A 44-year-old Rhode Island man was arrested Wednesday in connection with the February murder of a 73-year-old Windham woman whose killing drew national attention.
Vermont State Police said Shawn Conlon was captured at a hotel in Groton, Connecticut, and would be extradited to the Green Mountain State to face a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Claudia Voight.
When authorities found Voight dead at her home on Feb. 20, they initially thought she had suffered from a medical event, only to have an autopsy determine the cause was neck compression, state police announced in July.
Voight was the mother of NBC Connecticut anchor Heidi Voight, who posted about the killing after police waited several months to announce it was suspicious.
“I have been carrying this painful secret: My mother’s death was not natural, nor peaceful,” the broadcaster wrote in a Facebook entry reported by such outlets as People magazine. “My mother was murdered, violently, in the place she should have felt safest — her own home.”
“Our silence was necessary,” the daughter continued, “to protect the early stages of the intense criminal investigation.”
On Wednesday, Vermont State Police said they found that Conlon had been living in a room in Voight’s home, only to stop paying rent in late 2022 while remaining in the residence.
Police said they obtained a warrant for Conlon’s arrest earlier this week, then coordinated with the U.S. Marshals Service to locate and apprehend him.
Conlon was charged in Connecticut with being a fugitive from justice and was held for lack of $1 million bail, police said. He has waived extradition and will be transferred to Vermont to face the murder charge at an unspecified date.
