The Deck - Christine Tortoro (6 of Clubs, Connecticut)

Episode Date: July 5, 2023

Our card this week is Christine Tortoro, the 6 of Clubs from Connecticut. In 1988, 21-year-old Christine was found murdered in Hartford, Connecticut. Almost immediately, rumors started swirling about who could be responsible for her death. But most rumors always have a source — and if you look hard enough, sometimes, you can find a thread of truth. Follow that thread, and you might find the killer.If you have any information on the location of Samantha or about the murder of Christine Tortoro in the early morning hours of August 26th, 1988, please call the Connecticut Cold Case Tip Line at 1-866-623-8058, or you can email tips to [e-mail]. You could be eligible for a $20,000 reward. To learn more about The Deck, visit www.thedeckpodcast.com. To apply for the Cold Case Playing Cards grant through Season of Justice, visit www.seasonofjustice.org Let us deal you in… follow The Deck on social media.Instagram: @thedeckpodcast | @audiochuckTwitter: @thedeckpodcast_ | @audiochuckFacebook: /TheDeckPodcast | /audiochuckllcThe Deck is hosted by Ashley Flowers. Instagram: @ashleyflowersTikTok: @ashleyflowerscrimejunkieTwitter: @Ash_FlowersFacebook: /AshleyFlowers.AFText Ashley at [phone] to talk all things true crime, get behind the scenes updates, and more!

Our card this week is Christine Tortoro, the six of clubs from Connecticut. In 1988, 21-year-old Christine was found murdered in Hartford, Connecticut. Almost immediately, rumors started swirling about who could be responsible for her death. But most rumors always have a source, and if you look hard enough, sometimes you can find a threat of truth. Follow that thread, and you might find the killer. I'm Ashley Flowers, and this is The Death. The sun had barely risen on a warm August day in Hartford, and a man had a bit of a break between dropping off his wife at work and going into work himself, so he picked up a donut and some coffee

and drove to the gorgeous Riverside Park to enjoy his Friday morning along the banks of the Connecticut River. But as he got out of his car and walked to the water's edge, his breath caught in his chest when he saw what looked like a figure washed up on the cement boat launch. The closer he got, the more certain he was that it was the lifeless body of a woman. The man remembered seeing a police sergeant at the entrance to the park when he came in, so he immediately turned around and got him for help. The sergeant followed the man back to the boat launch, where he took in the sight of a nude woman covered in vegetation, and then he quickly called for backup. Detective Drew Jacobson, with Hartford Police, wasn't one of the

responding officers, but he had their initial reports to reference when he met with our team. Right away, officers saw that she had some bruises on her neck and some pretty good lacerations on her hand. In the cuts on her hand, appeared to be defensively as if she was putting her hands up and somebody maybe had an edged weapon and she was trying to fight them off, kind of, where some of the cuts were like between her thumbs and her first fingers. Investigators collected everything strewn about at the scene.

A bra, panties, brown sandals, jeans, a tank top, a sweater, beer cans, a bottle, and two bloodstained napkins. But what wasn't around the body was a purse or wallet or any kind of identification. So they checked the pants pockets to see if maybe there was some form of idea in there. And they didn't get that lucky, but what they did find was somewhat promising. They actually found a piece of paper and there was a telephone number on there. The name Tony and Ellie, Mom's neighbors, was written on there. Investigators called the number, hoping that maybe the mysterious Tony or Ellie could help

them identify the victim. But whoever picked up said that they didn't know a Tony, or an Ellie, which was a disappointing dead end. So without knowing the victim's identity, police continued combing through the crime scene. Word began to spread around town that a woman's body was found at Riverside Park and that's when the tips began trickling in,

one of which detectives found particularly interesting. Someone said that they were at Riverside Park early that morning, like around 5.30, when they saw a suspicious looking blue pickup truck with a sliding rear window, and inside the truck were two women and a man. Now even if those three people weren't involved in the woman's murder, maybe they'd seen something helpful. So the police put out a press release asking the public to keep an eye out for a vehicle that matched that description. But a blue pickup truck with a sliding back window,

I mean, that's just about the least descriptive description possible. So they weren't exactly banking on this to break the case. But maybe the autopsy would. When that was performed, they at least got a name. Through fingerprinting, she was ID'd as 21-year-old Christine Tortoro. The medical examiner ruled her cause of death to be asphyxia by strangulation, and he made note of defensive wounds on her body.

