New England Serial Killer Mystery: Top Cop Probes Creepy Case Connections

The head of the Massachusetts State. Police has now gotten into the mix. regarding the possibility of a New. England serial killer. We are breaking. down what his very interesting comments. might mean and where this investigation. goes from here. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. Well, the conversation about a possible. New England serial killer has just. reignited because now we are hearing. from the person who heads up the. Massachusetts State Police. That is a.

big deal. Now, before we get into those. comments and what they mean, and we'll. talk about it, what am I talking about. here? Well, there have been a series of. deaths in the New England area, and. there has been speculation that there is. a connection that there is potentially a. serial killer. Let me lay it out for. you. March 6th, the body of 35-year-old. Paige Fannon from West Icelip, New York, was recovered in the Norwok River out in. Connecticut near Main Avenue and. Grismill Road by the Norwalk Police. Department scuba team and fire. personnel. According to police.

Lieutenant Tom Padorski, the river was. quote flowing rapidly due to the heavy. rain overnight. Clothing and personal. items were reportedly found near the. bank of the river. In fact, I'll tell. you, a GoFundMe was set up in Paige's. memory. And it reads in part, "Paige has. left behind two amazing parents, two. sisters, and one brother along with many. more family members to mourn. If you had. the honor of knowing Paige, you would. know how deeply she cared for who she. loved. Due to the loss of someone so. young, no family is ever ready for.

something like this." With that being. said, I ask whatever you can contribute. to help, even if it's just spreading the. word would be of great appreciation from. her loved ones. Next, also on March 6th, currently unidentified human remains. were found by a hunter in a wooded area. near Route 3 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, approximately 180 miles away from. Norwok. According to Boston 25 and. Boston.com, a police report indicates. that authorities found a human skull. with nasal and jaw portions missing.

under leaves. It was reportedly green in. color, appeared to be weathered. This is. according to a police report per. boston.com. And also Boston 25 reported. that this sparked interest from the. families of two missing women. Sandra. Krispbow who vanished five years before. this and Britney McCormack who. disappeared in July of 2021. But to be. clear, nothing to indicate at this point. that the remains belong to either woman. Then you have the brutal killing of. 58-year-old Suzanne Worms of Graten. Her.

remains were found in a suitcase near. the Colonel Ledard Cemetery in. Connecticut on March 19th. Now, on April. 25th, police announced the arrest of. 68-year-old Donald Kofel, charging him. with worms's murder, tampering with. evidence, improper disposal of a body. He allegedly confessed to police to. killing this woman he once lived with by. saying, "All right, man. I did it. I hit. her in the head with a bleeping baseball. bat and it cracked her bleeping head.

open." And by the way, when it comes to. him, according to local reporting, he. has since died in jail. Next, we go to. March 20th. Now we go to New Haven, Connecticut. So over 150 mi away from. Plymouth, 50 mi from Grten, a little. over 30 mi from Norwalk. According to. police, this is where the remains of. 59-year-old mother Denise Liry are. discovered in a wooded area and they. were reportedly in a state of advanced. decay. Now, the Office of Chief Medical. Examiner confirmed the body was that of. Denise and according to WFSB, Denise had.

been missing since September 20th, 2024. had last been seen at her home, had been. reportedly suffering from paranoid. schizophrenia. Mass Live reporting. though that the investigation has not. indicated this is a homicide. March 26, Foster, Rhode Island, almost 90 miles. from New Haven, approximately 50 or so. miles from Graten, 120 mi from Norwalk. for reference. The body of 56-year-old. Michelle Romano was found in a wooded. area 8 months after she disappeared and.

was reported missing by a family member. Investigators confirmed they were. looking into the quote suspicious. circumstances surrounding her death with. WJAR reporting that authorities searched. a home in Warwick, Rhode Island that was. thought to be the last known address of. Michelle. WPRI reporting that Michelle. was considered by friends to be generous. and a loving and devoted mother of two. A Facebook group had been set up for. Michelle as well. A post from April 1st. reads, "Yesterday, our family received.

the devastating update that Michelle had. been found, and we will never ever let. Michelle be forgotten." And the post. encourages anyone with information to. reach out to the Rhode Island State. Police. April 9th, unidentified human. remains were found in Killingly, Connecticut. So that's less than 10. miles from Foster, over 80 miles from. New Haven, a little over 40 miles from. Graten. They were found, according to. ABC 6, on a dead-end road by a body of. water, apparently near railroad tracks. Then the next day, April 10th,

