Assumed Deceased: Mary Badaracco--CT-- 08/20/1984

[Kelly]

http://www.newstimes.com/latestnews/ci_13163673

Daughters remain hopeful 25 years after Badaracco disappearance in Sherman
Mary Badaracco disappeared from her Sherman home 25 years ago today


By Dirk Perrefort
Staff Writer
Updated: 08/20/2009 01:05:03 AM EDT


DANBURY -- It may be 25 years since Mary Badaracco's disappearance from her Sherman home, but her daughters remain hopeful their mother's killer will be brought to justice.

"We're not going to stop," said Sherrie Passaro, of Danbury. "It's hard to remain positive sometimes, but there is always hope."

A prayer vigil will be held Friday at 7 p.m. in Hatters Park to mark the 25th anniversary of Badaracco's disappearance.

Passaro remembers the last time she saw her mother, about a week before she disappeared Aug. 20, 1984. She had dropped by her mother's house for their weekly dinner outing, and Mary told her she had just come from a meeting with a lawyer.

Mary had recently discovered her husband, Dominic Badaracco Sr., had a girlfriend, Passaro said.

"When he showed up, she became visibly nervous and asked me to leave. She was afraid that something was going to happen if I stayed. She was always very protective of us."

For the first time in the two and a half decades since her mother disappeared, a police official earlier this year named Dominic Badaracco Sr. as the prime suspect in the case.

Dominic Badaracco Sr., who still lives in Sherman, could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Richard Meehan of Bridgeport, declined to comment.

In May, during a trial of city resident Ernest Dachenhausen, who was arrested and eventually found not guilty on charges of interfering with the investigation, Detective Joe Bukowski of the Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crimes Division named Badaracco as the chief suspect.

"My main suspect at this time is Dominic Badaracco Sr., who is the last person to see the victim alive, had a history of extramarital affairs and domestic violence," he said on the stand in Danbury Superior Court.

At the time of Mary's disappearance, Badaracco told police he last saw his wife before he left for work that day. When he came home she was gone, along with her jewelry, clothes, and a "large sum of money" he kept in the home.

He said at the time that they were about to get divorced, and he wasn't surprised when he didn't hear from her.

Both Passaro and her sister, Beth Profetta of Torrington, said they have concerns about how police handled the early investigation.

"That was the critical time in the investigation," Profetta said.

Their mother's car, which was still at the home and showed signs of distress -- the windshield had been smashed in -- was never impounded. The car has since disappeared.

For years the investigation languished, but from time to time there would appear to be a break in the case, the daughters said.

In 1986, investigators interviewing a former member of the Hell's Angel's Bridgeport chapter told police another member of the organization "had openly talked about hitting Mary Badaracco."

Police said at the time that the gang member fingered by the informant denied any involvement.

Joseph Badaracco, Dominic's son, admitted in past unrelated court proceedings that he had been a member of the motorcycle gang.

In 1990 Mary Badaracco's daughters successfully lobbied state officials to reclassify the case a homicide, and in 1999 the state increased the reward to $50,000 for information leading to an arrest.

The case began to pick up steam about five years ago, when Bukowski took on the investigation. The daughters often refer to the detective as their hero.

"Finally, some real police work was being done," Profetta said.

In 2006 Bukowski interviewed Lee Jupina, identified by authorities as a career criminal.

Jupina told the detective he had overheard Dachenhausen talking about burying a car for Badaracco, according to testimony during the trial earlier this year.

The alleged conversation took place at Abe's bar in Danbury, which authorities said Dominic used as a base of operations for taking bets on sporting events.

That lead took investigators to the backyard of a home in Newtown that Dachenhausen owned in the 1980s.

Investigators excavated the property in September 2007 and removed several vehicles, as well as other materials buried there. None of the cars, however, was the 1982 Chevy Cavalier station wagon Mary Badaracco had owned.

At the time of the excavation, Dachenhausen, who has said he knows nothing about the woman's disappearance, told The News-Times police "were wasting their time."

He also said police were wasting their time in September 2008, when they performed ground-penetrating radar tests at a home in New Fairfield built the month after Badaracco's disappearance.

Joseph Novella, a local developer who built the home near Ball Pond, said last fall that police had contacted him and asked about subcontractors who had worked on the site.