Here's Jacobson reading from the autopsy report. There is an incised wound of the webbing between the left and first and second fingers, and on the lower aspect of the second and third fingers. So that's defensive. I'm sure this next part was somewhat surprising since she was found nude, but the ME found that there was no sperm present, nor were there any signs of sexual assault. From there, once they identified who the victim is and where she resided and anybody else who may have known her,

they're gonna start to question family and friends about her timeline. Where was she last? Where did you see her last? What did she do? Who are you involved with? What? The romantic relationship are you involved in.

So that's how, in speaking to the victim's family, they said, well, hey, this guy actually stays there some time in her apartment. Investigators pride a bit further and learn that this guy, who we'll call Anthony, was a married man who Christine had been seeing for more than a year. And it was rumored that she had been in the process of ending things with him. With murder victims that are women, you always look for romantic relationships or sexual relationships and then try to assess whether there's a potential for violence or any kind of issues in that.

With that, Anthony rose to the top of their suspect list, not only because he seemed to have motive, but also because this guy was no stranger to law enforcement. He had a pretty lengthy criminal record for assault, narcotics, probation violations, and he was known to associate with gang members. Before tracking down Anthony, though, police wanted to search Christine's apartment, which was in New Britain, a southwestern suburb of Hartford. And it was then that they discovered a note confirming the rumors that they were hearing. It was a letter written by Christine to Anthony dated three days before her body was discovered. Here is a voice actor reading parts of what Christine wrote.

was discovered. Here is a voice actor reading parts of what Christine wrote. You only come here when you have no one else, and I'm tired of it. I'm always there when you need me, but that isn't enough for you. I want you out of my life, once and for all. I should have listened to everyone when they said not to let you come back here. All you're doing is making me hate you. I don't want you anymore. I'm tired of walking on eggshells around you. I've grown very tired of you. I don't care about you anymore.

Nor do I love you. I don't care what happens to you or where you go. All I wanted was a normal life. And you can't give that to me. I want to find someone new that will hold me, be there when I need him. Care for me, want me, and love me. I won't stop looking until I find him. You're not that man.

Let's just say our goodbyes for the last time we've got to stop playing this game. You thought you could do anything you wanted because I loved you. Not true. Again, you've pushed me you wanted because I loved you. Not true. Again, you've pushed me too far. Thanks for nothing. I loved you. Sorry, it had to end this way. Christine.

Now, because this note was found in her apartment, that likely means that it never made it into the hands of Anthony. But the letter supported the rumor that she had been seeing Anthony and was actively in the process of breaking up with him. So three days after Christine's body was found, police finally sat down with him for an interview. In this interview, Anthony confirmed that he was, in fact, married, and that he'd been seeing Christine on the side for about a year and a half. Though he said that they had just split up because Christine had come clean to his wife about the affair.

He was telling the investigators that he has not seen Christine since August 19th. affair. to play cards and he was there until 1 a.m. and then he went upstairs to the apartment and tried to get his daughter to sleep until 3. In an effort to confirm his alibi, police spoke with a woman who will call Samantha. She was the neighbor that they were supposedly playing cards with. And just as a little FYI, this isn't like a big multi-tenant apartment complex. Anthony and his wife and Samantha and her boyfriend all lived in a multifamily home. It was like a house that had been converted into an upstairs apartment and a downstairs apartment.

So, Anthony and his wife lived in the upstairs unit and Samantha and her boyfriend lived downstairs. So, police asked Samantha the basic questions, like what she knew about Christine if she could vouch for Anthony that night, etc. Her story closely mirrored Anthony's. She told police that she and her boyfriend, who will call Alex, were with Anthony and his wife Sarah.

