Jane Doe No More by M. William Phelps Read Free Book Online

on the force at that time. The department went through a multitude of changes throughout the century-plus leading up to the early 1980s, when it began to put its resources into fighting the drug war, which had hit Waterbury hard. By 1990, however, the focus was on computers and how they could help crime fighting efforts. According to its website, the WPD used its first desktop computer “network” in 1990, “allowing for local criminal history record checks, active arrest warrant checks, and the booking of prisoners.” Computers were a major aid in criminal cases such as Donna’s. They allowed for repeat offenders, for example, to be easily recorded and tracked. “Prior to this time,” the department website continued, “police officers working the booking desk would have to record the name of each arrestee, go to the Records Division, and manually check paper-based files to determine if the arrestee had a prior criminal history. The police officer would then have to travel to the second floor and manually check the files of the Detective Bureau to determine if the arrestee had any outstanding local warrants.”
    Of greater importance to what would transpire in Donna’s case over the next decade, in February 1992, after what was a long fight inside the Connecticut Supreme Court, was a ruling handed down concerning the “rank of Detective” within the WPD. Before the Supreme Court ruling, becoming a detective was “a promotion and not an assignment.” After the ruling a candidate would be required to take “a competitive civil service examination.” As far back as 1902, the gold badge position had been something of an assignment by the superintendent. Thus, “a dispute over the issue ensued between the Board of Police Commissioners and the Superintendent, who wished to maintain the position as an assignment, and the Civil Service Commission and the Police Union, who wished the position to become a permanent rank requiring competitive civil service examinations.”
    The year 1993, leading up to the day of Donna’s attack, had been a busy one for the WPD, with gang-related warfare breaking out in the streets. The major problem was a rift between rival Hispanic gangs, the Latin Kings and the Los Solidos. The WPD had formed a new tactical unit on May 26, 1993, the Gang Task Force.
    What did all this mean for Donna Palomba as she and her husband walked into the WPD on September 14, 1993? First, the WPD was certainly able and capable of an investigation such as the one Donna assumed had been initiated moments after her 911 call reporting the home invasion. Furthermore, the experience and technology within the Detective Bureau of the WPD should have been sufficient to solve Donna’s case.
    It was 3:20 p.m. when Donna and John sat down with Detective Lou Cote inside the WPD. Cote came across as friendly, but also a bit indifferent. He didn’t discuss one theory in any more depth than another. He was there to collect information, Donna believed, so that the investigation could move forward. Cote did not mention if the WPD had any suspects or if there was a search ongoing. Cote simply sat Donna down and asked her to give a thorough account of what had happened, beginning when she had arrived home that night.
    Donna explained the attack in as much detail as she could. Some of the more revealing sections of the account would give detectives plenty of information to go on—clues, in other words, to help them begin looking for a possible suspect or suspects.

I was laying [ sic ] on my stomach and I looked toward the door of my bedroom and I saw the shadow of a body coming into my room and turning toward me. At that point I saw his image lurching toward me, and his head was covered with what appeared to be some type of black mask or something, and he jumped on top of me.

    Donna mentioned gloves made of a “thick type material . . . not leather or rubber.” As she talked about the more physical moments of the crime,