04/18/12

VIEW ARREST WARRANT-Badaracco arrested on bribery charge-

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

DANBURY — Murder suspect and Sherman resident Dominic Badaracco Sr. has been arrested on a bribery charge, authorities said, for allegedly offering a $100,000 bribe to a Superior Court judge.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Badaracco offered Superior Court Judge Robert C. Brunetti a $100,000 bribe “for his assistance in influencing” the grand jury probe into his late wife’s death.

The warrant states that Dominic Badaracco was considered a suspect and possible target of the grand jury, which was probing the disappearance of Dominic Badaracco’s late wife, Mary Badaracco, who vanished from the couple’s Sherman home in 1984.

Her disappearance was later ruled a homicide.

Brunetti, according to the document, contacted authorities after being offered the bribe from Badaracco. According to the warrant, Badaracco used the cell phone of his former business partner, Ronald “Rocky” Richter, to offer the bribe to Brunetti.

The warrant states that Badaracco asked Briunetti if he could “help” him with ther grand jury investigation, stating, “I’m only gonna say this one time … it’s worth a hundred G’s.”

The warrant state’s that both Badaracco and Richter had been clients of the judge when he was practising law and that they had maintained a “friendly relationship” over the years and occasionally play golf together.

Through the years Badaracco had maintained that his wife had left him, taking $100,000 in cash and possessions with her, after they decided to divorce. He divorced her in 1985, nine months after her disappearance.

Police first treated her disappearance as a missing persons case. But at the insistence of her two daughters, Beth Profeta and Sherrie Passaro, police continued to investigate the case. Through the intercession of Profeta, Passaro and then- state Rep. Lynn Taborsak of Danbury, police reclassified Mary Badaracco’s death as a homicide in 1990, and declared her legally dead in 1991.

On several occasions in the past yesar, police have carried out searches and dug up sites in the area, looking for Mary Badaracco’s body.

Dominic Badaracco was released on a $150,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in New Britain Superior Court on April 25 to face the bribery charge.

04/18/12

PRESS RELEASE: Dominic Badaracco arrested on trying to bribe a judge

On 11/22/10 the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office notified the State Police Western District Major Crime Squad that the suspect had contacted a court officer offering money to that court officer for assistance with some legal issues. The judge who was the target of the bribe rejected the offer and immediately reported the attempted bribe.

The Chief State’s Attorney Office requested State Police investigative assistance in conducting the investigation into this bribery case.

State Police Detectives and State’s Attorney Inspectors conducted an extensive criminal investigation into the bribe allegation. Investigators gathered facts and information in this case that led to the submission of an arrest warrant application to Superior Court for the arrest of the suspect.

The arrest warrant was approved by the court and today 04/18/12 at 1:00 p.m. the accused surrendered to investigators at State Police Troop A in Southbury. The accused was processed and released on a court set $150,000 bond

ARRESTED: BADARACCO, Dominic DOB: 04/14/36

25 Wakeman Hill Road

Sherman, CT

CHARGES: Bribery 53a-147

Offering an Illegal Gift 1-84f

Badaracco is scheduled to appear in Superior Court on 04/25/12 at GA# 15 in New Britain.

04/18/12

Badaracco arrested on bribery charge

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Sherman resident Dominic Badaracco has been arrested on a bribery charge, police said.

A statement released Wednesday by the Connecticut State Police said Badaracco had contacted an unnamed judge, offering money for assistance with some “legal issues,” and that the judge reported the offer to authorities.

Badaracco had previously been questioned in the disappearance of his wife, Mary Badaracco, who vanished from the couple’s Sherman home in 1984.

The case was later ruled a homicide.

Dominic Badaracco was released on a $150,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in New Britain Superior Court on April 25 to face the bribery charge.

http://www.newstimes.com/policereports/article/Badaracco-arrested-on-bribery-charge-3492089.php

04/18/12

Ex-Husband of Missing Woman Accused of Bribery Attempt

Police said Dominic Badaracco tried to bribe a judge.

