Jatin Patel's 12 years under the umbrella of suspicion

Cold Case Unit investigates double homicide

Twelve years later the unsolved brutal double murder of a mother and grown daughter still haunts Windsor, its residents and its police force. Windsor Police Detective Deborah Swanson stated it was one of the most brutal crimes she has investigated in her 23 year career. It is the only unsolved homicide in Windsor in the last 70 years.

For 12 years a cloud of suspicion has hovered over the head of Jatin Patel, the son of Champaben Patel and the older brother of Anita. There were several reasons that caused Windsor Police to look at him as a suspect. There had been ongoing tension between him and the two victims due to their disapproval of Jatin's wife, Seema. At the time of the murders, Jatin was experiencing financial difficulties and had tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt. Most damaging to him was that his alibi during the time of the murder could not be verified by anyone else. However, 12 years later, no arrests have been made.

Shortly after the murders, several letters were sent to area newspapers, the Windsor Police Department and family members of the victims. "DNA came off of one of the letters," Inspector Jim Rovella stated. "We eventually got a match to another crime. This crime was an assault and robbery of a woman in the New Haven area. We're chasing the DNA lead and it's taken us to several cities and towns. The DNA was not from a Patel family member and has not matched any known offender in the state or federal DNA database."


A few years after the murders occurred, Jatin Patel and his family settled in the southeastern part of the country. When reached for comment about the new DNA evidence, Patel was excited. Talking about his situation as a suspect, he made reference to the Jon Benet Ramsey murder case. The Ramsey family had been under a cloud of suspicion soon after the six-year-old beauty queen was found murdered in her Boulder, Colo. home on Dec. 26, 1996. A DNA sample taken from the crime scene 12 years later cleared the murdered girl's parents and brother from being persons of interest in her homicide. "I am glad that a new team is looking at this case with an unbiased point of view and they are looking at this by looking at the evidence and not personal theories or opinions," Patel said. "I hope this helps solve the murders and help my whole family finally get some peace and clear my name from these false accusations."

If you have any information about the double murder of Champaben Patel and Anita Patel call the Cold Case Unit at 860-548-0606 or the unit's tip line at 866-623-8058. You can also e-mail them at cold.case@po.state.ct.us.