Authorities arrest Rhode Island man accused of strangling woman to death in Vermont

GROTON, Conn. (WLNE) — Connecticut authorities on Wednesday arrested a Rhode Island man accused of killing a woman in Vermont earlier this year.

Vermont State Police said 44-year-old Shawn Conlon, of Westerly, was arrested at the Gold Star Inn & Suites in Groton, Connecticut on Wednesday.

The agency identified Conlon as the suspect in the strangulation death of 73-year-old Claudia Voight at her home in Windham, Vermont on Feb. 20.

Investigators at first did not believe Voight’s death was suspicious.

Police said her injuries were found by the medical examiner, who confirmed in April that she had been strangled.

According to the Associated Press, police said Conlon rented a room in Voight’s home and stopped paying rent late last year, but stayed in the home up until her death. A motive for the alleged attack was not released.

Voight was the mother of NBC Connecticut news anchor Heidi Voight.

Heidi wrote “HALLELUJAH” on her Facebook page after learning an arrest was made Wednesday.

Vermont State Police detectives obtained an arrest warrant for a second-degree murder charge on Monday. While initially presumed to be in Rhode Island, authorities tracked Conlon to Connecticut.

Groton police assisted in the arrest and charged Conlon as a fugitive from justice. He was brought to Vermont to face the murder charge.

Westerly Police Chief Paul Gingerella told ABC 6 News on Thursday that Conlon has a history with the police department.

“We’ve been dealing with him since he was a juvenile,” Gingerella said.

Criminal cases against Conlon have included speeding tickets, stolen cars, and being a fugitive from justice.

He said his latest interaction with the department was in August, after someone called the police on Conlon when he was in a heated argument in a parking lot. At that time, Conlon still provided a Westerly address.

Gingerella noted that none of Conlon’s charges in the past were particularly violent or egregious.