The trial of a New Britain man accused of killing three teenage girls in the 1980s started on Tuesday.
Pedro Miranda, 53, a registered sex offender, was arrested in 2008 when DNA evidence linked him to the murder of Carmen Lopez, a pregnant 17 year old; and two other girls in Connecticut.
Lopez was found strangled with an electrical cord on Jan. 5, 1988 in an apartment on Nelton Court in Hartford. She was bound, gagged, sexually assaulted and left hanging from the couch in a Hartford apartment, prosecutors said.
When the prosecutor showed crime scene photos, Lopez's family members began to cry.
There was no forced entry, a detective said on Tuesday. The killer had a key or Lopez let the person in.
As the investigation began, about 20 people were in and out of the apartment that night and they were not wearing booties or gloves, the detective said.
Lopez's boyfriend, Miguel Roman, was arrested near the crime scene and convicted of her murder. He was believed to be the unborn baby's father and officials thought that was the motive for the crime. He was sentenced to serve 60 years.
Local
Then, the Innocence Project took on the case and brought new information to the Office of the State's Attorney, which eventually cleared Roman.
DNA linked Miranda instead to Lopez's death, as well as the slayings of Rosa Valentin, 16, and Mayra Cruz, 13.
Roman was released from prison, 20 years after being convicted. He was granted a new trial and the charges were dropped.
The victims:
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. He is being tried first on the Lopez murder. Police questioned Miranda about the crimes in the 1980s, but did not have enough evidence at the time to charge him.