State police have arrested a Sherman man accused of trying to bribe a judge for help with some legal issues.

Police issued a warrant at 1 p.m. on Wednesday for Dominic Badaracco, 76, who is accused of offering a judge a bribe. State police have not provided details on the legal issues.

Badaracco was the husband of Mary Badaracco, state police said. Her daughters reported her missing in 1984.

Dominic divorced her after she disappeared, according to reports.

Mary Badaracco was declared legally dead in 1991 and the case remains open.

The judge rejected the alleged bribery attempt and immediately reported the incident, state police said.

The Chief State’s Attorney’s Office requested that the state police investigate.

Badaracco has been charged with offering an illegal gift, was released on $150,000 bond and is due in court on April 25.

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Husband-of-Missing-Woman-Accused-of-Trying-to-Bribe-Judge–147987795.html

04/5/12

Badaracco grand jury investigation over

John Pirro

Updated 09:56 p.m., Wednesday, April 4, 2012

A one-man grand jury investigation into the disappearance and presumed murder of Mary Badaracco has ended without resolving the mystery that has surrounded the case since the 38-year-old mother of two vanished in 1984.

The unnamed Superior Court judge who spent nearly 18 months conducting the inquiry filed his report and at the prosecutor’s request, ordered it sealed without recommending criminal charges against either of the men state police previously identified as suspects — the missing woman’s husband, Dominic Badaracco Sr., and his son, Joseph.

“The judge couldn’t find probable cause to issue an arrest warrant,” the younger Badaracco’s attorney, Ralph Crozier said. “We’re happy to see (Joseph Badaracco) had no charges filed, as we believe him to be innocent of any and all involvement in this tragic disappearance.”

Dominic Badaracco’s lawyer, Richard Meehan of Bridgeport, declined comment.

The case is now back in the hands of the Connecticut State Police, who continue to actively investigate it, said Assistant State’s Attorney Christopher Alexy, the prosecutor during the grand jury hearings.

The grand juror’s refusal to charge anyone was a bitter blow to Mary Badaracco’s daughters, Beth Profeta, of Torrington, and Sherrie Passaro, of Danbury, who have spent much of the past 27 years keeping the case in the public eye and pressing law enforcement to find their mother’s killer.

The lack of an arrest was doubly disappointing, the sisters said, because as recently as a month ago, they said Alexy indicated to them that some kind of criminal charges would be forthcoming.

“He didn’t say specifically there would be an arrest, but he said, `You’ll be hearing his (Badaracco’s) name in the papers soon,’ ” Passaro said. “We wouldn’t be so mad if he didn’t tell us that.”

The prosecutor also raised the possibility that at least one of the witnesses had committed perjury when testifying, Passaro said.

“Who do we go to now to get justice for our mother?” Profeta said. “The state of Connecticut needs to step up.”

“I can’t comment on anything they said,” Alexy responded when the daughters’ statements about an arrest were relayed to him. “The grand jury has been completed, a report has been filed and sealed by order of the judge.”

Neither Joseph Badaracco nor his father testified during the grand jury proceedings, which began in late 2010 and concluded in December. The hearings were held in state Superior Court in New Britain, but the name of judge who presided over them hasn’t been identified. Several people who testified said the judge is a man.

Joseph Badaracco was subpoenaed to appear, but Crozier said the appearance was put off because of Badaracco’s illness, and no second attempt was made to call him to testify.

Meehan said Dominic Badaracco Sr. was never subpoenaed.

Mary Badaracco was last seen in August 1984, and was reported missing by her daughters just before Labor Day. For years, state police believed she had run away to escape a troubled marriage, but in 1990 they reclassified the case as a homicide.

The senior Badaracco, who owned a bar and a home siding business in Danbury, told the Superior Court judge who granted his divorce in May 1985 that he’d come home from work the previous August to find his wife of nearly 15 years gone, along with more than $100,000 in cash and jewelry he kept in their Wakeman Hill Road home.

