The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Affidavit: Scene showed homicide
Responders say grisly discovery contradicted man’s claim his wife had fallen
TORRINGTON >> An excessive amount of blood found in a Cider Mill Crossing home helped police determine a local woman had not just fallen and hit her head, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained Thursday.
Phyllis Gervais, 79, was covered in blood, some of which had already dried by the time first responders arrived on scene, according to the warrant. Her husband, Daniel Gervais, told police she must have fallen, so he called 911.
Gervais, 70, of 63 Cider Mill Crossing, was arrested Wednesday and charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence. He was arraigned in Bantam Superior Court Thursday morning.
Gervais called Litchfield County Dispatch at 4:05 a.m. on April 22 reporting that he believed his wife had fallen during the night and died, according to the affidavit.
“She’s not moving,” he said. “She’s on the floor.”
Torrington firefighters arrived on scene first. No lights were on when Lt. Walter Dixon of the Torrington Fire Department walked inside and found Daniel Gervais sitting in a bedroom, according to the affidavit.
Gervais calmly told Dixon that his wife was in the kitchen, and the two proceeded into that room, which is connected to the home’s living room.
Dixon saw blood on the ceil-
ing, on the rear wall and on the blinds adjacent to the table in the room where the body was found, according to the affidavit.
Firefighters did not find a pulse when they checked the body — she was cold to the touch and rigor mortis had set in, according to the affidavit. A doctor from Charlotte Hungerford Hospital pronounced the woman dead at approximately 4:31 a.m.
Officer DiNunzio of the Torrington Police Department arrived on scene and determined there were no “obstructions or items on the floor” and “nothing in the immediate area of Phyllis to suggest a cause for her to fall,” according to the affidavit.
“Officer DiNunzio reported she observed Phyllis’ right arm to cross against her upper body, with her right hand almost cradling her head,” wrote the detective in the affidavit. A broken glass coffee table with blood on it and a bloody towel on the floor were documented.
In all, police collected 57 separate pieces of evidence at the scene, including bloody clothing from a laundry basket, sponges, washcloths and a 24-inch steel rod with blood on it found on a shelf in the garage.
Torrington police detectives arrived on scene at approximately 6 a.m., according to the affidavit. Detectives determined that “someone attempted to clean up the blood that was on the floor around Phyllis’ body,” and someone had also left traces of blood in a nearby bathroom, according to the affidavit. Daniel Gervais was unable to tell the detectives whether his wife was taking any medication that could have caused her to fall but that she was “prone to tripping,” according to the affidavit. He also told them they never had an argument, but that he slept in a separate room because she was a “busy body” who liked to do things late at night when he wanted to sleep. He sleeps with headphones on, he told police.
Police said he gave conflicting information as to how soon he had called 911 after finding his wife, what they had done the night before, how his right arm got injured and why he had blood spatter on his shoes, according to the affidavit.
Gervais told police had was suffering from shortterm memory loss after suffering two strokes.
Gervais first told police he had not gone within 1015 feet of his wife, but later said he “could have” gone up to the body, according to the affidavit.
He gave alternate descriptions of the route he took, after waking up in the early morning hours to find her on the floor.
Deputy Medical Examiner Maura DeJosephdetermined that the injuries Phyllis sustained were from blunt impact from at least three strikes of a weapon and ruled her death a homicide, according to the affidavit.
“All the described circumstances taken in totality show that Daniel Gervais cannot explain his actions and dispute the physical evidence developed against him that shows his involvement with the bludgeoning blunt force traumatic death of his wife,” police wrote in the affidavit.
During the arraignment hearing Thursday, State’s Attorney David Shepack argued for bail to remain at $1 million.
Shepack also said Wednesday that Daniel Gervais had briefly eluded police before being arrested.
He traveled to the state police barracks in Litchfield, said Attorney Tom Waterfall, representing Gervais in the case, based on a conversation with a family member. If he had sought to evade police, Waterfall said, he could have attempted to do so earlier.
Waterfall argued that Gervais’ bail could appropriately be decreased, noting that Gervais had lived in the state for approximately 50 years and started two successful businesses in Torrington, now run by his sons.
“I don’t believe that he’s a flight risk,” said Waterfall.
Gervais’ bail was left at $1 million. His case was transferred to Litchfield Superior Court and continued to May 16.
Waterfall asked that Gervais be placed on medical watch during court proceedings, noting that Gervais had suffered a stroke on Jan. 17, and that other evidence of past strokes had been found during an examination at that time.