Incest, Double Murder In Connecticut Tied To Baby's Murder In NC

RALEIGH, NC — Four people are dead in three separate states in what police are saying is all connected to the death of an infant in Knightdale, North Carolina. The baby was born as a result of an incest relationship between Steven Pladl, 43, and his biological daughter, Katie Pladl, 20, according to police and news reports.

Steven Pladl’s mother, who had custody of the infant named Bennett, told police her son picked the child up from her house Wednesday evening. She called 911 to ask officers to check on the baby at a home in Knightdale, the town’s police chief Lawrence Capps told reporters Thursday.

Officers found the baby’s body in the home, which was unoccupied. Police now believe Steven Pladl drove through the night to Connecticut, where he is suspected of killing Katie Pladl and her adoptive father, Anthony Fusco, 56, Thursday, police said.

Katie and her adoptive father were found dead in a pickup truck on Route 7 at Route 55 in New Milford, Connecticut, around 8:40 a.m., State Police said.

Later on Thursday morning, Steven Pladl was found dead inside of his minivan in Dutchess County, New York, the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. Steven Pladl and Katie Pladl were facing incest charges in North Carolina, according to media reports.

Once police in Connecticut discovered the bodies of Katie Pladl and her adoptive father, they put out a notice to area police agencies to be on the lookout for the suspect's vehicle described as a light blue minivan with North Carolina registration. The suspect's vehicle was spotted by a Dutchess County Probation Department officer in the town of Dover, police said.

Police from the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office, New York State Police, New Milford Police Department, and Connecticut State Police converged on the vehicle found parked with the engine running on the shoulder of the roadway next to the Ten Mile River, police said. Steven Pladl, 45, was found dead in the van from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

New Milford Police Lt. Lawrence Ash, said via the Hartford Courant that, "We believe there is a nexus between the suspect here and the homicide of a child in Knightsdale, North Carolina."

Both father and daughter were arrested on incest charges after investigators said they had a child together, born in September 2017. That child was also found dead Thursday in the Knightdale home where the Pladls used to live, police said.

Katie Pladl was born in January 1998 to Steven Pladl and her mother and then legally adopted out of state. When Katie Pladl turned 18, she used social media to contact her biological parents, according to warrants. Steven Pladl eventually left his wife to be with Katie, warrants say.

Officials are continuing their investigation of the incident.

Patch Editor Rich Kirby contributed.

Photos courtesy of the Raleigh/ Wake City-County Bureau of Identification