Over the years, investigators explored a number of leads, digging up backyards of homes in several area communities in search of evidence or her body. Twice in the past year, they conducted digs at the Sherman property, most recently in February, after the grand jury hearings concluded.

In the end, Crozier said, the grand jury never developed enough evidence to charge anyone with a crime.

“If they had anything — a smoking gun, a letter in a safe deposit box, anything — there would have been an arrest,” he said.

“They don’t have a body or any physical evidence,” Crozier said. “They don’t even have a (crime) scene, Unless they have a halfway decent case, they aren’t going to throw a bunch of garbage and see what sticks to the wall.”

jpirro@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342

03/13/12

Stop ‘endless’ speculation in murder case by Deborah M. (Knapp) Badaracco

Published 04:51 p.m., Tuesday, March 13, 2012

As a concerned person of a loving family with the name “Badaracco,” I have witnessed generations of children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews become valued citizens of Danbury. Today I am writing to take issue with the treatment of the Badaracco name in the media.

While the past 27 years have undoubtedly been very difficult for Mary Badaracco‘s daughters, writing excessive and speculative articles on the events leading to Mary Badaracco’s disappearance do nothing more than cast a shadow on everyone who bears the Badaracco name.

The situation and the hopes of Mary Badaracco’s daughters would be better served by articles that center around facts and concrete information rather than those that serve only to besmirch the Badaracco name.

As my children and grandchildren build their lives in the community they do not deserve to suffer the consequences of this endless speculation of this case in the media.

So please, I ask you on their behalf, enough is enough!

Deborah M. (Knapp) Badaracco

Danbury

Article Link

02/18/12

Source: Search was for Mary Badaracco’s body

Saturday, February 18, 2012

SHERMAN — State Police were looking for Mary Badaracco’s body when they executed a search warrant at the home of her ex-husband, a source familiar with the investigation has told The News-Times.

Detectives from the department’s Major Crime Squad spent nearly eight hours Feb. 8 at the Wakeman Hill Road property owned by Dominic Badaracco Sr., but they wrapped up their efforts — as they have so many other times during the lengthy investigation — without finding the solution to the 27-year-old mystery.

It was yet another in a long series of disappointments for Mary Badaracco’s two daughters, Beth Profeta and Sherrie Passaro, who have spent more than two decades keeping the case in the public eye and were hoping the search would finally bring their quest to an end.

The disappearance was initially considered to be a missing person’s case, but under pressure from the sisters and a state lawmaker, state police reclassified it as a homicide in 1990, and Mary Badaracco was declared legally dead a year later.

Profeta said her sister happened to be visiting her Torrington home when they got a call from a television news reporter saying investigators were searching their former stepfather’s property, where their mother was last seen in August 1984.

“There aren’t even words to describe how we felt,” Profeta said about hearing the search had been concluded and their mother was still missing.

The source said the information that led to the search was developed by a grand jury that began looking into the case in late 2010.

The search, which included a crew from the state Department of Transportation and a machine designed to dig up concrete, wasn’t the first time state police have dug for evidence in the case.

Four years ago, state police excavated backyards of homes in New Fairfield and Newtown based on a tip that a Danbury contractor who frequently worked for Badaracco’s husband had buried her missing car.

But those searches, like the one this month, also came up empty.

Both Dominic Badaracco Sr. and his son, Joseph, who was implicated more than 20 years ago by an informant as having killed his stepmother at the behest of his father, have been identified in the grand jury inquiry, which was conducted by a state Superior Court judge sitting in New Britain, according to another source with knowledge of some of the grand jury proceedings.

But the second source said the grand jury, which is limited by state law to a term of six months with two six-month extensions, ran out of time and is no longer active.

A report by the grand juror could eventually be made public, even if the inquiry doesn’t result in an arrest, according to attorneys familiar with grand jury investigations.

The latest search was the second time since the grand jury began that state police have been at his father’s property, Joseph Badaracco said, charging that state police were conducting a “witch hunt” against his family.

