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Pastimes : Murder Mystery: Who Killed Yale Student Suzanne Jovin? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (1129)	5/1/2003 11:44:09 PM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Respond to of 1397

Re: 5/1/03 - NH Register: Some cases hard to forget, retiring chief says Some cases hard to forget, retiring chief says William Kaempffer, Register Staff May 01, 2003 NEW HAVEN — It’s been seven years since an 82-year-old woman was beaten to death in her Weybosset Street home, but the unsolved murder still sometimes preoccupies Melvin Wearing. Some cases cannot easily be forgotten. "That was a tough case," Wearing said this week. Police believe a burglar is responsible for the crime. "That case stayed with me more than any other." This week, Wearing finished packing his spacious third-floor office at police headquarters — Wednesday was the end of his 34-year career, including more than six years as the city’s top cop. He said he plans to stay in the New Haven area for a while and look at job opportunities. He said he’s not sure whether he’ll ultimately relocate to South Carolina, where he was born. An avid golfer, Wearing is angling to find the time to play enough rounds to shave some shots off his 10 handicap. Sitting in his office this week, Wearing said he’s leaving on his own terms and with no regrets. Although he enjoyed leading the department, he said he especially enjoyed his job as the supervisor of the detective bureau. However, it will be unsolved cases that will intrude on the serenity of retirement, he said. Suzanne Jovin, a Yale senior, was stabbed to death in December 1998 in the affluent East Rock neighborhood. The case made international news —"some cases get more publicity than others," Wearing said — but remains unsolved. Still, it is the murder of Laura Jackowitz — a retiree with a feisty independent streak — that bothers him the most. She was beaten in her house on Weybosset Street in a working-class residential neighborhood just north of Route 80. Authorities believe she may have startled the burglar as he rummaged through her belongings. Investigators found Jackowitz’ television wrapped in a quilt dumped in bushes in a nearby yard "That’s the case that’s going to stay with me," he said. Detectives continue to work the case. The Jovin case, too. Throughout his tenure, Wearing expressed keen optimism that the cases will be solved, although many in the department have less faith. Wearing joined the New Haven department in 1968 on the heels of the race riots that fractured the city. At the time, the city undertook an effort to hire more minority officers, so Wearing joined. In the 1980s, he witnessed the crack epidemic hit urban centers as organized drug gangs drove the murder rate to unprecedented levels. He said he embraced the experiment of community policing in the early 1990s as the department decentralized and tried to foster partnerships with the community. He presided over the department last year when the murder rate dipped under 10, the lowest total in the city since the 1960s. In 1968, Wearing started out making $10,000 a year. As he retired, Wearing was earning nearly $95,000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- William Kaempffer can be reached at wkaempffer@nhregister.com, or at 789-5727. ©New Haven Register 2003 newhavenregister.com