Framingham, Massachusetts, 50 or so 50. 60 miles from Killingly, 60 or so miles. from Foster, almost 100 miles from. Grten, firefighters found human remains. near the Massachusetts Turnpike. This. happened while they were fighting a. brush fire. Now, the DA's office. indicated, quote, "The preliminary. information indicates that the remains. may have been there for several months. Information gathered at the scene does. not indicate foul play." According to. Metro West Daily News, at the time, the. remains were sent over to a forensic.

anthropologist at the office of the. chief medical examiner. You go to April. 22nd, Springfield police found a woman. near a bike path on the 1500 block of. Hall of Fame Avenue. She was declared. dead, later identified as 45year-old. Megan Meredith. Now, we have been all on. top of this New England story for a. while now. And the reason that we can be. on top of a story like this and really. break it down and bring you updates is. because of the amazing support that we. get from our sponsor, Morgan and Morgan.

This is America's largest injury law. firm. This is a firm with over a. thousand attorneys. You know why they. have so many? Because they win a lot. They have recovered over $25 billion for. more than 500,000 clients. In the past. few months, a client in Florida received. $12 million after the insurance company. offered just $350,000. Pennsylvania, a client was awarded $26. million. That is 40 times the insurers. $650,000 offer. Another client in. Pennsylvania received $29 million after. being offered only $500,000. And even if.

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community to know that each of these. cases is being thoroughly investigated. in close coordination with our law. enforcement partners. While online. conversations around these incidents. continue to grow, we urge the public to. be mindful of the role that social media. can play in spreading fear or. misinformation. unverified claims can. compromise active investigations and. contribute to a sense of chaos that does. not reflect the full picture. And that. kind of echoes other statements that we. heard from law enforcement. When, for.

example, the Connecticut State Police. released a statement to people after the. remains were found in Killingly. It said. this investigation is in the early. stages, remains active and ongoing, and. there is no information at this time. suggesting any connection to similar. remains discoveries actively under. investigation by CSP or other. Connecticut law enforcement agencies. There is no known threat to the public. at this time. Graten, Connecticut police. issued a statement that said in part, "Regarding references circulating on. social media about incidents in the. state of Rhode Island, we currently have. no information connecting those events.

to any of the incidents in Grten." By. the way, Graten Police Chief Lewis. Fizaro told WTNH on April 11th, I would. tell people, don't rush to judgment. But. now, as I said, we are hearing from. Massachusetts State Police, the leader. of the MSP, Colonel Jeffrey Noble. And. this is significant because the. Massachusetts State Police serves as the. statewide law enforcement agency and. maintains investigative, tactical, and.

support units throughout the. Commonwealth. And what he said was. published in the Boston Herald. He came. out, he said there is no evidence right. now about a serial killer, but that he. is quote tracking the cases. He said, quote, "As a former homicide detective, certainly I am tracking the news of. these tragic deaths. There is no. evidence to indicate that there is a. serial killer at the moment. Detectives. are very much monitoring and tracking. and aware of these cases. And certainly.

if we do uncover similarities or. consistencies between the cases, they. have our attention for sure. So let me. bring in right now retired FBI agent and. attorney Bobby Chicone to make sense of. what those statements mean. Bobby, good. to see you. What do those statements. mean? >> Good to see you, too, Jesse. Um, look, at uh at at the most basic level, they. mean they can't shut the door on the. serial killer theory. They just can't. And that's prudent. Um although you want.

to not panic the public. So you want to. say look we this one we know what. happened. This one we know what. happened. These we don't know what. happened. And so you know as we get more. cases in and we take closer looks at. them we will explore whether or not. these are connected. Right now we don't. see anything. Um but we're not closing. the door on that as a future. possibility. So I think that's you know. that's the key right? Why not? They. could have just dismissed it and said, "Look, you know, these are all isolated. incidents. We don't see a connection.".

But to not rule it out. Now, it's not a. a case where we could just say, "Oh, these are just these are just online. theories. These are just conspiracy. theories." There's something about it. Is it the level uh is it the level of. interest? Is it the frequency of the. bodies? Is it the locations where they. say there might be a 5% chance there's a. connection here? >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean I think it's I think. it's location at first. I mean that's. why we're calling it the New England the. possible potential New England, right?

