NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut man was convicted Tuesday in one of the state’s most vicious crimes in recent memory — the 2017 fatal beatings of a Griswold couple and the stabbing death of their 21-year-old son in what prosecutors called a drug deal that escalated into a home invasion, robbery and arson.
A state jury in New London found Sergio Correa, 30, of Hartford guilty of 13 of 14 charges including murder with special circumstances, which carries a sentence of up to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The verdicts came on the third day of deliberations following a monthlong trial.
Prosecutors and defense lawyers were not immediately available for comment.
Kenneth Lindquist, 56, and his wife, Janet Lindquist, 61, were found dead in their burned Griswold home on Dec. 20, 2017. The body of their son, Matthew Lindquist, 21, was found five months later in a wooded area near the home.
Police and prosecutors said Matthew Lindquist made a deal with Correa to trade his parents’ guns for drugs and cash. But when Correa and his sister, Ruth Correa, arrived, they chased Matthew Lindquist into the woods and Sergio Correa struck him with a machete, authorities said. The brother and sister then stabbed and slashed him more than 60 times, officials said.
The Correas then went to the Lindquist home, where Sergio Correa beat Kenneth Lindquist to death with a baseball bat, prosecutors said. Sergio Correa then attacked Janet Lindquist with the bat and strangled her, prosecutors said.
The Correas collected valuables in the home, including cash, jewelry and even the family’s Christmas presents, and set the house on fire as they fled, police said.
Ruth Correa pleaded guilty to murder charges in May and agreed to testify against her brother in exchange for a 40-year prison sentence.
Sergio Correa’s lawyers tried to discredit Ruth Correa’s testimony. They said there were discrepancies in her statements to police, accused her of lying and alleged police pressured her and Sergio Correa’s ex-girlfriend to implicate him in the killings.