They were all hanging out that night, and they began playing cards at around 10 pm. Around midnight, Sarah said that she felt sick and she went upstairs to her apartment, but Samantha, Anthony, and Alex remained downstairs. At some point, some friends of theirs had come over to join their card game, and she said that between the hours of 10pm and 4am, Anthony wasn't out of sight for more than maybe 15 minutes at a time, but he did keep going upstairs. She assumed to check on his sick wife. But there was this weird thing.

Samantha mentioned that at one point, Anthony asked her for some soap to clean his kitchen floor, and that she thought he had washed the floor twice that night, but she didn't know what to make of it, nor did investigators then. They asked Samantha if she knew the victim at all, and she did. She gives a story that she had known Christine the victim for a few years, that she never associated with Christine just newer.

This she was familiar with the victim because they frequented the Cardinal Cafe. The last time she saw the victim was a week ago at the Cardinal Cafe. No who else knew the victim? Anthony's wife. According to Samantha, Sarah and Christine were best friends for a long time. Christine would often babysit for Anthony and Sarah's kids. But all that stopped about a year prior when Sarah learned Christine and Anthony were having an affair. So, according to Samantha at least, the affair had been somewhat public knowledge

for quite some time. Now, in Samantha's statement to police, she didn't specifically mention anything about Sarah being super pissed about the affair or making any threats to Christine, just that she ended their friendship after finding out. But of course, I have to imagine Sarah was probably beyond furious, and the tension between her and Christine was high after it came to light.

Anyway, another piece of information that came from that interview backed up that tip that they had gotten earlier. She heard rumors from unknown persons that the victim was seen getting into a blue pickup truck. Now the question was, who had a blue pickup truck? Well, no one so far. But Samantha mentioned that her boyfriend Alex drove a maroon ford pickup truck. So maybe if it's dark outside, maroon could possibly maybe be mistaken for blue, maybe? And it must have been too much of a maybe for detectives because they didn't go and search Alex's truck after Samantha's interview.

I don't know if they asked and he said no, maybe there wasn't enough probable cause to get some kind of warrant, or maybe it was just all trick clear for some reason I'm not aware of this wasn't the car. Who knows. But as the days passed by, police continued talking with various people. And my sources aren't super clear on this either, but I assume that two of those people that they interviewed were Alex, Samantha's boyfriend and Sarah, Anthony's wife. But it's not well documented. So I don't know what was or wasn't learned during those conversations, but I'd assume nothing earth-shattering. Anyway, in the midst of tracking down and interviewing people, police stumbled upon a potential

piece of evidence. Christine's 10-speed bicycle. down in interviewing people police stumbled upon a potential piece of evidence. Christine's 10-speed bicycle. Well, it wasn't her bike, it was a friend, but Christine had been using it recently, and officers located it at Goodwin Park in South Hartford. Which is literally right across the street from Anthony's home, which is just one more reason for police to be suspicious of him. And then they got another reason.

A couple of days later, a man named William called in, and he said that he was actually with Christine just hours before her body was found. It was the middle of the night, like maybe 1130, 1230, and he said that he was drinking at a bar on the south side when he stepped outside to a phone booth to call his girlfriend. As William was hanging up, he heard a woman's voice call out to him from across the way. It was Christine, and she was riding her bicycle in his direction. William and Christine had been friends for years, so Christine stopped to chat, and when William said that he was going to walk home, Christine followed him, chatting with him for the entire mile and a half walk.

And their whole conversation revolved around Christine's relationship with Anthony. William said that he was well aware of Anthony and Christine's relationship, even before this, because she seemed, quote unquote, consumed by the entire situation. Mostly, he said, she quote, couldn't believe that he didn't want to be with her, end quote. So they talked and walked and talked some more. Nothing new, just more of the same. Then, when they arrived at William's apartment,

the two parted ways and William said Christine hopped on her bike and rode off. Now, William's place is like a 10 minute bike ride away from Anthony's. So where did she go after? We don't know. All we know is that somehow her bike ends up right across the street from Anthony's house.

