Twice-Convicted Killer Charged for Two More Hartford-Related Homicides

HARTFORD, CT — A man already convicted of killing two women in Hartford was arrested on Monday as a result of a cold case investigation, according to the state's criminal justice department.

He was charged with and charged in the slayings of two more women in the capital city over the last 19 years, according to the state's criminal justice department.

Robert White, 56, formerly of Hartford, was arrested as a result of an investigation conducted by the Cold Case Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney in conjunction with the Hartford Police Department, according to the state's criminal justice department.

White was charged with one count each of capital felony and murder in the 1997 slaying of Shiraleen Crawford and one count of murder with special circumstances, felony murder and murder in the 2012 slaying of Sonia Rivera, according to the state's criminal justice department.

White was arraigned Monday in Hartford Superior Court, where bond was set at $1 million in each case and the cases continued until Sept. 26, according to the state's criminal justice department.

White is currently in the custody of the Connecticut Department of Correction serving a 50-year prison sentence for his conviction for murder in the death of Sawarie Krichindath, who was found slain in her Hartford apartment on March 16, 2013.

He was previously convicted in 1980 of manslaughter in the first degree in the beating death of Betty Robertson, also in Hartford.

According to the arrest warrant affidavits, White is a registered sex offender with a "pattern of violence against women, often including violent sexual encounters."

Shiraleen Crawford, 30, was found dead in her apartment on Martin Street in Hartford on August 14, 1997. An autopsy determined she died from blunt trauma to the head and also suffered stab wounds to the head, chest and neck, according to the state's criminal justice department.

Sonia Rivera, 48, was found unresponsive in an alley off Washington Street in Hartford on September 27, 2012. The victim of trauma to her head and face, she died in the hospital on October 3, 2012, according to the state's criminal justice department.

Capital felony and murder with special circumstances are both punishable by a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release, according to the state's criminal justice department. The maximum penalty for murder and felony murder is life in prison, which under Connecticut law is defined as 60 years, according to the state's criminal justice department.

The crime of capital felony is applicable to the homicide of Shiraleen Crawford because the crime occurred prior to the enactment of legislation that repealed that crime and classified such conduct as murder with special circumstances, according to the state's criminal justice department.

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