Last Exhumation Of Former Jane Doe, Found Dumped In East Haven In 1975

EAST HAVEN, CT — Thursday, the East Haven Police Investigative Services Division and public works department, along with the East Haven Memorial Funeral Home and the state medical examiner, successfully exhumed Patricia Newsom. Newsom was the victim of the 1975 Jane Doe homicide. Unidentified for 47 years, she was buried in an unmarked grave at Hamden's ancient State Street Cemetery in 1976.

Over the last few years, efforts to locate her unmarked grave and to identify her were met with many challenges, police Capt. Joseph M. Murgo said. But was identified in April after partnering with Identifinders International, who "leveraged the power of DNA to finally give her name back," he said.

Cremation services are being handled by the East Haven Memorial Funeral home at no cost to Patricia’s family, who will be making the trip from Tennessee this weekend to bring Patricia back home and to her final resting place.

"It's closure for us, for the town and importantly, for the family," funeral home owners James Deko and James Integlia told Patch. "We're just trying to do the right thing, but it's a great honor to be able to help. This family suffered a traumatic loss and have been suffering for almost 50 years. We're proud to have been involved so deeply. MaryAnn (Newsom's sister) is like family to us now."

This was the final exhumation of Newsom, long known as Jane Doe. In June 2022, police thought they found where the woman known as Jane Doe was buried for the past 47 years, but a cemetery map proved to be "inaccurate." Read the Patch story here.

But police Captains Joseph M. Murgo and David Emerman refused to give up on the murdered woman. A month later, in July 2022, a second exhumation was done in the 225-year-old, time-worn and abandoned Hamden burial ground. They found her. Read that Patch story here.

Fast-forward nine months. After years of work, in April of 2023, the woman whose body was dumped on the side of the highway was finally named. And her family, who live in Tennessee, came to East Haven for the announcement. Read that Patch story here.

Murgo shared a statement of "thanks."

"We would like to thank all of the investigators from the East Haven Police Department, past and present, for never giving up hope and for continuing to make this case a priority, even after all of these years. We would like to thank Joe Deko and James Integlia from the East Haven Memorial Funeral Home for facilitating the cremation services and the East Haven Public Works Department who joined us for each exhumation. We would like to thank Mayor Joseph Carfora who supported our efforts in locating Patricia in the State Street Cemetery and working with Identifinders International, even after several sets of challenges. We would like to thank Indentifinders International who’s hard work in leveraging the power of DNA allowed us to bring some sense of closure to Patricia’s family. Lastly, we would like to thank the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the New Haven State's Attorney’s office for assisting us throughout this investigation. While this case remains under investigation, these latest developments are a full circle moment for us. We are honored to be able to finally bring Patricia one step closer to her final resting place with other members of her family."