Cornwall

DNA from energy drink helped ID suspect in theft of antiques from Cornwall home: police

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NBC Connecticut

State police have arrested a Newtown woman who is accused of stealing antiques worth thousands of dollars from a Cornwall home last summer.

DNA from a can left behind at the scene linked back to the 39-year-old suspect, according to the arrest warrant.

The investigation started on Sept. 6, 2023, when a Cornwall resident contacted state police and reported that someone had broken into his home and tens of thousands -- if not hundreds of thousands -- of paintings, pieces of art and antiques were missing.

The missing items included Native American and Indonesian artifacts, sculptures, tools and a collection of Mad magazines from the 1960s and 1970s, according to the arrest warrant.

The homeowner said he hadn’t been to the home in weeks and contractors were working at the residence while he was in New York.

The home had been ransacked, but amid the debris, police found an opened can of an energy drink had been left behind. State police took it into evidence and a lab linked DNA from it to the suspect, according to state police.

Evidence was also found at Macedonia State Park on Sept. 9, 2023, that also led police to the suspect, who was a guest at a campsite in the park, according to state police.

The Newtown woman has been charged with burglary in the third degree and larceny in the first degree.

She was released on $5,000 bond and is due in court on July 30.

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