The short list of contractors, Novella said, included Dachenhausen and relatives of Dominic Badaracco.

The case has also recently been added to the Web site of the TV show "America's Most Wanted." Relatives of Mary Badaracco hope the attention will help bring someone forward.

"With good police work and people coming forward. we can solve this case," Profetta said. "There are all these grandchildren who never knew the love of their grandmother. Someone has some explaining to do."

Sgt. Chris Johnson, a spokesman for the state police, said they continue to actively pursue any lead in the case that emerges.

"The case is active, and there have been some leads in the case that major crime squad detectives are pursuing," he said. "We are always looking for witnesses we know are out there or anyone who may be additional information the case."


Prayer vigil for Mary Badaracco A prayer vigil marking the 25th anniversary of Mary Badaracco's disappearance will be held Friday at 7 p.m. at Hatters Park on Hayestown Road in Danbury. Police are asking anyone with information on Badaracco's disappearance to call the Western District Major Crime Squad at 800-203-0004. Tips can also be sent anonymously via text message to CRIMES (274637). Include TIP711 at the beginning of the text to refer the message to the state police, and information to identify the case the tip pertains to.

[Kelly]

AAN Annual Poster Notify Sent to AAN Subscribers   Code 49

Help us find the missing: Become an AAN Member and receive notifications about missing persons via email.

Click here to become a part of the solution: http://www.projectjason.org/awareness.html

[Kelly]

http://www.newstimes.com/danbury/ci_13180257?source=rss

In Danbury, friends and family of missing woman ask God for help
Mary Badaracco's daughters remain hopeful

By Melissa Bruen
STAFF WRITER
Updated: 08/21/2009 08:58:31 PM EDT



DANBURY -- More than 30 family and friends came to Hatters Park to pray alongside sisters Sherri Passaro and Beth Profetta on Friday evening, despite the tumultuous weather.

Passaro and Profetta, who were 21 and 20 years old when their mother Mary Badaracco mysteriously disappeared from her house in Sherman 25 years ago, have not given up hope of finding her and learning what happened.

"We thought it was finally her time to be happy," Profetta said about her mother, who at the time of her disappearance was getting a divorce from Dominic Badaracco Sr., her husband of 14 years.

"All we want to do is bring her home where she belongs," Profetta said during the vigil. "We want the truth and to bring her home."

She spoke in front of a handmade quilt with pictures of Badaracco over the years, which was made by a family friend. Above the pictures, the quilt reads, "Mom we will not give up until we find you! Your family."

Posters with pictures hung around the pavilion and every table had lit candles.

"Any decent person would be affected by this," said Pastor Kevin Lynch of Real Life Church on Park Avenue, who led the vigil.

He offered the family comfort by saving, "Nothing gets by God."

"The only ones who know what really happened is God and the person who did it," Lynch said. "If you know the truth, the truth will set you free."

"My prayer tonight is that there may be ultimately a setting free of the torment this family endures," he said.

Then he spoke directly to God, "Tonight all we're doing is seeking truth, asking you to get involved."

He said the night was not planned months in advance, but came straight from the heart.

When Profetta spoke, her voice was strong.

"Bring all the darkness into the light -- all the lies and all the things hidden for the last 25 years," she said. "I pray that some of our burdens be lifted, because it's been too much that any family should be expected to handle."

[Jenn]

http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/case.cfm?id=67342

AMW Missing DATA FILE FOR Mary "Mary Poo" Badaracco
Mary Badaracco, Missing 25 Years

"I can only use every fiber of my being to right this wrong.  I've single-handedly tried to make this broken justice system work for my mother," said Beth Profeta, daughter of Mary Badaracco, who has been missing for 25 years.

Beth and her sister Sherrie have been tireless in their efforts to find out what happened to their mother, and bring the person responsible to justice.

Mary was last seen at her home on August 20, 1984, in Sherman, Conn., the windshield of her car smashed in the driveway.

Just five days later, her husband Dominic filed for divorce on the grounds of abandonment. Soon after,  Mary's car disappeared and has never been found.

While Mary's daughters have waited a quarter century they have not given up hope that someone will do the right thing and come forward with the information needed for justice.

They thought they were closer to at least some answers when a man was charged with interfering with the investigation by giving police false, incomplete and unreliable information.

