Case Unsolved

We've received several questions from listeners over the last three weeks about the Desiree Michaud story. In this bonus episode, Carlos Virgen and Karen Florin answer those questions and talk about a recent interview with prosecutor Christa Baker and Groton Town Police Detective Heather Beauchamp. Plus, a former correction officer recalls the mural that Desiree painted in prison. Send us your questions through our Facebook group, or email us at [email protected].

In Episode 2, we took you to the crime scene: a motel room in Groton where Desiree, an 18-year-old prostitute was strangled to death. She was last seen leaving Bank Street in New London that night. Episode 3 explores community reaction to the murder. Desire had hoped her painting ability would help her walk away from the streets for good. New London in the '80s, too, had big dreams: That artists and musicians could bring new life to the old port city. In 1984, Desiree's chances for a better life ended tragically, and her unsolved murder, some say, represented a sense of dashed hope for New London.

All the episodes will be available at www.caseunsolvedpodcast.com or wherever you listen to podcasts. To get regular updates, join the Case Unsolved Facebook page. Podcasts on other unsolved murders will follow, beginning with the case of William Spicer Jr., who was murdered on his Christmas tree farm in Groton in 1995.

We take you to the crime scene: a motel room in Groton where Desiree was strangled to death. You also can listen to the recreation of a woman under hypnosis who police believe heard the murder.

Desiree Michaud was an 18-year-old prostitute in New London. She hoped her painting ability would help her walk away from the streets for good. New London in the '80s, too, had big dreams: That artists and musicians could bring new life to the old port city. In 1984, Desiree's chances for a better life ended tragically, and her unsolved murder, some say, represented a sense of dashed hope for New London.

The story of Desiree Michaud runs three episodes. Episodes on other unsolved murders will follow, beginning June 20 with the case of William Spicer Jr., who was murdered on his Christmas tree farm in Groton in 1995.

In this episode, we retell the story of the murder of an 18-year-old prostitute in New London. At an early age, she had been deemed artistically gifted. She hoped her painting ability would help her walk away from the streets for good. New London in the '80s, too, had big dreams: That artists and musicians could bring new life to the old port city.

In 1984, Desiree's chances for a better life ended tragically, and her unsolved murder, some say, represented a sense of dashed hope for New London.

The story of Desiree Michaud will be told in three episodes on successive Wednesdays. Podcasts on other unsolved murders will follow. To get regular updates, join the Case Unsolved Facebook page.

Case Unsolved, a podcast produced by The Day newsroom, is available beginning today. More than 1,400 murders in Connecticut are classified as unsolved. The Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice has produced four decks of playing cards — 208 cards in all — with a picture, name, and age of a victim, in hopes that they would produce leads on the cases. Twenty of the cases featured on the cards have been solved. Case Unsolved looks at three cases that have not.

This week's episode of Case Unsolved is a preview of what's to come, which will include a three-part series on the 1984 murder of Desiree Michaud beginning next week. She was last seen on Bank Street in New London, where she worked as a prostitute and was found murdered in a Groton motel. The series also will examine the unsolved murder cases of William Spicer Jr. in 1995 and Erika Cirioni in 2006.

 

Episode links:

Connecticut State Department of Corrections Cold Case Cards 

2016 FBI Clearance Rates by crime

Murder Accountability Project 

Center for the Resolution of Unresolved Crime

A podcast from The Day newsroom about unsolved murders in Connecticut, and the family, friends and law enforcement left without resolution. The first case we will be looking into this season is the unsolved murder of Desiree Michaud, a young artist from a troubled family who found herself working the streets as a prostitute and eventually was found dead in a motel room in 1984. The first episode of her story will be published on May 23.