State v. Sulser

• Decision Date: 26 August 2008
• Docket Number: No. 28707.,28707.
• Citation: 953 A.2d 919,109 Conn.App. 852
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE of Connecticut v. Troy D. SULSER.

953 A.2d 919

109 Conn.App. 852

STATE of Connecticut v. Troy D. SULSER.

No. 28707.

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued November 28, 2007.

Decided August 26, 2008.

Lauren Weisfeld, assistant public defender, for the appellant (defendant).

Harry Weller, senior assistant state's attorney, with whom were James E. Thomas, former state's attorney, and Edward R. Narus, senior assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (state).

BISHOP, LAVINE and McDONALD, Js.

LAVINE, J.

The defendant, Troy D. Sulser, appeals from the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54a(a). On appeal, the defendant claims that he is entitled to a new trial because several of the trial court's evidentiary rulings were improper as was its jury charge.¹ We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The state's case consisted primarily of circumstantial evidence that the defendant had murdered the victim, his wife, Gina M. Sulser, to collect her life insurance proceeds, including accidental death benefits. The jury reasonably could have found the following facts on the basis of the evidence presented and the reasonable inferences drawn therefrom. On March 29, 2003, the defendant and the victim lived in the Carousel Apartment complex in East Windsor. Shortly after 11 p.m., the defendant placed two telephone calls to pizza restaurants before going to a McDonald's restaurant, where he purchased food for two people. He then returned to the apartment. At 12:45 a.m. on March 30, 2003, the defendant placed a 911 call to the police to report that his wife had been abducted. Lawrence Johnson, a sergeant in the East Windsor police department, reported to the apartment at about 1:15 a.m.

Johnson saw no signs of forced entry or of a struggle within the apartment. The defendant told Johnson that he and the victim had been out during the afternoon and evening and that when they returned to the apartment, he had tried to order pizza but the restaurants that he had telephoned were closing. He left the victim in the apartment with her cat, which was ill, and went to McDonald's in Windsor Locks. The defendant also told Johnson that when he returned, he could not find the victim in the apartment or in the complex laundry room. Although he did not consider the victim's absence an emergency, he decided to call 911. After looking around the apartment,² Johnson suggested that he and the defendant search the complex and the surrounding area and contact the victim's friends and neighbors. The defendant responded that the victim would not go anywhere without him. The defendant's demeanor was matter of fact. After Johnson and the defendant had searched the exterior, Johnson instructed the defendant to telephone the victim's parents to find out if she was with them. The victim's parents had not seen her.³

Johnson asked the defendant if he had checked the basement. The defendant did not respond immediately but then told Johnson that the victim would not go into the basement. The defendant, however, looked at a desk, stated that the keys to the basement were missing and quickly left the apartment. Johnson followed him to the door of the basement, which is in the foyer of the apartment. The defendant opened the door. Although the stairway was not lit, Johnson could see a body lying at the bottom of the stairs. When he reached the body, later identified as the victim, Johnson observed that it was lying face down and that a purse and blood covered eyeglasses were nearby. Johnson detected no pulse and that the body was cold and concluded that the victim was dead. Johnson went outside to use his radio to summon additional assistance. When he returned to the basement, the defendant was sitting at the bottom of the stairs saying in a low voice, "my friend, my friend, she's my friend, what am I going to do without her." Johnson described the defendant's demeanor as calm.

Because the basement was not illuminated, Johnson went to the top of the stairs and saw that the light switch was in the up position. Johnson determined that the bulb was loose and tightened it. The bulb illuminated.⁴ Johnson again observed the victim's body. The head was on the basement floor, the torso on the lowest steps and the feet on higher steps. He saw blood under the head and a set of keys by the feet. The defendant identified the keys as the ones missing from the apartment desk.