Law enforcement hoped that a conviction would give them leverage to get more information from him.

The defendant said he had buried three or four cars on his property, and assured police that there were no dead bodies in any of them.  After an excavation that cost the State of Connecticut $35,000, three cars were found buried on his property, but none belonging to Mary.

Testimony from a psychologist that the defendant had likely suffered brain damage decades prior in an excavating accident, and a drinking habit of 12 to 18 drinks per day for 10 to 20 years, resulted in a not guilty verdict in May 2009.

Despite that setback, the trial produced new revelations including affirmation that Dominic Badaracco, Sr. was the last person to see Mary alive and reportedly gave inconsistent information to investigators.

Cops are still working the case, and they need your tips.

The CUE Center, a non-profit organization based in North Carolina founded to help with missing persons cases, posted a billboard in February 2009 on Route 37 in Danbury, Conn.

Police, and Mary's daughters, want people with information to come forward that will help them find the answers and justice for Mary Badaracco.

"We expected justice 25 years ago," Sherrie recently said. "We've been pushing and praying and been out in the news and doing anything we can for 25 years every year expecting this is going to be the year. Every year we expect it and it hasn't happened so just hope, right now.  Just hold onto hope, faith that someone out there is going to do the right thing finally.

Cops are still working the case, and they need your tips. They've created a video, which is available on local cable in Connecticut, and launched a website to help collect information on the case, but so far, their recent search has come up empty.

If you know anything about the disappearance of Mary Badaracco, call the AMW hotline at 1-800-CRIME-TV.

[Jenn]

NamUs Profile for Mary: https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/303

[LoriDavis]

http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Familes-friends-keep-missing-women-s-memories-625808.php
Familes, friends, keep missing women's memories alive
John Pirro, Staff Writer
Published: 07:23 p.m., Sunday, August 22, 2010

DANBURY -- Perhaps under better circumstances, Dan and Dave Hodgman and Sherrie Passaro and Beth Profeta might never have met.

But Carmella Gutierrez's sons and Mary Badaracco's daughters have been tied together by similar tragedies -- their mothers both vanished under mysterious circumstances years ago and are believed to have been killed.

On Sunday, the children of these missing mothers were together again, as more than 40 friends and relatives of both families gathered at Hatter's Park hoping to call attention to missing persons across the country and raise public awareness about a nonprofit organization that works on their behalf.

"Missing adults do not get the attention that missing children do," said Monica Caison, of Wilmington, N.C., founder of the Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons. Caison has toured the country for the last four years to remind people about the cases.

This year's itinerary includes 21 stops in 10 states where the missing persons or families lived. Caison hopes the publicity provides the spark that could bring some answers to the mysteries.

"We're spending the day in Connecticut and highlighting three cases," Caison said, citing Gutierrez, Badaracco, and Billy Smolinski, a Waterbury man who disappeared in 2004.

Badaracco, who lived in Sherman, was last seen in 1984, and her case was classified as a homicide by Connecticut State Police in 1990, the same year that Gutierrez, a former Brookfield resident living in Tennessee, also disappeared, reportedly on a trip to Georgia.

Neither woman's bodies were ever located and both cases have common elements. The last people to see Badaracco and Gutierrez alive were their husbands, and both women were in marriages that were verging on divorce.

Posters, placards and a quilt made by a friend of Badaracco's daughters hung in the Hatter's park's pavilion, including one that featured the names and information about 32 Connecticut women listed as missing persons.

As rain drummed on the roof, singer-songwriter Jessie Mayer, of Bridgewater, performed the song she wrote in Mary Badaracco's memory as participants in the observance held candles.

"We want our loved ones back. That's what this is all about," Profeta said..

Over the years, Profeta and Passaro have worked to keep their mother's case in the public eye, and remain confident that the person who killed her will be brought to justice.

"Sherrie is a really strong person," said Sheryl Trohalis, of Danbury, a friend of Passaro's since high school. "She has amazing willpower, and her sister is the same way. They haven't given up."

David Hodgman was 28 when his mother vanished and Daniel was five years younger.

"Not knowing is the worst part," said Daniel, who lives in Bethel.

"Everytime you hear about a body being found, no matter where you wonder, `Is that her?' because you know she's out there", David said.

