Man serving life for brutal killing of Griswold family appeals conviction before CT Supreme Court

Yahoo

06-03-2025

An attorney representing a man sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the brutal killing of a Griswold couple and their adult son in 2017 has argued that the murder conviction should be overturned on the basis that prosecutors used what she alleges was an illegally-seized cell phone to convict him.
The appeal, filed in 2022 by attorneys representing Sergio Correa, was argued Wednesday before the Connecticut Supreme Court during a hearing at Yale Law School.
Jennifer Smith, assistant public defender with the Office of the Chief Public Defender Legal Services Unit, argued that investigators seized Correa's cell phone 'without probable cause and without exigency' when he was not a suspect in the killing of Kenneth, Janet and Matthew Lindquist. She also argued that a judge should have granted a motion to suppress evidence found on the phone prior to Correa's trial in New London Superior Court.
Correa was found guilty of murder with special circumstances, home invasion, arson and robbery charges and was sentenced in May 2022 to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 105 years behind bars.
Sergio Correa sentenced to life without parole, sister receives 40 years in the deaths of Lindquist family
In December 2017, Correa and his sister, Ruth Correa, traveled from Hartford to Griswold to carry out a plan to trade drugs and cash to 21-year-old Matthew Lindquist in exchange for his help stealing guns from his parents, court records show. He was experiencing withdrawals from heroin at the time and was pleading with Correa for drugs.
Once in Griswold, Correa and his sister chased the 21-year-old into the woods and attacked him with a machete, leaving him to die, according to court records. They then went to his parents' home where Correa struck Kenneth Lindquist's head with a baseball bat, court records show.
Correa then sexually taunted, beat and strangled Janet Lindquist before he and his sister stole the family's Christmas presents and Matthew's car, setting the house on fire before they left, according to court records.
Authorities responding to the home found the dead couple inside and could not immediately locate their son, according to Correa's appeal. Believing the son could be a suspect, police obtained location data from his cell phone and found that it was in the area of an apartment complex on Donald Street in Hartford, court records show. Data obtained by investigators also showed that the phone had been used to contact a phone number associated with Correa through the TextNow messaging app, according court records.
Finding that Correa had a criminal record, including a conviction for arson, and lived on Donald Street, police interviewed him on Dec. 28, 2017, the appeal states. When investigators told Correa they believed Matthew Lindquist had killed his parents and that police knew Correa was familiar with the son, Correa asked for a lawyer and grabbed his cell phone from a table.
Smith argued that police, at the time, had no reason to believe there was evidence related to the crime on Correa's phone. The phone was seized and was later examined after police obtained a search warrant for the device. Correa's defense team unsuccessfully tried to have evidence on the phone suppressed prior to his trial.
Smith said the 'illegally obtained evidence' from the phone was later used in Correa's trial, making up nearly 40 exhibits. She said the prosecution relied heavily on evidence from the phone to help repair damage done to the credibility of two of the prosecution's 'self-interested' witnesses. She also argued that a judge erred when he denied the defense team's motion to suppress.
Ronald Weller, senior assistant attorney representing the prosecution, argued that the evidence found on the phone fell under the 'harmless error' doctrine and did not affect the verdict returned by a jury.
Weller said prosecutors also had overwhelming amount of evidence, including that Christmas presents and two rifles from the Lindquist home were found in Correa's car. He said Correa had also reportedly confessed to his girlfriend that he killed the couple.
During her arguments, Smith also contended that Ruth Correa's testimony against her brother was self-serving, leading to her receiving a 40-year sentence that will allow for her release from prison someday. According to Smith, Sergio Correa's defense team believes Ruth Correa and another man committed the crimes. Smith said the man's DNA and fingerprints were found in multiple areas of the crime scene.
Ruth Correa pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and was sentenced in May 2022. She remains in custody.
According to the appeal, Sergio Correa is seeking for his conviction to be overturned and a new trial. The Connecticut Supreme Court is expected to make a ruling in the coming months.