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Crime & Safety

DiMeo Gets Life, Donnelly's May Finally Get Peace

More than six years after the double homicide, the case against Christopher DiMeo for the murders of Tim and Kim Donnelly has at long last come to a close.

Unlike Tim and Kim Donnelly who were brutally killed on Feb. 2, 2005, Christopher DiMeo gets life. But it won't be the kind of life DiMeo once lived.

More than six years after the double homicide, the case against Christopher DiMeo for the  murders of Tim and Kim Donnelly has at long last come to a close. With his fate in the hands of 12 men and women, the Bridgeport Superior Court jury announced their sentencing verdict Friday – life without parole, likely much to the chagrin of the state’s attorney who argued DiMeo should get the death penalty.

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Corradino told Patch on Friday that the prosecution was striving for justice in this case, and read the following prepared statement:

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“No criminal prosecution can restore completely the loss to a victim. In murders it never happens, but we can at least strive for justice. We had perhaps the best criminal judge in the state; we had a jury of dedicated, intelligent, conscientious citizens charged with a difficult task. A civilized society of which we prosecutors and the police are its representatives and defenders should provide nothing less, even for such a senseless brutal crime. We owe as much and more to Tim and Kim Donnelly and their beautiful family. In the end, however, our human system guarantees a defendant due process; it guarantees no one justice.”

In his closing argument at the end of the double homicide trial, Corradino spoke of the chain of events on Feb. 2, 2005. DiMeo was in downtown Fairfield that afternoon, “preparing to execute – once again – a well-developed scheme of robbery, and ultimately death,” Corradino told the jury earlier in Bridgeport Superior Court.

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During the penalty phase, DiMeo’s lead defense attorney Michael Courtney, who has referred to his client as a “junkie with a gun,” accomplished what he intended, which was to what DiMeo’s “life was about” – a life of violence, drugs and abuse that ultimately led him to cross paths with the well-liked, unassuming couple.

During a robbery incident at Donnelly Jewelers on Feb. 2, 2005, DiMeo shot and killed Tim Donnelly, and then his wife Kim, who pleaded for her life. DiMeo is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of Thomas Renison, a Long Island jeweler who was shot to death on Dec. 21, 2005.

Downtown Merchants React

Noel Altan, a law student at Quinnipiac University and temporary clerk at Bridgeport Superior Court, was in court today during DiMeo’s sentencing. She told About Town it was an emotional day, not only for the Donnelly’s but for DiMeo as well. Altan’s parents, Theresa and Mike Altan, own Altan Jewelers, just up the street from where the Donnelly’s used to run their jewelry business.

“From what the jury heard, I feel they made the right decision. I personally would not have made that decision. But they went by the law; they found that the mitigating factors outweighed the aggravating factor,” Altan said.

The prosecutors at one point asked the judge to declare a mistrial. Corradino urged Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin to declare a mistrial after jurors said they were hung on one of the aggravating factors necessary for a finding of the death penalty. A mistrial would have meant a repeat of the penalty hearing before a new jury. But Devlin denied the motion and told the jury to carry on with its deliberations, according to media reports.

“It was very emotional. Seeing the Donnelly family today, I’m glad they didn’t declare a mistrial,” Altan added. “I’m happy that it’s over for their sake. I hope they can find peace now.”

Altan told About Town today was the first time she saw the stoic DiMeo show emotion.

“He was emotional. To be honest, today was the first day he really showed emotion,” she said. “I am sure he was thrilled not to get death.”

Florence Girard, a long-time employee of Henry C. Reid & Son Jewelers, told About Town she was happy with the jury’s decision.

“I’m glad because I don’t believe in the death penalty. I’m glad that it came out this way, I actually prayed for it this morning. Even for the people that were on that jury, they themselves don’t have this over their heads anymore.”

Girard was working the evening Nicole Pearce, the ex-girlfriend of DiMeo, entered Henry C. Reid & Son Jewelers, and later sketched the interior of Henry C. Reid, Fairfield Center and Donnelly Jewelers. During testimony, Pearce described an addicted couple that planned jewelry store robberies to support their escalating heroin habit. 

“Let’s face it. She helped him. She drew up all the diagrams. I don’t think she anticipated he was going to kill anyone,” Girard said, referring to the deaths of the Donnelly’s.

“I think it was in everyone’s best interest. [DiMeo] had a terrible upbringing, he’s in jail for life; he has to live with this and think about this everyday for the rest of his life. That might even be worse,” Girard said. “More people would suffer if he got the death penalty.”

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