Suzanne Jovin was known to frequent the Daily Caffe, and now police investigating her murder are asking questions about another former customer.
Last month, a New Haven detective contacted at least two former workers from the now-closed coffee shop and showed them pictures of a man who may have known Jovin.
Long-time readers recall how we spent a great deal of time trying to determine where Suzanne Jovin was likely headed on her walk the night she was murdered. We also speculated as to the most likely place she might have been abducted without being seen. Two places came to mind: 1) the part of College St that borders the cemetery, en route to the hockey rick, and 2) the area in front of where the Daily Caffe used to be (because it was boarded up at the time).
Early on, all we knew was that Suzanne was last seen "walking north on College St." We didn't know if she had or had not crossed Elm Street. I had inferred that since the woman that saw her was on her way back from the hockey game (which had not yet ended) that the encounter was somewhere midway between Phelps Gate and the hockey rink (which was a mile down the road on College St). This is why I originally thought Suzanne was abducted near the cemetery en route to the hockey rink.
Later we found out Suzanne was seen prior to crossing Elm St. Then the Courant broke the story about the soda bottle and we determined it could only have been purchased at Krauszer's market on York St, which was directly on Suzanne's route home-- where she had said she was headed all along. Given that Jovin's apartment was about a two minute walk away from Krauszer's, even the simple process of elimination points to the abduction occurring in proximity to the old Daily Caffe.
Once again we have to ask the question, given that the NHPD knew all these details from the start, why in the heck has it taken three years to start asking questions pertaining to the Daily Caffe scenario?! Sigh. Better late than never I guess.
However, given that the Daily Caffe was no longer in operation when Suzanne was killed, I'd say the probability that an ex-customer was responsible is very low, or at least the same as anyone she might have known running into her that night and enticing her into their car/van. Nevertheless, given that abductions are rare, one might reasonably speculate Suzanne was forced into the vehicle and later killed because she could ID one of the assailants. I suppose now that the police have what appears to be the killer's DNA (found in scrapings taken from under Suzanne's fingernails), it doesn't hurt to use the glass slipper approach.
- Jeff |
