Case Unsolved

Reporters Karen Florin, Erica Moser and Lindsay Boyle sat down with producers Tim Cotter, Peter Huoppi and Carlos Virgen to discuss season one, share some updates on a couple of the cases and to talk about plans for season two.

When 26-year-old Erika Cirioni went missing New Year's Eve 2006, she left her family and friends distraught and desperate for answers. Who was she with that night? Was she still alive? And, if not, why might someone have wanted to kill her? When children playing in the woods in Montville found Cirioni's remains in March 2012, one of those questions was answered, but the others remained. In today's episode of "Case Unsolved," you'll hear family and friends — including one who got a call from Cirioni the night she disappeared — talk about what they think happened to Cirioni and how her death still affects them. To be part of the conversation, join the "Case Unsolved" Facebook group or email us at caseunsolved@theday.com.

Erika Cirioni's case isn't like the others we've explored in our podcast. While there surely was a crime scene, police never found it. Until March 2012, when some children found her remains in the woods in Montville, she technically was considered a missing person. That was more than five years after she vanished on New Year's Eve 2006. In this week's episode of "Case Unsolved," we'll dig deeper into Erika's last known moments and the years that followed. Where did police look for her? Why might someone have wanted to kill her? And who did she talk to on that fateful New Year's Eve?

Erika Cirioni was 26 when she went missing on New Year's Eve 2006. Her family immediately was concerned; even though she had turned to drugs in her later years, it wasn't like her to stay away from home. Her remains, covered by some rocks in a field in Montville, weren't found for more than five years. The first episode of the "Case Unsolved" podcast on Erika Cirioni is available beginning today. We'll explore what life was like for Erika growing up in some of the poorer areas of New London and Norwich, and what might have turned her from a homebody into someone getting in trouble with the law. You can listen to it, as well as a trailer on the case, at www.caseunsolvedpodcast.com or on any podcast app. Previously, "Case Unsolved" looked at the 1984 murder of Desiree Michaud in Groton and the 1995 murder of William Spicer Jr. in Groton. To be part of the conversation, join the "Case Unsolved" Facebook page or email us at caseunsolved@theday.com.

Erika Cirioni, a 26-year-old mother of two from Norwich, was last seen alive on New Year’s Eve 2006. Her remains were discovered in the woods by a group of children playing in the area in March 2012. The state office of the Chief Medical Examiner could not determine a cause of death, but based on the circumstances of the case, her death is considered a homicide but it continues to be unsolved. Erika had a troubled life leading up to her disappearance and murder, including multiple arrests related to drugs and theft. Over the next few episodes, we'll talk to friends and family to tell the story of her life before she started having legal problems and before she became a young mother. And we'll talk to law enforcement to find out the difficulties of investigating a murder with no crime scene.

Since the first two episodes of the William Spicer Jr. murder podcast some questions have been raised about the initial police work. Reporter Erica Moser explores why police didn't take Spicer's fingerprints before he was buried, requiring an exhumation of the body four months later. She also follows up on a tip that his death was initially thought to be of natural causes, meaning the scene was not secured for hours. Spicer was stabbed to death on March 15, 1995, on his Christmas tree farm in Groton. He was found dead inside his tan Ford Taurus on a dirt road at the 27-acre Sparkle Lake Christmas Tree Farm. He had been stabbed multiple times in the neck and abdomen.

William Spicer Jr. was stabbed to death on March 15, 1995, on his Christmas tree farm in Groton. He was found dead inside his tan Ford Taurus on a dirt road at the 27-acre Sparkle Lake Christmas Tree Farm. He had been stabbed multiple times in the neck and abdomen. In the days after his murder, a helicopter flew overhead and police dogs ran through the trees. Police looked in storm drains and trash bins nearby for a murder weapon and stopped motorists on Thomas Road seeking tips. Five days after the murder, divers searched an irrigation pond near the 13th hole of the Trumbull Golf Course. To be part of the conversation, join the Case Unsolved Facebook page or email us at caseunsolved@theday.com.

William Spicer Jr. was stabbed to death on March 15, 1995, on his Christmas tree farm in Groton. He was found dead inside his tan Ford Taurus on a dirt road at the 27-acre Sparkle Lake Christmas Tree Farm. He had been stabbed multiple times in the neck and abdomen. Beginning today, "Case Unsolved" takes on the Spicer murder case. The state has long offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Spicer's face is featured on wanted posters and he is the "king of hearts" in a deck of playing cards distributed to inmates. In 2011, divers searched Sparkle Lake in Groton looking for clues, and the investigation remains active. To be part of the conversation, join the Case Unsolved Facebook page or email us at caseunsolved@theday.com.

