury Teachers Credit Union tried to contact her about some questionable charges: $18.65 at a Burger King and $47.26 at a Sunoco on the morning of Oct. 29. There were two additional attempts at the same Sunoco for $138.26 and $69.66, but those did not go through, according to the warrants.
Security footage at the Sunoco showed Anderson purchasing two packs of cigarettes with a card, the warrants stated. A few minutes later, she tried to buy more items, but it appeared the card was declined, the warrants stated.
According to the arrest warrant applications, the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy on Stamp on Oct. 30. The agency found injuries that included a laceration on the upper right side of her forehead, bruising on the inside of her upper lip and several small cuts above her mouth and below her nose.
The medical examiner said this week that Stamp’s cause and manner of death are pending further investigation.
Anderson was initially arrested on Nov. 3 and charged with first-degree burglary, sixth-degree larceny and illegal use of a credit card.
Anderson and Gritzbach were then charged on Nov. 7 with murder, conspiracy to commit home invasion, first-degree robbery, firstdegree assault, sixth-degree larceny, illegal use of credit cards and first-degree burglary.
Gritzbach is being held on a $1.25 million bond, while Anderson is being held on a $1.75 million bond, court records show.