[LoriDavis]

27 years later, Badaracco case still haunts family and police
John Pirro, Staff Writer
Published 07:51 p.m., Saturday, June 11, 2011

SHERMAN -- Before Helle Crafts was run through a woodchipper in 1986, before Regina Brown disappeared without a trace in 1987, and five months after Elizabeth Heath was reported missing by her husband in 1984, there was the mysterious case of Mary Badaracco.

In the nearly 27 years since the 38-year-old Sherman woman vanished, Richard Crafts has been convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to 50 years in prison, and in April 2010 Heath's body was found buried under a barn on the Newtown property where she once lived. Her murder remains under investigation.

But Badaracco, like Brown, has never been seen or heard from again, despite an investigation that at times has appeared on the verge of putting to rest some of the questions her two daughters have lived with for nearly three decades.

Read more: http://www.newstimes.com/policereports/article/27-years-later-Badaracco-case-still-haunts-1420286.php#ixzz1P11sSGlc

[Denise Harrison]

http://www.newstimes.com/policereports/article/Grand-jury-may-be-best-hope-to-solve-Badaracco-1449605.php#ixzz1R9FJCnPo

Grand jury may be best hope to solve Badaracco mystery

John Pirro, Staff Writer
Updated 11:30 p.m., Friday, July 1, 2011

Mary Badaracco of Sherman vanished without a trace nearly 27 years ago.

Now, depending on who's talking, a one-man grand jury halfway across the state represents either a desperate grasping at straws by frustrated investigators or the best hope yet of solving one of the Danbury area's knottiest mysteries.

Since late last year, a single Superior Court judge, acting as the grand juror, has been hearing testimony in a second-floor courtroom in state Superior Court in New Britain from anyone state police believe can 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, and the few people willing to talk about this one would do so only if their names weren't disclosed.

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 this investigation, the targets are Dominic Badaracco Sr., the missing woman's former husband, who still lives 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.

"It's the Badaraccos. They've made no secret about it," said the source, who said he testified several months ago.

Joseph Badaracco, who now lives in Danbury, has been one of the few people to speak openly about the grand jury, confirming recently that he had been subpoenaed to testify but had not yet done so for health reasons.

Under state law, grand juries -- which can comprise three Superior Court judges but more often involve a single jurist -- are appointed by the chief court administrator to investigate suspected political corruption or cases where a state prosecutor lacks any other way to determine if a crime has been committed.

Three years ago, a grand jury investigation led to the arrest and conviction of former Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez on political corruption charges.

In 1999, an investigative grand jury probe resulted in the arrest of Michael Skakel in the 1975 murder of his teenage neighbor Martha Moxley in Greenwich. Skakel was subsequently convicted at trial.

Unlike other criminal investigations, where investigators must be able to show a basis to obtain search warrants to gather evidence, grand juries can subpoena witnesses to obtain the information, said former U.S. Attorney Stanley A. Twardy.

Twardy has been on both sides of grand jury investigations as a federal prosecutor and now as a defense lawyer, but he is not involved in the Badaracco inquiry.

"It facilitates the investigation," Twardy said. "For law enforcement, it's much more time-consuming to get a search warrant."

Unlike their federal counterparts, which are made of a panel of citizens summoned for grand jury service, state grand jury investigations allow their targets to have legal representation while they testify.

Witnesses can't have a lawyer present when being questioned before a federal grand jury, Twardy said.

"It's not a great idea to walk into a courtroom unprepared," said Bridgeport defense attorney Eugene Riccio, who is also not involved in the case. "It's one thing to talk to a cop on the sidewalk. It's a lot different raising your hand in front of a judge in court."

Questioning of witnesses in a one-man grand jury investigation is done by a state prosecutor. In the Badaracco case, according to one source, the prosecutor is Assistant State's Attorney Christopher Alexy, who heads the violent crimes bureau in the office of Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane.

A spokesman for the chief state's attorney's office has refused to confirm or deny the existence of the Badaracco grand jury.

State law limits one-man grand juries to a six-month lifespan, although prosecutors can apply for two six-month extensions. If the Badaracco grand jury began late last year and is still in progress, at least one extension has been granted, according to attorneys familiar with other grand jury proceedings.