William Spicer Jr, an 82-year-old man with a long family history in Connecticut, spent much of his time tending his Christmas Tree farm, pursuing conservationist causes, and looking after his infirm wife. Every day he followed a regimented schedule that usually had him home by 3 o'clock. Until one day in March 1995 when he didn't make it home.   More than 20 years after his body was discovered on his beloved Christmas Tree farm, questions still remain. Who would kill a man who by all accounts did not meet the profile of someone who was at high risk of violence? Who attacked Bill Spicer with a knife on March 15, 1995?   The murder investigation would have police drag a pond near the tree farm looking for a murder weapon, would have them question friends, family and associates, even taking the investigation to Maine. What happened on that dirt road at Sparkle Lake Christmas Tree Farm in 1995? Through interviews and The Day's previous reporting, Case Unsolved will explore Spicer's life, his legacy, and his death.  Join our Facebook group to see more photos of Desiree Michaud that we found in our archives.

We've received several questions from listeners over the last three weeks about the Desiree Michaud story. In this bonus episode, Carlos Virgen and Karen Florin answer those questions and talk about a recent interview with prosecutor Christa Baker and Groton Town Police Detective Heather Beauchamp. Plus, a former correction officer recalls the mural that Desiree painted in prison. Send us your questions through our Facebook group, or email us at caseunsolved@theday.com.

In Episode 2, we took you to the crime scene: a motel room in Groton where Desiree, an 18-year-old prostitute was strangled to death. She was last seen leaving Bank Street in New London that night. Episode 3 explores community reaction to the murder. Desire had hoped her painting ability would help her walk away from the streets for good. New London in the '80s, too, had big dreams: That artists and musicians could bring new life to the old port city. In 1984, Desiree's chances for a better life ended tragically, and her unsolved murder, some say, represented a sense of dashed hope for New London. All the episodes will be available at www.caseunsolvedpodcast.com or wherever you listen to podcasts. To get regular updates, join the Case Unsolved Facebook page. Podcasts on other unsolved murders will follow, beginning with the case of William Spicer Jr., who was murdered on his Christmas tree farm in Groton in 1995.

We take you to the crime scene: a motel room in Groton where Desiree was strangled to death. You also can listen to the recreation of a woman under hypnosis who police believe heard the murder. Desiree Michaud was an 18-year-old prostitute in New London. She hoped her painting ability would help her walk away from the streets for good. New London in the '80s, too, had big dreams: That artists and musicians could bring new life to the old port city. In 1984, Desiree's chances for a better life ended tragically, and her unsolved murder, some say, represented a sense of dashed hope for New London. The story of Desiree Michaud runs three episodes. Episodes on other unsolved murders will follow, beginning June 20 with the case of William Spicer Jr., who was murdered on his Christmas tree farm in Groton in 1995.

In this episode, we retell the story of the murder of an 18-year-old prostitute in New London. At an early age, she had been deemed artistically gifted. She hoped her painting ability would help her walk away from the streets for good. New London in the '80s, too, had big dreams: That artists and musicians could bring new life to the old port city. In 1984, Desiree's chances for a better life ended tragically, and her unsolved murder, some say, represented a sense of dashed hope for New London. The story of Desiree Michaud will be told in three episodes on successive Wednesdays. Podcasts on other unsolved murders will follow. To get regular updates, join the Case Unsolved Facebook page.

Case Unsolved, a podcast produced by The Day newsroom, is available beginning today. More than 1,400 murders in Connecticut are classified as unsolved. The Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice has produced four decks of playing cards — 208 cards in all — with a picture, name, and age of a victim, in hopes that they would produce leads on the cases. Twenty of the cases featured on the cards have been solved. Case Unsolved looks at three cases that have not. This week's episode of Case Unsolved is a preview of what's to come, which will include a three-part series on the 1984 murder of Desiree Michaud beginning next week. She was last seen on Bank Street in New London, where she worked as a prostitute and was found murdered in a Groton motel. The series also will examine the unsolved murder cases of William Spicer Jr. in 1995 and Erika Cirioni in 2006.   Episode links: Connecticut State Department of Corrections Cold Case Cards  2016 FBI Clearance Rates by crime Murder Accountability Project  Center for the Resolution of Unresolved Crime

A podcast from The Day newsroom about unsolved murders in Connecticut, and the family, friends and law enforcement left without resolution. The first case we will be looking into this season is the unsolved murder of Desiree Michaud, a young artist from a troubled family who found herself working the streets as a prostitute and eventually was found dead in a motel room in 1984. The first episode of her story will be published on May 23.