Andy Thibault

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Cool Justice
Olympic Gold For Missing Evidence
By ANDY THIBAULT, Columnist
Law Tribune Newspapers
November 28, 2005

Superior Court Judge Ellen Gordon was in way over her head with what she tried pass off as a ruling in Day Publishing Vs. State's Attorney.

Clueless Gordon was handed a hot one, a case no one has ever wanted in the so-called New London Judicial District. Ever single time this case has come to court, begging for justice, The Robes, the prosecutors and their minions have either desecrated their oaths or looked the other way. Clueless Gordon, fairly new to the scene, has managed to join the list of those who are both ostriches and failures.

The Day newspaper asked Gordon this year to release the grand jury testimony regarding of the cover-up of the 1973 hit-run death of Kevin Showalter. Before Gordon probably every heard of Showalter, five New London County judges excused themselves from a John Doe civil suit against the driver because they were friends with the prime suspect, Harvey Mallove. Mallove, the late mayor and multi-millionaire jeweler who picked police chiefs, planned to run for Congress and starred in the social scene, was prone to say, "I never killed the kid -- in any way, shape of form."

It's not like we could expect a New London judge to show guts or brains in this case. Compelling testimony from the first of two grand juries implicated local law enforcement and court officials in a widespread cover-up.

On Christmas Eve 1973 at 11:12 p.m., as the call came in, a high ranking New London officer, said, "F---k him, he's dead," then left to go home. Showalter, a 20-year-old Mitchell College student, lay dead on a well-lit section of Pequot Avenue by the shoreline. His body was thrown 22 feet from the point of impact. His shoes were found 110 feet apart. A leg bone was 75 feet away. The sickening thud of the crash was heard by neighbors.

A tow truck driver gave police auto body putty from the death car. They putty was never seen again. New London police mixed headlight glass from at least three different cars in what they called the evidence file. Replacing the auto body putty was bathroom tile. A local coroner's inquest never issued a finding. State police, who took over the case at the behest of Gov. Ella Grasso, were bewildered and angry when they could not find the transcript of the coroner's inquest. Mallove's best friend -- the presiding judge for the county, Angelo G. Santaniello - had put his niece in charge of typing that transcript. Santaniello also tipped off Mallove to his status as a suspect.

Now, Clueless Gordon can't find the 3,000-page transcript of the first grand jury. Does she care? Court clerks allegedly performed a diligent search. Would any reasonable person believe or accept any of this?

Among the last persons known to possess the grand jury report was the late State's Attorney C. Robert Satti. Satti, who refused to investigate the case before a special prosecutor was appointed, claimed he returned a copy to the grand juror, then-Willimantic Superior Court Judge (later Supreme Court Justice) Joseph Dannehy. Both Dannehy and Satti are dead. Did "Do Nothing Bob" - Mallove's moniker for Satti -- take it with him? We might as well ask Harvey, also dead, or Kevin.

Gordon's pathetic decision - dated Nov. 7 -- went on for about a sentence before its first fatal error. It might sound like a technical error, but it's much, much more than that. She actually said New London police investigated the case.

Before this, I thought it might take generations to remove the stench from the New London courthouse. Alas, for New London, the stench of this cover-up is forever.
                                                                                                                            
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