Background Check Leads To Murder Charge For Wallingford Native

WALLINGFORD, CT — A former Wallingford man had apparently gotten away with murder for 20 years until a fingerprint as part of a job application linked him to the crime, according to the Meriden Record-Journal.

The Record-Journal reports Todd Barket, a Lyman Hall High School graduate, was recently charged with first-degree murder for the 1998 killing of Sondra Better in Delray Beach, Florida. Better, 68, was found violently stabbed and bludgeoned to death at Lu Shay’s Consignment Shop on South Federal Highway in Florida in August of 1998, according to the Delray Beach Police Department.

Delray Beach Police said the suspect left a bloody, evidence-laden scene behind. Droplets of the killer’s blood led from Better’s body to the cash register drawer and out the front door all the way to the sidewalk outside, according to police. The suspect’s fingerprints were left on a heavy, decorative ball.

The big break in the 20-year-old cold case came when Barket submitted his fingerprints for a background check to the Agency for Healthcare Administration to become a certified nursing assistant, according to Delray Beach Police. The fingerprint came back as a match in the Automated Fingerprint Identification System database.

“Though the killer’s fingerprints and blood samples were entered into national databases, there were no matches until December 2018, when Barket submitted his prints for a background check for a potential employer,” Delray Beach Police wrote in a news release. “The DNA found at the scene also matches Barket’s DNA.”

Barket, 51, of Brandon, Florida, was recently arrested on a warrant. He played quarterback for Lyman Hall’s only state football championship in 1985, according to the Record-Journal.

Read more at the Meriden Record-Journal here.

See also: Wallingford Native Found Guilty Of Murder In Florida Cold Case