'The Fight Goes On' For Prison Records Of Man Who Murdered Joyce Stochmal

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

A Monday hearing on whether the family of a teenager brutally murdered in 1984 could receive the killer’s prison records wasn’t completed and will be finished on a later date.

The sister of a teenager who was brutally murdered in 1984 appeared in front of the state’s Freedom of Information Commission on Monday, seeking to get the correctional and disciplinary history of the man convicted of the crime.

Marianne Stochmal Heffernan appeared before the FOI, and hearing officer Valicia Harmon, seeking information on Weinberg, who was recently released from prison after serving 26 years for the killing of Joyce Stochmal.

Joyce Stochmal was 19 when she was murdered and her body dumped into Lake Zoar in Southbury.

Weinberg was represented at Monday’s hearing by New Haven attorney Ken Rosenthal.

Heffernan said this about Monday’s hearing:

“I made a strong argument today that the DOC records of David Weinberg are public documents that I am entitled to access. I presented numerous documents as 'exhibits' to bolster my case, most of which were allowed in. One that was not allowed were the screenshots I took of David Weinberg's Facebook page, which his attorney claims cannot be validated. This is true; Facebook doesn't offer any insight into its accounts, so I cannot "prove" it was him. His attorney also said Weinberg denied that it was him. Unfortunately, Weinberg did not attend the hearing so he could not be sworn in to give that testimony under oath.

“Other than that, we got as far as the testimony of Department of Correction FOI Administrator Craig Washington, the employee who took my request and ultimately denied it, at the direction of the Public Defender's Office. That is as far as we got. Weinberg's attorney and I will have the opportunity to ask DOC questions when we resume. And of course, Weinberg's attorney will be able to ask me questions as well. In the meantime, I have some notes to review and preparation for the resumption of the hearing. No idea when that will be, but hoping it won't take too long.

“Today went well. The biggest thing was the admission by DOC that the records I asked for are in fact, public records that they would typically provide upon request.

Heffernan added: “So the fight goes on but we will win. Stick with me!”

Recently a Waterbury Superior Court judge ordered Weinberg, who was convicted of Joyce Stochmal’s killing, released on time served. The order followed seven years of work by lawyers for the Connecticut Innocence Project, who had discovered problems with the case.

The approval of a “sentence modification” by Waterbury Superior Court Judge Roland D. Fasano allowed Weinberg, 58, to be released after serving 26 years of a 60-year “life sentence” — although credit for good behavior and other time he earned raised the time he is credited with serving to 39 years and 27 days.

The Connecticut Innocence Project got involved in the case in 2010, questioning some of the evidence that it said raised doubts about Weinberg’s guilt. The Innocence Project sought a second trial, but before it was to begin an agreement was reached with Waterbury State’s Attorney Maureen Platt.

The deal was for Weinberg to be allowed out of prison on time served, but that his conviction remained — an important distinction for the Stochmal family.

After Weinberg’s release, which didn’t sit well with the Stochmal family, Marianne Stochmal Heffernan made the request for Weinberg’s prison records.

It was denied by the Connecticut Department of Correction.

Under the terms of the agreement under which he was released, Weinberg waived “any and all claims” with regard to the most recent court proceedings and any challenge “to the validity of his underlying conviction or sentence for murder.”

According to testimony in his trial, Weinberg drove by Joyce Stochmal as she was walking along Route 188 in Seymour to her job at a dog kennel, carrying her purse and a duffel bag holding a makeup case and a change of clothes, including jeans, a T-shirt, and underwear.

Police said he grabbed her and took her to an area beneath Steel Bridge in Newtown, where he stabbed her 17 times and left her body in Lake Zoar, a dammed section of the Housatonic River bordered by Monroe, Newtown, Oxford, and Southbury.

Her body was found three days later by three people out fishing.