The New England is the geographic area. So I think at its at its most basic it's. a geographic area. And then of course. then you start look at more victimology. in the demographics of the victims. You. know, women, young women, young white. women, whatever it be, you start making. a list and and kind of categorizing. everything and you start to see up on. your big board how many matches you. have. And like you said, is this a 95%. match? Is this a 5% match? And what at. what point do we like kind of push it. off the board when we get a really when. we get a an arrest, you know, like in.

one of these cases, the the roommate or. the housemate was was arrested for it. So boom, you can kind of push that one. off the board. Um, and that's what you. have to do with each passing one as you. individually get it and then you see. what's left remaining and you take. closer and closer and closer looks at. those cases that are still up on that. board and and you try to find a. similarity. what what the chief said MS. what their fusion center does is what. the FBI's VCAP does on a on a nationwide. basis. >> And to be clear, the people that have.

been arrested in connection with what. now could be argued to be isolated. incidents. There's no evidence as of. right now, at least public evidence, to. suggest that they are somehow implicated. or connected or responsible to the other. deaths. Could that change? Maybe. But. just to put a fine point on this, are. you saying there might be a unit or a. series of detectives, part of the MSP. who are actively, like you said, have a. chalkboard looking for connections in.

all these cases, or are they waiting for. something to determine there's a. connection? Are they trying are they. going through the each one of these. cases in these different locations? Are. they coordinating with different. agencies to try to get as much. information as possible? Is there and. and I this is so juvenile to say is. there like a New England serial killer. task force that's looking at all these. connections right now and trying to see. if there's uh some similarities or not. I don't think there is yet. What I think. there is is a loose collection of.

investigators and really analysts. This. comes down to our criminal analysts who. do this kind of work who really dig into. the details of what the investigators. have come up with because each each case. has its own set of investigators. depending on its jurisdiction. they have. detectives assigned to that case that. are looking into that case specifically. because every case has a perpetrator and. every case needs someone directed at. that perpetrator. So, um and and kind of. block out the noise from all this other. stuff. So, that detective or. investigator has to look at that case. and chase down that perpetrator and and.

so um and then you have a larger picture. and that's because the analysts kind of. can put that picture together. they can. keep track of what's happening in these. other jurisdictions in other cases when. it comes time like you said if it if it. matures enough to where they have so. kind of like we saw the Long Island. serial killer task force where you have. a task force put together I mean that's. when I think they come out publicly and. they announce that we are looking into. these things as a possible serial. killer. I don't think they're there yet.

I don't know if they'll get there. They. might but I don't think they're there. yet. I think what you have is a loose. collection of analysts kind of talking. to each other and as one gets thrown off. the board and another one comes on they. start looking at similarities. >> Why is it significant that the. Massachusetts State Police, the leader. of this is making this statement? This. made the news. Why is it significant. that he is talking about this and. talking about tracking the cases? >> Well, because I think back in March you. had two I think that was kind of where. the when the internet caught fire on it.

I think there were two bodies found in. different locations on the same day. Victims seem like they were similar. Um, so I think that they they addressed it. because I think they may have the. majority, although a bunch in uh. Connecticut and Rhode Island as well, but Massachusetts has it's the biggest. state. Those that state police unit I've. worked with, they're, you know, they're. top-notch. And I think that they um took. the lead on it to kind of start to. address because the internet wildfire. was spreading. Um, and so I think that. they needed to kind of maybe tamp that. down a bit. Um, and and kind of say,

"Hey, we we're here. We're on it. We. know what you're saying. Um, we're. seeing some things and we're taking a. look at it so that that the internet. doesn't say, "Why aren't the police. looking at this? Why isn't anybody, you. know, that I think this was a way of. going, you know, we've got this. We're. aware." Um, you know, and maybe relax. it. >> How rare are serial killers when we're. talking about this? Obviously, people. online are are suggesting there has to. be something here. But in your. experience, how how rare are serial.

killers, particularly ones who if we. take this situation, operating in. different states, different locations, would someone have the ability to do. this and dump bodies in different. places? I mean, how rare is it? How do. you typically see it? >> Well, um, and and I only speak from the. investigative point. I was in I was. looking for the perpetrator. I wasn't. the profiler on these cases although I. worked with profile and some of them I. make good friends and I work serial. killer cases. um as an investigator um.

