Targeted News Service
HARTFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice’s Office of Chief State’s Attorney issued the following news release:
A former member of the Warehouse Point Volunteer Fire Department was arrested today and charged with Arson Murder for allegedly setting a fire that killed an East Windsor couple more than 23 years ago.
PETER WARAKSA, age 48, was arrested by officers from the East Windsor Police Department as a result of an investigation conducted by the East Windsor Police Department in conjunction with the Cold Case Unit of the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney.
Mr. Waraksa, whose last known address was at 52 Prospect Hill Drive, East Windsor, is currently in the custody of the State of Connecticut Department of Correction serving a 5-year sentence for an unrelated offense.
He is charged with two counts of Arson Murder in connection with the deaths of Orie “Harold” Weeks, age 59, and his wife, Assunta Weeks, age 57. The couple was found dead after a fire in their home at 17 Broadview Lane in East Windsor on October 7, 1986. Mr. Waraksa was a member of the Warehouse Point Fire Department at the time of the fire.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is continuing and the arrest warrant has been ordered sealed by the court for 14 days. Mr. Waraksa was arraigned in Superior Court, G.A. No. 13, Enfield, where bond was set at $2 million and the case was continued until August 10, 2010, at Hartford Superior Court.
The penalty for Arson Murder is a sentence of life imprisonment without eligibility for parole.
The Cold Case Unit was established in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney in 1998 to focus special investigative efforts on crimes that have gone “cold,” that is, unsolved for a prolonged period of time.
The unit includes investigators from the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney, State of Connecticut Department of Correction, East Windsor Police Department and the Hartford Police Department. A second unit was established in October 2009 in Southeastern Connecticut.
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