It all feels a bit damning, but it could all just be coincidence. Police needed more. It would take months, but in May, they finally got the more that they were looking for. That's when Anthony's downstairs neighbor, Alex, came forward and gave a bombshell of a statement to police. Here's a voice actor reading from the written statement. We've shortened it for time and clarity and we've changed the names to reflect the pseudonyms that we're using. On August 25, 1988, when I got into the apartment,

Samantha, Sarah, and Anthony were there. We decided to get a game going and settled on playing cards. Sarah held her stomach and said she was sick and went upstairs. Sometime after the bar's closed, probably around 1.30 a.m., friends from the ring side. Tim and Kendra came over. Anthony made about three trips upstairs. One time asking for soap and a demanding voice. After that, Anthony started to act nervous and worried, pacing around the apartment.

Samantha and Kendra also disappeared and then I heard noises from the upstairs kitchen like clinging metal and a dragging sound like something heavy being moved. It was a sound I'd never heard before and after about a half hour Anthony came down alone and still was acting nervous. After that he took off and the three were gone for as long as an hour or more. My girlfriend Samantha told me a lot of things to tell the police. She said that the detectives are looking for you to question you about Anthony about what happened on Thursday night. Make sure you tell them Anthony was here all night.

He only left for 15 minute periods. He asked for soap. He was cleaning the kitchen because Sarah was sick. She emphasized and repeated. Anthony was only gone for 15 minutes. So what really happened in that upstairs apartment that night? Alex swore he didn't know, but he was sure Anthony hadn't told them the whole truth. So for detectives, it was back to Anthony they went.

This time asking for an interview and a polygraph. The investigator said, hey, would you come take a polygraph in June? And he right away refused and he never took the polygraph. Without him talking, investigators felt like they were stuck. Even with all of the evidence, Christine's bike being found across the street from Anthony's, the fact that she was breaking up with him, how she was obsessing about their relationship in the hours leading up to her death, even Alex's statement to police. Even with all of that, no one was saying they had proof of anything incriminating.

And for some reason, police at the time didn't get a search warrant for Anthony's place. Like in my mind, if you needed soap to clean up a mess like Alex claimed he did, it sounds like there might have been something for police to discover in his apartment. So why not at least give it a shot? Maybe they felt like they didn't have enough probable cause? I don't know. Or maybe it was because something entirely unrelated to Anthony happened to Christine. Or at least, that's what they had to consider.

You see, if you've been paying attention to past episodes, you'll remember that by the time the 90s rolled around, police and Connecticut joined forces and created the Connecticut homicide task force to look into a possible serial killer, or at least any possible connection between the murders of 18 young women from all over the state that spanned from 1985 to 1991. According to the Hartford Current, the women ranged in age from 15 to 33, and how they were murdered varied greatly. Some were strangled, others stabbed, three shot, and one bludgeoned. The thing that connected most of them was that almost all of the women were convicted or

suspected sex workers. Now as far as I know, Christine was never suspected of or convicted of sex work, and I'm honestly not entirely sure why or how she made the list, maybe just being in the same age bracket and same time span was enough. Either way, she made the list and the task force followed this thread well into the 90s. But things fizzled, and Christine's case went back to sitting on a shelf, just collecting dust. And that's where things stayed for a long time.

Until Christine's mom got tired of waiting around for something to happen, and she made things happen. In the summer of 2013, she reached out to investigators and pleaded with them to reopen the investigation that they had once upon a time made so much progress on. And they agreed. They dove headfirst back into Christine's case and started trying to re-interview people. One of the highest on their list was Samantha, who, according to Alex's 1989 statement

to police, was up in Anthony's apartment the night that Christine was killed. But when police tried to track her down to talk, they learned that she had heard about them re-investigating. I guess when she found out she's on the run and they think that she's in Sweden or Denmark with family. They wanted to go lock on to her and they tracked her flight and she went to Sweden or Denmark. Where exactly in Sweden or Denmark she went, police didn't know. So even if they hopped on a plane and went there, it would have done them no good. So they continued down their list. Next up, Alex, who so far had really given them the most helpful information out of anyone.