you know the experts and I'm not one but. the experts that I follow and I talk to. the ranges the range is for anywhere. from there's you know on the low end. probably 30 to 40 to 50 operating serial. killers in the United States at any. given time and the higher end is. probably 2 to 250 operating at any given. time. Um and so those are frightening. numbers. Um there was an expert I think. Mr. Fox or Dr. Fox, you know, put out. like, well, these are probably not um uh.

the work of one person because when he. looked at them, they were very different. geographic areas and they were very. different victims. But the last serial. killer I worked, which was what concerns. me, Israel Keys, he actually verbalized. to us in the interrogations that he knew. if he could keep random to his victims. and random to his location that he could. get away with it for a longer time. And. he got away with it for at our estimate. about 14 or 15 years. And so he had a a. young girl that he killed, a 19-year-old. girl in Alaska, which is where we got.

onto the case. And then a year before we. later found out that he killed an. elderly couple, a couple in their 50s or. 60s, you know, in in Vermont. So, you. know, you're talking about across the. country, completely different victims, completely and he had done that for 14. or 15 years. Um, so you know, they. learn, they watch programs, they they. learn as as law enforcement is evolving, so are they, and they they are learning. how to not get caught. And and you know, that's one of those unfortunate side. effects of, you know, of of the the.

public's interest in this stuff is that. there's more publicity, there's more. programming, there's more coverage, you. know, but that that also becomes a. learning tool for the people out there. committing these crimes. Aside from the. fact that those numbers you you listed. out are terrifying. 30 serial killers. even of itself is is very scary to think. about. 200 more than 200 is frightening. Um does the attention does a statement. from the Massachusetts State Police. deter this killer to wait to maybe ch.

Let me phrase this. Let me rephrase. this. Does a statement from the Massachusetts. State Police, assuming for the moment. there is a serial killer or potential. serial killers? I'm not saying that. there is, but with a statement like. this, the news about it, people looking. into it, does it deter a killer? Does a. killer change their tactics? You talked. about the random nature of it, but yet. people are saying it's New England. because of where all this is happening. Do they wait a period of time? I wonder.

if you talk about a serial killer who. who's not caught for quite some time, do. they change up their MMO, their tactics. so they're not caught? >> Yes and no. I think it depends on the. serial killer. I think for the most. part, yes, you're right. They will kind. of learn from the publicity that they're. generating. Um, and look at the Golden. State Killer, right? I mean, he was in. his 70s when he was arrested, so he got. away with it for decades. Um but then we. see we've seen and we all know the. famous cases where they get involved in.

the publicity. They start taunting the. police. You know the um the uni bomber. did that and and some others had you. know sent letters to police because they. enjoyed the cat and mouse game with the. police and then we learned that. afterwards after they're caught and. interviewed. But yeah, sometimes it does. deter them. Um sometimes it it it's a. learning lesson and they change their. methods and then sometimes they actually. enjoy it and lean into the publicity. So, it all depends on, you know, the the. the profile of the person we're dealing. with.

>> Yeah. Aside from the fact that you. wonder if it was one person or two. people, again, I'm not suggesting that's. what we have here, you do wonder if. they'd have the ability to commit all. these killings and dump these bodies and. not leave evidence. But you also wonder. for a second about could it possibly be. that the locations of these bodies, they just happen to be these kind of. specific perhaps remote places where you. can see crime or you can see where you. dispose of evidence. It just happens to.

be, you know, these wooded areas. It's. not a connect. It's not one person, but. it just happens to be something about. those subject areas. I mean, that's a. possibility, too, right? >> Absolutely. It could it is possible that. there is no serial killer that every. single one of these cases is. explainable. Um especially when you look. at how many young women go missing in. this country every day, you know, every. week, every month. Um the those numbers. are staggering. Those numbers are. frightening. Um you know, of course, a. lot of those are runaways, whatever.

