Details of Disappearance
Nilsa Arizmendi, was last seen alive on July 25, 2003, in Wethersfield, Connecticut, entering a van owned by
William Devin Howell. On January 30, 20007, Howell pleaded guilty in New Britain Superior Court under the Alford Doctrine to end his trial on a charge of Murder. He is serving a 15-year prison sentence. Howell later sought unsuccessfully to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming his attorney at the time, public defender Ken Simon, had pressured him into accepting the deal. The case was investigated by the Wethersfield Police Department, the Office of the State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of New Britain, the Connecticut State Police Central District Major Crime Squad and the Cold Case Unit of the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney. The State of Connecticut Department of Correction assisted the investigation as did the Hampton, Virginia, Police Department and the Bertie County, North Carolina, Sheriff’s Office.
Howell was arrested on May 13, 2005, in Hampton, Virginia, and charged as a fugitive from justice in the death of Ms. Arizmendi, who was last seen alive in his van in Wethersfield. Ms. Arizmendi was reported missing to the Wethersfield Police Department by her sister on July 31, 2003. Her body has not been recovered. DNA analysis conducted by the Connecticut State Police Forensic Laboratory determined that blood evidence found in Howell’s van was from the 33-year-old victim. The van was seized in North Carolina on April 22, 2004, pursuant to a search warrant issued in the State of Connecticut. Howell had been arrested in North Carolina in an unrelated matter. At the time of Ms. Arizmendi’s disappearance, Howell had been in Connecticut where he did odd jobs and cut grass at homes and businesses in Wethersfield, Hartford, New Britain and West Hartford. Arizmendi, was seen getting into Howell’s van in the parking lot of the Wethersfield Stop and Shop. Arizmendi and her boyfriend, had smoked crack with Howell in their motel room, according to court records. Her boyfriend told police Arizmendi approached Howell to get drugs the day she disappeared; she then got in the van, and Howell drove away, heading north on the Berlin Turnpike.
Arizmendi’s body was never found. But investigators found her blood on a seat in the van. The seating portion of a back bench had been removed from the van and replaced with three sofa cushions. Blood had stained the vertical back cushion of the seat, and had soaked through the fabric and into the foam beneath it, according to an affidavit for Howell’s arrest. After the sentencing, State’s Attorney Scott Murphy issued a plea for information leading to the identity of the second woman, whose blood was found soaked through the carpeting and plywood flooring in Howell’s1985 Ford Econoline van. Howell worked lawn-care jobs in the Hartford area between 2001 and January 2004, Murphy said, and often drove along the Route 8 corridor between Torrington and Bridgeport. In the winters, he traveled to his native Virginia and North Carolina, where he worked as a day laborer, Murphy said. Investigators also found a video in Howell’s van that showed two women, , who have also not been identified. Investigators are hoping the public might remember seeing Howell and his van  in hopes of figuring out where Nilsa’s body is, and whose blood is in the vehicle.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Cold Case Unit of the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney
(860) 258-5800
or
Wethersfield Police Department
(860) 721-2800

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