In 2015, police sat down with him for another formal interview. But his story had changed a bit. Which, I mean, this was like 26 years later, so that's to be expected to some extent. But this was a pretty big change. And, it only made his account of the night more incriminating against Anthony. Here's a voice actor reading part of his statement. I returned to my home at approximately one I am. I went into my house.

I am not sure how Samantha became aware of it, but Samantha told me that a female just went upstairs to Anthony's apartment on the second floor. Samantha told me that the female should not be at the apartment with Anthony and his wife. Samantha was gone, maybe 15 or 20 minutes, and then returned to our apartment. Shortly after Samantha returned, I began to hear noises like someone is fighting an Anthony's apartment. Samantha and I run upstairs to Anthony's apartment and Samantha opened the back door and walked into the apartment.

I remained in the doorway. I saw a white female with dark hair on the kitchen floor lying on her side. I saw a little bit of blood by her head and I am not sure if she was breathing. Anthony put his finger up to his lips, telling me to be quiet. Samantha told me to go downstairs. It was just an accident and they would take care of everything. I left the apartment because I was scared that something was going to happen to me. About 15 to 20 minutes later, Samantha came back to our apartment, told me everything will be okay,

and took the keys to my pickup truck and left the apartment. Samantha was gone for about one hour. When Samantha returned, she told me that she had to do a favor for a friend. About 15 minutes later, Anthony's girlfriend came into my apartment, asking Samantha for something strong to clean up a mess in her apartment. In November of 1988, I was approached

by Anthony and he told me to keep my mouth shut, where I will have a big problem with him. I know that Anthony is a gang member and he will hurt me if I tell the police any information about the murder. This was the exact kind of information investigators had been looking for, because assuming Alex was telling the truth, there's no rational way, it could be explained away by coincidence. He saw a female matching Christine's appearance on Anthony and Sarah's kitchen floor just hours before Christine's body was found. And moreover, he mentioned them taking his truck, which very likely could have been this suspicious truck

that the witness saw back in 88 that had two women and a man inside. At this point, you're probably thinking exactly what I was thinking. They immediately re-interview Anthony and confront him with this information, right? Well, of course, it couldn't be that easy. Please, God, that official statement from Alex on October 29, 2015, and on October 31, 2015, Anthony died. But the case wasn't over yet, because there was still someone else that police could

talk to who would likely have direct knowledge of the murder. Anthony's wife, Sarah, police tracked her down and she actually agreed to speak with them. It wasn't a recorded interview or an official statement, it was more of a conversation. Our reporting team actually spoke with one of the detectives who talked with her, Michael Hezleton, and he described Sarah as being distant, like she was trying to distance herself from whatever happened on August 26, 1988. And he said that she was saying a lot of things that really didn't add up. Now, he didn't want to get into what those things were, but he said that he'd be interested

in revisiting the conversation with her, maybe even doing a polygraph. Detective Jacobson echoed what Hazelton said about trying to talk to Sarah again. And he says he's got a few other things that he wants to do to move this case along, like trying once again to track down Samantha. I mean, it's been 35 years, and he's hoping that that's long enough for someone to get tired of sitting with a secret. They don't know if Samantha is back in the US or still living out of the country, but the beauty of podcasts are that wherever she is, she might be hearing this.

And if you are, please want to talk to you. And if there is anyone else out there who knows anything about the murder of Christine Tortoro in the early morning hours of August 26, 1988, please call the Connecticut Cold Case Tip Line at 1-866-623-8058 or you can email tips to cold.case at CT.gov. You could be eligible for a $20,000 reward. The Deck is an audio chuck production with theme music by Ryan Lewis. To learn more about the Deck and our advocacy work, visit thedeckpodcast.com. So what do you think Chuck?

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