Judge orders new trial in Hardy murder case

Branford woman was killed by arson in 2006 at her home

A U.S. District Court judge in Hartford has ordered a new trial in the arson and slaying case of John Vailette, who was convicted on federal charges in 2015 in the March 2006 death of Kathy Hardy, of Branford.

Judge Robert N. Chatigny ordered the new trial for Vailette during a brief hearing last week, according to court documents. Defense attorneys had been seeking to overturn Vailette’s conviction since February 2015, claiming that one of the government’s witnesses committed perjury while testifying about the fire that killed Hardy in her Little Bay Lane home

March 7, 2006.

Prosecutor John Durham and Vailette’s attorney, Craig Raabe, were not immediately available for comment on Saturday regarding Judge Chatigny’s ruling.

Dawn Luddy, Hardy’s sister, said Saturday that her family is scheduled to meet with Durham on Wednesday to hear how he wants to proceed with the case or whether he will recommend not moving forward with it.

“The judge must have felt that there was enough evidence to order a new trial; otherwise, he would have acquitted him,” Luddy said of Vailette. “But this is hard for us. It has been hard to wait for more than two years and not have a sentence in the case. It’s insanity.”

Kathy Hardy’s son, Rob Hardy, is now 22 years old. He said the judge’s ruling “feels like a punch in the gut.” Rob Hardy was 10 when his mother was killed.

“It’s kind of surreal,” he said. “It made me think back to when we got the guilty verdict, which gave me a feeling of elation and relief. Now that feeling is kind of hollow.”

Robert Barrett, Hardy’s father, said Saturday that he believes justice will be done in the case.

“And if I believe in justice, I’ve got to trust the system,” Barrett said when asked about how he felt about a new trial for Vailette.

Barrett said that he still has some anger toward Vailette, “but I believe in Jesus, so I have forgiven him,” Barrett said. “If I expect forgiveness, then I have to forgive him”

Federal prosecutors brought cases against Vailette and co-defendant Steven Martone, who was tried separately and acquitted in December 2015. The government alleged that Vailette and Martone had poured an accelerant on the stairs at Hardy’s home while she was asleep in an upstairs bedroom and then started a fire at the bottom of the stairs before fleeing the house.

It was alleged in both trials that Vailette, an alleged active drug-user, knew of Hardy’s work as a confidential informant for police in drug cases.

Both men were arrested on the federal indictment in February 2014, and Martone was released after his acquittal almost two years later.