The New London Police Department is charging two men in a fatal shooting outside a downtown bar in 2006.
Deputy Chief Peter Reichard said police formally charged Darius Armadore with murder and conspiracy to commit murder this morning. Armadore made his initial court appearance today and is being held on a $1 million bond. Gerjaun Tyus will be arrested and brought before a judge on Tuesday with an initial bond of $1 million. Both men are 32 and incarcerated on unrelated charges. Armadore made his initial court appearance today while Tyus will appear on Tuesday.
Armadore and Tyus are accused of murdering Todd Thomas, a 30-year-old resident of the Mashantucket Pequot reservation. Thomas was shot several times outside Ernie's Cafe early in the morning of Dec. 23, 2006.
Detective Richard Curcuro, who was assigned to the Chief State Attorney's Office Cold Case Task Force in October of 2011 to pursue the case, presented evidence and testimony before a judge supporting the charges against Armadore and Tyus. The court issued arrest warrants for the men late last week.
Chief State Inspector John Edwards heads the cold case unit, which includes investigators from the police departments Norwich, Groton Town, Groton City, Waterford and Stonington. The Connecticut Department of Corrections and Connecticut division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation also assisted in the case.
"The arrest of Armadore marks the first for the New London Police Department working in conjunction with the Chief State Attorney's Office Cold Case Task Force," said Reichard.
According to state criminal records, Armadore has several assault convictions and was most recently ordered in July of 2011 to serve a year in prison on a burglary charge and six months on an assault charge. Tyus was ordered to serve four years of a 10-year prison sentence on a charge of selling narcotics but had his probation terminated in September after pleading guilty to carrying a dangerous weapon, for which he was sentenced to three years in prison on this charge.
A separate homicide occurred outside Ernie's Cafe less than a year after Thomas' death. Vernell O. Marshall, 23, was shot and killed on June 21, 2007. In that case, police charged then 19-year-old Kurtis Turner with murder and 18-year-old Jonathan Fuller and 23-year-old Curtis McGill of conspiracy to commit murder. Turner was convicted at trial in July of 2009 and sentenced to 60 years in prison, while McGill was acquitted in October of 2008 and the state opted not to prosecute Fuller.
