In 1991, a movie called “The Silence of the Lambs” came out in cinematic theaters across the world. It featured two terrifying serial killers named “Buffalo Bill” and the psycho psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter. While they would terrorize theatergoers, women across the state of Connecticut were being murdered by one if not several different unknown killers. In April of 1992, a state task force was set up between various Law Enforcement agencies as they looked into a possible connection between the murders of at least 18 women from 1985 to 1991.

There was the two murders of Karen Everett and Mildred Alvarado who were found off the route 8 highway in Harwinton just months apart with much similarities. There was the homicide of Jacqueline Liriano who was last seen alive at a Southington Rest Stop and found dead off of Interstate 84 in the town of Tolland. But the majority of murder affected women from the city of Hartford who were dumped in various towns outside the Capital city.

At one time, there was a strong suspect in some of these cases. A man named Alfred Swinton was arrested for the murder of Carla Terry and was convicted of her death. He was also the prime suspect in several other of the Hartford murders as well. However, Swinton was exonerated decades later for the crime and Terry’s murder remains unsolved. Many of the cases below are featured on this website under the various Connecticut pages and Serial Killer page. It is believed that most if not all these cases still remain open.

Sources: The Hartford Courant April 4, 1992 and the National Registry of Exonerations