There's explanations for them, but when. you look at the overall numbers of how. many young women go missing in this. country, um you know, it's kind of an. epidemic. And and so, you know, the fact. that a bunch a bunch of victims are. found in the same geographic area around. the same time doesn't necessarily mean. that the same person is responsible for. all of those. And we're starting to see. that. We're starting to see the the. state police come out and say, "Look, we. we understand this one. We've made an. arrest. We know what happened there. It. was a domestic thing or whatever the. case may be. And that person had a.

particular beef with the victim. So, we. know he didn't go out and kill these. other people because we know the. motivation behind the particular murder. that we've made the arrest on. So, yes, I think it's possible um it's quite. possible that none of these are related, but it's also, you know, maybe hopefully. a faint possibility that they are some. of them are related. Just to go back to. something you said before, when do you. think we would hear another announcement. perhaps development from the. Massachusetts State Police? Is this a. case where we probably won't hear a lot.

from them? A because they're doing. something behind the scenes. B because. they really aren't finding any. connections and these are isolated. incidents. When would you when could we. expect something? Um and even if they. believe that there is no connection, would they come out and say that? >> Well, that's a really interesting. question because of the current. environment we're dealing in. So, if you. know obviously if another body is found. and it makes the news and things like. that, you know, I think they'll feel. compelled to come out and make a. statement. Um the other thing is in this.

current world we live in now which is. different than the past is that how are. they going to respond to the internet. pressure? How are they going to respond. to the internet catching fire on this? Say another body, you know, turns up and. they don't want to necessarily make any. announcement, but the internet goes. crazy about tying that to these others. They may feel compelled to come out and. address the internet rumors. It's it's. it's a new world for law enforcement to. be operating with, you know, we've. always had pressure from the mayor and. from the governor, you know, sometimes. from the White House on crimes and I've.

faced some of that. Um, but this is a. new type of pressure being generated by. the internet and and by the viral nature. of some of these stories and so how law. enforcement responds to that is kind of. emerging, evolving. Um, so I I it'll be. interesting to see, you know, whether or. not they feel compelled to respond to. the internet based on how crazy the. internet gets with the rumors and and. speculation. >> I can appreciate that. I am curious. Do. you think investigators are also looking.

into these social media groups, the the. conversation online for two reasons? One, first of all, whatever we want to. say, you know, internet sleuths, people. are interested in it. they could provide. potentially valuable information or make. connections that maybe law enforcement. is not looking at. And B, is it possible. that if there really is somebody who's. responsible for multiple killings here,

and I'm not suggesting that there is, but if it's possible, do have you seen. that perpetrator infiltrate themselves. into the groups, become a member, see. what the conversation is about. So, do. you think investigators are actually. looking at the chatter online, studying. it as part of the investigation? >> Well, you'd have to. And here's why. In. in my day, and I'm a dinosaur. I'm pre. computers pre What you always had was. you scanned, you know, you scan the. crowd that shows up at a crime beyond. the police tape, right? You always saw.

these movies where the the the. perpetrator is in the crowd. They're. looking at their work that they did, right? They're looking at the police. coming and going from the location where. they committed a murder or set a fire or. something like that. That's the old. school version. The new school version. of that is the social media. They've the. the killers are now coming onto social. media to watch their work, to watch the. the effect they're having on every. getting everyone spun up and they're. also looking at the theories that. everyone's throwing out there. They're. consuming what the police are saying. So, it's it's the old looking beyond the.

police line uh for your perpetrator in. the crowd. Now it's you're looking at. that social media crowd and and we have. the FBI formed what we call SOMX which. almost every I think field office has. one now. called the social media. exploitation teams. And these are task. forces with state and locals and police. officers and detectives. And they are. specialists at analyzing those things. that you talked about, those social. media uh chat boards and Facebook pages. and things like that. And they have. experts that can talk about language and.

look at posts and and series of posts. and and things like that and determine. whether or not we have our perpetrator. beyond that electronic police line. looking into uh the crime scene in this. case into these chat boards and things. like that. >> Well, I'll tell you what, we're going to. keep on top of it. We've been following. it for a while. We'll see if there's any. updates. We'll see if there's any. announcements. And uh Bobby, really. appreciate it. We love your perspective. You're not a dinosaur. Don't ever don't. ever talk about my Bobby Chicone like. that. But Bobby, great to see you.

Thanks so much for taking the time. >> Thanks for having me, Jesse. Great. seeing you. >> Hey guys, real quick, little programming. alert. I want to let you know that. actually tonight on News Nation at 8:00. p.m. Eastern, I'm going to be hosting. Cuomo. I hope you can tune in. We might. actually take calls from viewers. So, if. you have questions about the true crime. cases that we're covering here on. Sidebar, would love to talk to you about. it. But again, tune in tonight, 8:00. p.m. Eastern. I'll be hosting Cuomo. See. you then on NewsNation. And that's all. we have for you right now here on. Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much. for joining us and as always, please. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast,

Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next. time. [Music].