Police: Woman found stabbed multiple times in apartment

STAMFORD — Investigators were looking for leads in the homicide of a Stamford woman, who police say was stabbed multiple times and died in her South End apartment.

Denise McLaughlin, 50, was found dead from multiple stab wounds at her apartment on Manor Street late Friday night, according to police.

Police said Monday that McLaughlin may have been dead for several days before she

was found on Friday.

Her body was found in the first-floor apartment on Manor Street in a small neighborhood of multifamily homes that sit in the shadow of the Harbor Point apartment buildings.

McLaughlin was discovered by officers after friends reported that they hadn’t been able to contact her over the course of several days, police said.

Sgt. Paul Guzda, the sergeant overseeing the unit that is

investigating the homicide, said McLaughlin owned an apartment building in New York, where she spent a lot of time managing the building’s upkeep.

But when McLaughlin stopped showing up at the apartment building last week, her friends in the city grew concerned and tried reaching out to her, he said.

“Phone calls went unanswered, texts went unanswered. And that’s when they came up to Stamford and asked us to do a welfare check,” Guzda said.

Police would not release much information regarding the homicide due to the unfolding nature of the investigation, he said. “What I can say is this thing is very, very active,” Guzda said.

McLaughlin’s killing marks the city’s first homicide of the year. The most recent in Stamford was the death of Welton Harris, 50, who was stabbed to death by his girlfriend on the day after Christmas. Anissa Maples, 48, was arrested and charged with first-degree manslaughter in connection with the death, police said.

McLaughlin’s death is under investigation by the major crime squad of the Stamford Police Department (Squad A), along with the Stamford state’s attorney’s office and the office of the chief medical examiner.

The Stamford Police Department is asking anyone with information on the case to call its Major Crime Squad at 203-977-4417 or dispatch at 203-977-4444.

Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media The Manor Street home in which 50-year-old Denise McLaughlin was found dead late Friday in the South End of Stamford. City detectives are investigating what appears to be an apparent homicide, police said.