Sergeant Michael Poliquin, the shift supervisor, arrived at the apartment at about 2 a.m. He observed the body at the bottom of the basement stairs. Poliquin found lividity and rigor in the body and knew that medical assistance would be of no avail. After kneeling near the victim's body for some time, the defendant stated, "I know why she's here. It's my fault." Johnson asked the defendant why he said that. The defendant responded that earlier in the week, the victim had asked him to retrieve from the basement an animal carrier that the victim used when her cat had seizures. The defendant had not gotten the animal carrier, and he opined that the victim must have gone to the basement to get it.

Thomas J. Clynch III, chief of the East Windsor ambulance association and a paramedic, examined the body and made a presumption of death at 2:30 a.m. During his examination, Clynch noted that there were small, red blotches in the whites of the victim's eyes, meaning that blood vessels had ruptured. He documented his observation because it was an unusual finding given the circumstances. According to Clynch, head trauma from a fall would not result in ruptured blood vessels in the eyes. Clynch noted that the body was very cold and the face had a purple tinge to it. There was an injury to the face that was consistent with the dried blood on the floor. Clynch attempted to move the victim's joints and found rigor, which he testified was an indication of death. Clynch asked the defendant about the victim's medical history; in response, the defendant told him about the cat's medical history.

The defendant then returned to his apartment. Johnson followed him and discussed possible scenarios for disposition of the body and notifying the victim's parents. The defendant indicated that he would inform the victim's parents of her death. The defendant left the apartment to spend the rest of the night with his mother. He took an electronic organizer with him and told Johnson that "when you have a problem, you have to keep it organized."

Approximately two hours after he had telephoned the victim's parents, the defendant appeared at their home. Nellie Molinari asked him what was the matter. The defendant stated that the police had told him to come and talk to them. Nellie Molinari asked him where the victim was, and the defendant told her that she was at Manchester Hospital. The victim's mother asked why he was not with her. The defendant explained that the victim had a fetish for cats and animals, fell down stairs and was dead. The defendant displayed no emotion but asked the victim's father, Robert Molinari, what the defendant should do next. The victim's father asked the defendant to leave. Shortly thereafter, Robert Molinari left the house.

At approximately 4 a.m., Poliquin received information from the police dispatcher that Robert Molinari was at the police department and wanted to speak with someone. Poliquin left the apartment to speak with Robert Molinari. Poliquin also informed his superiors and others of the situation, and thereafter the state medical examiner and the state police became involved in the investigation.

As the result of a telephone call he received from Poliquin at approximately 4 a.m. on March 30, 2003, Matthew Carl, an East Windsor police detective, became involved in the investigation. Carl met with Robert Molinari and learned that the victim's father thought that her death was suspicious.⁵ Carl later telephoned the defendant and met with him at the home of the defendant's mother at 6:16 a.m. The defendant cooperated with Carl's investigation. When asked, the defendant told Carl that he owned a computer business and that he previously had been employed by the Trolley Museum in East Windsor. Carl asked the defendant about the couple's finances. The defendant could not remember how much he had earned the previous year. When Carl reminded him that it was tax time and asked what their W-2 forms would reflect, the defendant stated that his income was in the mid to upper $40,000 range and that the victim had earned a salary in the upper $30,000 range.

The defendant also explained to Carl that he and the victim had spent the prior day looking at real estate because they wanted to purchase a house. They also went to an automobile dealership because "the two of them were itching to find a reason to buy a new truck." The defendant told Carl that the couple returned to the apartment at 11 p.m. and of his efforts to get something for them to eat and why the victim stayed at home with the cat. He also told Carl that he was at fault for the victim's death because he had not retrieved the animal carrier from the basement when the victim asked him to do so several weeks earlier. Carl asked the defendant if the victim's life was insured. The defendant told him that she had a small policy through her place of employment, Metco Health Care Company. When asked, the defendant told Carl that he and the victim had applied for $500,000 worth of life insurance on line in August, 2002. The defendant made a deposit on the policy, but he thought that the policy was no longer in effect because he had received a notice that the application had expired. The defendant also attempted to purchase another life insurance policy from Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate), but the application was incomplete.

Carl then informed the defendant of his conversation with Robert Molinari and that the victim's father thought her death was suspicious. Carl asked the defendant what had...