Investigators were also there three or four months ago but came up empty, Joseph Badaracco said, a claim that was disputed by two sources familiar with the case.

Both sources said investigators did find something during the earlier search but declined to say what it was.

Profeta said state police have not told her anything about their findings, but she and her sister understand the reasons for their secrecy.

“God forbid, we don’t want to jeopardize the investigation,” she said.

jpirro@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342

http://www.newstimes.com/policereports/article/Source-Search-was-for-Mary-Badaracco-s-body-3341968.php

02/9/12

State police search Sherman property

State police search Sherman property
John Pirro
Updated 10:44 p.m., Wednesday, February 8, 2012

SHERMAN — State Police on Wednesday executed a search warrant at the home where Mary Badaracco was last seen 27 years ago, an indication that a grand jury investigation into her disappearance and presumed murder is still in progress.

Major Crime Squad detectives, accompanied by a state Department of Transportation vehicle designed for concrete work, arrived at the Wakeman Hill Road property owned by Badaracco’s former husband, Dominic Badaracco Sr., about 9 a.m. and departed shortly after 3:30 p.m. without finding her body.

State Police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said investigators have apparently concluded their latest search of the sprawling, heavily wooded property and are not expected to return Thursday.

“Normally, if they plan to come back, they leave a trooper overnight,” Vance said.

No police vehicles remained at the residence after investigators left Wednesday, and no one answered the door when The News-Times knocked on it after shortly after police and DOT workers left.

For more than a year, a state Superior Court judge has been conducting a one-man grand jury investigation into Badaracco’s disappearance, and a source with knowledge of the case has told The News-Times that Badaracco and his son, Joseph, are its targets.

“It’s not the first time they’ve been there,” Joseph Badaracco said Wednesday about investigators at the Sherman house.

Badaracco, who has denied any involvement in his stepmother’s disappearance, said police were at his father’s house three or four months ago, and they searched his own home in Danbury within the past few months.

“They tore the place up,” he said.

Badaracco said police found nothing in the searches and called the investigation “a witch hunt.”

Mary Badaracco, 38, was reported missing by her two daughters in August 1984, but her disappearance was treated as a missing person’s case for years, until state police reclassified it as a homicide in 1990.

A $50,000 reward posted by the state for information about the case remains unclaimed.

Badaracco’s daughters, Beth Profeta and Sherrie Passaro, have held annual vigils for their mother in Danbury to keep the case in the public eye.

“I just wish they would come clean. Only a monster would do this,” Profeta said Wednesday afternoon with Passaro at her side. “We need to bury our mother.

“But we’re thrilled with what the police are doing,” Profeta said. “We just keep praying that today, tonight, tomorrow could be the day this case breaks open. We know it’s going to happen.”

Dominic Badaracco, who owned a siding business and a bar in Danbury, testified during his divorce trial in May 1985 that the couple had discussed ending their 15-year marriage before his wife vanished.

He said he returned home from work to find her gone, along with more than $100,000 in cash and other valuables the two had agreed on as a settlement.

In the years since Mary Badaracco was last seen, the case has periodically flared into prominence, most recently four years ago when State Police dug up backyards of homes in New Fairfield and Newtown based on a tip that a Danbury contractor who frequently worked for her husband had buried her missing car.

The car wasn’t found, and in 2009 the contractor, Ernie Dachenhausen, was acquitted by a Superior Court jury in Danbury of a charge that he interfered with a murder investigation.

Several sources have told The News-Times that the grand jury began hearing evidence in state Superior Court in New Britain sometime late in 2010.

Under state law, investigative grand juries, which operate in secret, are limited to a six-month lifespan, although prosecutors can apply for two six-month extensions.

If the Badaracco grand jury started in the last months of 2010, it would be in the midst of its second extension and would have to wrap up by late spring.

Assistant State’s Attorney Christopher Alexy, who heads the Violent Crimes Bureau in the office of Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane, has been identified by sources as the prosecutor in the proceedings.

