The son of a woman whose decomposed body was found dismembered in over a dozen garbage bags in a Connecticut home last month has been taken into custody, officials said Friday.
Theodore Lloyd, 27, was arrested for attempted arson after detectives assigned to the case located items inside the home “that would be used to start a fire,” the West Haven Police Department said in a news release.
The investigation began on March 24 when the woman’s older son contacted police to say he hadn’t heard from his mother in several weeks and requested a welfare check at a residence on Nashawina Avenue, West Haven Police Sgt. Scott Allard said at a news conference Friday.
When police arrived on the scene, they discovered the dismembered remains of a victim in multiple garbage bags hidden in a closet.
The body “was in such a state of decomposition that positive identification took some time,” Police Chief Joseph Perno told reporters. Through DNA analysis, the identity of the victim was ultimately determined to be that of 70-year-old Tina Lloyd.
Investigators also said they found “several cutting utensils” and an electric chainsaw at the home.
“A lot of the items were concealed in plastic bags,” said Det. Jeffrey Gabianelli, who led the investigation. Detectives recovered between 25 and 30 bags, he noted. Of those, between 14 and 16 contained body parts.
“There was also evidence that there was an attempted arson at the house,” Perno said.
After an extensive investigation, police identified Lloyd as the suspect in the arson attempt. He was arrested on Monday by Hartford police and then transported to the West Haven Police Department.
Lloyd, who has not been charged in his mother’s death, is being held on $1 million bond. He’s scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Milford on May 27, and may face additional charges as the investigation continues.
Tina Lloyd, also known as Tina Hart, was renting the Nashawena Avenue house, on the city’s West Shore, the New Haven Register reported, citing the suspect’s arrest warrant.
On Feb. 2, her landlord contacted authorities to report that she hadn’t heard from her in about a month, but police couldn’t find her, according to the warrant.
