Windsor Locks Man Pleads Guilty To 2014 Murder In Simsbury

SIMSBURY, CT — William Leverett, a suspect in the 2014 homicide of 54-year-old Simsbury mother Melissa Millan, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single count of murder, court records show.

Leverett was arrested Sept. 23, 2018, nearly four years after the body of Millan, an insurance executive, was found along a jogging and biking trail on Iron Horse Boulevard in Simsbury.

According to an affidavit supporting his arrest, Leverett, a Windsor Locks resident, walked into Simsbury police headquarters on Sept. 19, 2018, accompanied by several members of his church, and confessed to the crime.

Millan, 54, was found stabbed to death shortly after 8 p.m. on Nov. 20, 2014 near a paved pedestrian trail known as "The Greenway." An autopsy revealed she died of a stab wound to the upper left chest area, which penetrated about three and a half inches into her chest cavity, puncturing a lung and a portion of the heart, according to the affidavit.

A reward of $40,000 was offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer, but no witnesses came forward.

According to registry records, Leverett was convicted in Colorado of sexual assault on a child in 2011. He moved to Connecticut that same year.

He told police he had been in Hartford earlier in the day on the evening of the murder at a sex offender's therapy group. He said when he returned home, nobody was there, not even the dog, and he was lonely. He said he wanted to go for a walk along the path near Iron Horse Boulevard in hopes of finding someone to talk with, according to the affidavit.

In an interview with police, Leverett provided details that had not been released during the investigation, including movements of Millan prior to, during and after the attack and a detailed description of her attire, according to the affidavit.

He said he saw Millan on the running path and that he was immediately attracted to her physical features. After she ran past him, Leverett got into his vehicle and drove further down the street with the intention of parking and getting "next to her," according to the affidavit.

He said he only wanted a chance to speak with her, but "something happened" and before he knew it, he had stabbed her in the chest with a knife he was carrying, according to the affidavit.

Leverett told police that when he realized Millan was "way out of my league," he became angry and "went into a frenzy," at which time he decided to attack the woman, according to the affidavit.

Court records indicate Leverett will be sentenced on May 3.