A New Britain man who is serving a life sentence for the murder of one Hartford teenager has been convicted in the murder of another.
Pedro Miranda, 57, a registered sex offender, was arrested in 2008 when DNA evidence linked him to the murder of Carmen Lopez, a pregnant 17 year old; as well as Rosa Valentin, 16, and Mayra Cruz, 13, according to police.
Another man spent 20 years in prison for the murder of Carmen Lopez until his name was cleared and he was released after new evidence came to light following the Connecticut Innocence Project bringing new information about the murders to Office of the State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Hartford.
On Thursday, a jury found Miranda guilty in the murder of Cruz, whose body was found in a wooded area of East Windsor on Nov. 8, 1997.
Miranda is already serving a life sentence, plus 100 years, for the murder of Lopez, who was found strangled on Jan. 5, 1988 in an apartment on Nelton Court in Hartford.
He will be sentenced for the murder of Cruz on April 30 and is awaiting trial for charges connected to the murder of Rosa Valentine.
The victims:
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Rosa Valentin, 16, was last seen alive in Miranda’s car on July 26, 1986. Her body has never been found and she is presumed dead, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice.
Mayra Cruz, 13, was reported missing when she did not return home from school in Hartford on Oct. 8, 1987. Her body was found in a wooded area in East Windsor on Nov. 8, 1987.
Carmen Lopez’s relatives last heard from her on Jan. 2, 1988. She was found strangled on Jan. 5, 1988, in an apartment on Nelton Court in Hartford.
Miranda was convicted in the May 29, 1998, sexual assault of a 24-year-old woman in West Hartford and was required to register on the State of Connecticut Sex Offender Registry.
Police questioned Miranda about the crimes in the 1980s, but did not have enough evidence at the time to charge him.
