Police: Hammer used to kill neighbor
A 72-year-old Manchester woman has been arrested and charged with striking her 73-year-old neighbor in the head with a hammer, ultimately killing her, early on the morning of April 23.
Dalas Elder was arrested and charged with assault that day after police located her using surveillance footage from the pair’s apartment building and found a hammer inside Elder’s unit, police said Thursday.
Andrea Mazzoli was taken to Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center with serious injuries at the time and she ultimately died on Tuesday.
Medical examiners have since ruled Mazzoli’s death a homicide and additional charges against Elder are now pending, Lt. Ryan Shea said Thursday.
The incident began at about 7:15 a.m. April 23 when paramedics were called to a Hartford Road apartment building where Mazzoli was found lying on the ground outside the building and unconscious, Shea said.
She was taken to the hospital while detectives began to investigate what appeared to be a violent assault with a hammer.
Officers reviewed surveillance video from the building and spotted a resident walking in a hallway near where Mazzoli was found with a hammer earlier in the morning, Shea said. They identified that woman as Elder and attempted to make contact with her at her apartment.
Elder interfered with officers when they arrived, however, and they eventually found her with a hammer inside the apartment, Shea said. They arrested her at the time for interfering with an officer and later developed an arrest warrant with additional charges for first-degree assault, first-degree assault of an elderly person, tampering with evidence and carrying a dangerous weapon.
She was held on $1.025 million bond and was arraigned the next day, while Mazzoli was still alive and in treatment at the hospital, Shea said.
Mazzoli died Tuesday at the hospital and medical examiners determined her cause of death was complications of the blunt trauma to her head and ruled it a homicide. Police are pursuing additional charges against Elder, but Shea did not elaborate further Thursday.
Investigators have asked anyone with information to contact Detective Tomasz Kaczerski at 860-645-5546 or Manchester police at 860-645-5510.