Suspected New Britain serial killer to be charged in 6 murders

The warrants are being served on Howell Friday.

The 45 year old Howell is already behind bars in connection with the death of a seventh victim, Nilsa Arizmendi of Wethersfield.

“At 5’9”, 220 pounds, Howell, if convicted, will likely be Connecticut’s most notorious serial killer having killed seven in total.

The capital felony charges used to carry the possibility of the death penalty, but the state no longer has capital punishment. He also said that three of them were sexually assaulted. Investigators are expected to hold a short news conference after Howell’s arraignment.

The bodies of six women and a man who all disappeared in 2003 were found behind the mall in New Britain, about 12 miles southwest of Hartford. Some had been arrested for prostitution and had multiple drug arrests.

New Britain Police Chief James Wardwell announced Friday morning that authorities had obtained arrest warrants for Howell for the other six killings.

Remains from more victims were found in May – including mothers-of-two Melanie Ruth Camilini and Marilyn Gonzalez, and Danny Lee Whistnant – after an FBI dog located them in an area police referred to as a “burial site”.

One of the last set of bones to be identified were Arizmendi’s. I’m like my god I would come in the area, and be like is this guy the one?

Midway through his 2007 trial, Howell plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter. The cellmate, who described his conversations with Howell to authorities, said Howell told him he strangled the woman, but “she wouldn’t die”, according to the warrant.

Howell also said that he had planned to continue his killing spree on a cross-country journey, but he got caught before he could kill again. Authorities say a “substantial amount of blood from a second, unidentified individual was present”. The others were found back in April. Howell is known to have at least two children living in Hampton, Virginia, his home town.

Prior to the search, police talked with a person who remembered seeing Howell dig four to five large holes in the yard, each about five feet deep. The additional holes were subsequently filled in, the witness told police.

Three bodies were found in the area behind the New Britain strip mall in 2007. Nothing was found during that recent search. The van in which the victims were allegedly murdered was recovered in a trailer park in Windsor, N.C.