FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Rocky Hill, CT) – Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin announced that Michael Marion Sharpe was sentenced today by the Honorable Frank M. D'Addabbo, Jr. to 72 years in prison for felony charges related to the kidnappings and sexual assaults of four women in Connecticut dating back to 1984.
Sharpe, age 71, of Marlborough, was convicted on November 2, 2022 of eight counts of Kidnapping in the First Degree following a trial in Hartford Superior Court.
Sharpe’s conviction was the result of an extensive investigation by the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney’s Cold Case Unit that included the use of forensic genetic genealogy.
“Today’s sentencing shows that years of hard work and collaboration among multiple agencies in the pursuit of justice can finally lead to a successful result,” Chief State’s Attorney Griffin said. “The investigators and prosecutors in the Cold Case Unit never give up on these difficult cases and look to the latest advances in forensic science and other technologies to help solve them. Our hope is that this prison sentence brings some measure of peace to the brave women who testified at trial.”
According to trial testimony, Sharpe kidnapped four women and sexually assaulted them in separate incidents in Bloomfield on June 3, 1984, in Middletown on June 26, 1984, in Windsor on July 21, 1984 and in Rocky Hill on July 24, 1984. In addition to sexually assaulting the victims, testimony showed Sharpe brandished a firearm while breaking into and robbing the homes during the commission of the four kidnappings.
After years of not being able to match DNA found at the crime scene with samples in DNA databases, investigators were able to develop Sharpe as a suspect in these crimes using publicly available genealogy information. In November 2020, investigators retrieved Sharpe’s DNA from items found in trash left on the curb at Sharpe’s Marlborough home. The DNA found on those items matched the suspect in the four 1984 sexual assaults. A search and seizure warrant was issued to obtain confirmatory saliva secretions and buccal cell samples from Sharpe. Those samples matched the suspect in the four 1984 sexual assaults.
“For more than three decades, four women wondered whether the man who committed unimaginable crimes against them would ever be brought to justice so it's satisfying to see the system work, even after all these years,” said Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney John F. Fahey, head of the Cold Case Unit, who prosecuted the case with Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Robin Krawczyk. “We are thankful that these four victims finally have some sense of closure. Today's sentencing sends a message to all the victims and families out there that the Division's Cold Case Unit will never stop looking for justice for them, as well."
The Cold Case Unit is grateful for the assistance in this investigation from the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, including the Connecticut State Police and Division of Scientific Services, Bode Technology, the Connecticut Department of Correction and the Hartford, Bloomfield, Rocky Hill, Middletown and Windsor Police Departments. These agencies devoted countless hours toward this investigation. Their use of cutting-edge technology played a major role in identifying the defendant and bringing him to justice.
The Cold Case Unit is comprised of prosecutors and investigators from the Division of Criminal Justice who work closely on cold cases with the Connecticut State Police and municipal police departments. The Cold Case Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney currently includes Inspectors from the Division of Criminal Justice as well as investigators from the Hartford Police Department, Connecticut State Police and Connecticut Department of Correction. For more information about the Unit, visit the Division of Criminal Justice’s website or the Unit’s Facebook page.