After a grand jury investigation is complete, the judge submits a report that can be made public, even when no criminal charges are filed, Twardy said.

Although sources said both of Mary Badaracco's daughters, Beth Profeta and Sherrie Passaro, have already testified before the grand jury, neither of them would comment on the proceedings.

"My reaction is that miracles happen every day, and this case could be solved overnight if the right person came forward," Profeta said.

[LoriDavis]

Police Execute Warrants in Badaracco Case
Mary Badaracco was last seen in 1984.

By Amanda Raus and LeAnne Gendreau |  Wednesday, Feb 8, 2012  |  Updated 4:06 PM EST

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.

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

[LoriDavis]

http://www.newstimes.com/policereports/article/Advocate-seeks-Badaracco-testimony-3845904.php

Advocate seeks Badaracco testimony

John Pirro
Published 7:51 p.m., Thursday, September 6, 2012

NEW BRITAIN -- Did someone commit perjury last year during testimony before a grand jury investigating the disappearance and presumed murder of Sherman resident Mary Badaracco in 1984?

The answer, state Victim Advocate Michelle Cruz said, may lie in the testimony of two witnesses who took the stand during the secret grand jury proceedings -- the wife of the man state police consider the leading suspect in the long-unsolved crime, Dominic Badaracco, and Badaracco's former business partner.

On Friday afternoon, Cruz plans to ask a state Superior Court judge to release the testimony of Joan Badaracco, who married Dominic after Mary Badaracco vanished, and Ronald "Rocky" Richter, his partner in a roofing and siding business.

The Office of the Victim Advocate is a state agency, independent of the Judicial Department, that monitors and evaluates how crime victims are treated by the criminal justice system. Cruz is acting on behalf of Mary Badaracco's two adult daughters, Sherrie Passaro and Beth Profeta, who have been fighting for years to bring their mother's killer to justice.

Cruz said the request is based on comments the grand jury prosecutor, Assistant State's Attorney Christopher Alexy, allegedly made to the daughters in March 2012, a month after the grand jury report was filed and sealed.
Both Passaro and Profeta said that Alexy implied that at least one of the witnesses who testified had committed perjury.

"I said that if someone committed perjury, they should be arrested. That's a crime," Passaro said Thursday. "But he danced around it."

Although Dominic Badaracco was subsequently charged with trying to bribe another Superior Court judge to influence the grand jury investigation, neither he nor anyone else connected to the case has been charged with perjury.

"If that really happened, the public should know that perjury was committed in a murder investigation and there were no consequences," Cruz said.

Alexy refused to discuss the perjury allegations when contacted by The News-Times in April. On Thursday, Mark Dupuis, a spokesman for the Office of the Chief State's Attorney, where Alexy works, said the agency would have "no comment on a pending grand jury matter."

It is anticipated that the chief state's attorney's office will oppose Cruz's motion.

Last week, each of the 62 people who testified before the grand jury received a letter from Adam P. Mauriello, secretary to the Investigatory Grand Jury Panel, informing them that Cruz was seeking disclosure of portions of the grand jury testimony. If the witnesses objected to the release, they were told to notify the court in writing.
Cruz said Wednesday that at least four people have filed objections, but she would not say who they were, because doing so would identify them as grand jury witnesses.

Passaro also said both she and her sister have been subpoenaed by Cruz to testify on Friday, and they expected to be asked about what Alexy said.

"I think its great," Passaro said. "I applaud her for seeing the injustice that happened and wanting to continue to the fight. In our eyes, it's still not over."

[Kelly]

http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2012/09/08/news/local/668344.txt

Not just murder, perjury
Judges asked to release secret testimony

BY BRIGITTE RUTHMAN REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN


NEW BRITAIN — A three judge panel heard arguments Friday in New Britain Superior Court in a bid by the state's Victim's Advocate to reveal testimony from a secret grand jury probe of the cold murder case of Mary Badaracco, who disappeared from her home in Sherman in 1984.

Advocate Michelle Cruz argued that perjury charges should have been filed by the Chief State's Attorney's Office after it became apparent that some who testified had lied. Executive Assistant State's Attorney Michael Gainer countered that releasing documents could harm future investigations.

The judges, who expect to file a written decision within five days, defended the criminal system which gives discretion to investigatory agencies.