Posted on July 16, 2015

Immigrant Who Is a Convicted Felon Accused in Fatal Stabbing

WTNH, July 15, 2015

A Haitian immigrant who was released from prison in January after serving a sentence for attempted murder is back in custody on a murder charge in the death of a Connecticut woman last month.

The Bulletin reported that Jean Jacques’s prison file was marked “Detainer: Immigration” and that Connecticut officials say he was released in January to the custody of the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

His crimes also included the illegal use of a gun during a 1996 deadly shooting, qualifying him for deportation to his native Haiti, the newspaper reported. ICE spokesman Shawn Neudauer told the newspaper federal privacy laws prohibit him from discussing Jacques’ case.

On Monday, the 40-year-old Jacques was in New London Superior Court to answer to murder and drug charges, stemming from the June 15 stabbing death of Casey Chadwick at her apartment in Norwich, the city where Jacques lived before he went to prison. The 25-year-old woman’s body was found stuffed in a closet.

Jacques was brought in a wheelchair after he refused to enter the courtroom willingly. He also kept his eyes closed, refused to respond to court officials, and would not talk to a Creole interpreter or one of his public defenders.

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The Bulletin reported that at his June 25 arraignment in Norwich Superior Court, Judge Kevin McMahan said: “You had a murder conviction and you weren’t deported? OK.”

Norwich Police Chief Louis Fusaro Sr. said it was discomforting that Jacques wasn’t deported after his prison release.

“We have a victim of a homicide in the meantime, and it’s a shame,” Fusaro said. “It’s pretty obvious if he was deported this wouldn’t have happened.”

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Jean Jacques

Jean Jacques