Alexy declined to comment Wednesday on either the grand jury investigation or the search in Sherman.

Vance also refused to say whether the search was a result of information from the grand juror.

“As of right now, it’s an open and ongoing investigation, and that $50,000 reward is still out there,” Vance said.

jpirro@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342

02/8/12

Break in Badaracco murder case?

02/08/12

SHERMAN — Police executed a search warrant Wednesday at the last known address of Mary Badaracco, who vanished 27 years ago and authorities say is presumed to be a homicide victim.

State police arrived at 25 Wakeman Hill Road on Wednesday about 9 a.m. and left about 3:30 p.m., according to Connecticut State Police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance.

Badaracco’s daughters, Beth Profeta and Sherrie Passaro, have held annual vigils in Danbury for their mother. But no one has ever been charged in connection with her death.

“I just wish they would come clean. Only a monster would do this,” Profeta said Wednesday afternoon with Passaro at her side. “We need to bury our mother.

Vance said he wasn’t sure if state police had completed their search Wednesday or if they need to come back. Vance also said state police have always considered the Badaracco case open.

No one answered the door at the Sherman home when The News-Times knocked on it Wednesday seeking comment.

No further information was immediately available as to what state police were looking for or what they might have found.

A year ago, a single Superior Court judge, acting as the grand juror, had begun hearing testimony in a second-floor courtroom in state Superior Court in New Britain from anyone state police believe could shed light on the August 1984 disappearance of the 38-year-old housewife.

Badaracco’s body has never been found, and no arrests have been made in the case.

Under state law, investigative grand jury proceedings are conducted in secret. The law also requires that people considered to be targets of a grand jury be notified of their status.

According to one source with knowledge of the investigation, the targets are Dominic Badaracco Sr., the missing woman’s former husband, who last summer still lived in the Wakeman Hill Road home he once shared with her, and his son, Joseph, a former Hell’s Angel implicated years ago by an informant as having killed his stepmother at the behest of his father.

jpirro@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342.

http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/State-police-search-in-Badaracco-case-3152350.php#photo-303802

02/8/12

Police Execute Warrants in Badaracco Case

02/08/12

Police might have some new leads in the disappearance of Mary Badaracco, a Sherman mom who disappeared 27 years ago.

State police executed search warrants for evidence related to the investigation on Wednesday and searched property on Wakeman Hill Road in Sherman — Badaracco’s last known address.

About a dozen police cars were at the property on Wednesday afternoon, including from the state police major crimes unit. “No trespassing” signs are posted at the site. There was also a Department of Transportation vehicle that can be used to pour concrete or did it up.

Badaracco’s daughters reported her missing in August 1984. In 1991, she was declared legally dead, according to police, who are treating the case as a homicide.

For almost three decade, the case has remained open.

In hopes of gaining information to help solve it, police added Badaracco’s case to a deck of cold case playing cards that are distributed in prisons.

A billboard was also placed along Route 37 in Danbury to raise awareness of the case.

Badaracco’s case is listed among 17 open cases listed on the state police Web site.

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/New-Leads-Possible-in-Badaracco-Case-138959019.html

Justice For Mary Badaracco

Justice Is Coming!!

Category Archives: News

VIEW ARREST WARRANT-Badaracco arrested on bribery charge-

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Dominic Badaracco arrested on trying to bribe a judge

Badaracco arrested on bribery charge

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Ex-Husband of Missing Woman Accused of Bribery Attempt

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Husband-of-Missing-Woman-Accused-of-Trying-to-Bribe-Judge–147987795.html

Badaracco grand jury investigation over

John Pirro

Updated 09:56 p.m., Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Stop ‘endless’ speculation in murder case by Deborah M. (Knapp) Badaracco

Published 04:51 p.m., Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Deborah M. (Knapp) Badaracco

Danbury

Source: Search was for Mary Badaracco’s body

State police search Sherman property

Break in Badaracco murder case?

Police Execute Warrants in Badaracco Case