A caregiver from Danbury who was arrested by Newtown police after an investigation into alleged thefts from a Sandy Hook client was sentenced September 16 to 15 years in jail, suspended after six years, and five additional years of probation.

The arrest occurred on April 15, 2013.

According to the original Newtown Bee report on the case, Wanda Nunez turned herself in after learning that police held a warrant for her arrest.

Nunez, then 27, was charged with one count of first-degree larceny in connection with her allegedly having stolen approximately $100,000 worth of valuable items while she formerly worked as a hired caregiver for an elderly Sandy Hook woman, police said.

First-degree larceny is a Class B felony.

Police at the time said an investigation was initiated after receiving a complaint from the Sandy Hook victim’s daughter, who told them that some valuable items were missing from the elderly woman’s home. 

The valuable items, which Nunez was found to have gradually stolen while working for several months as a certified nursing assistant caregiver, included antiques such as silverware, vases, and jewelry, including watches, charms, and a brooch, police said. Some loose change also was stolen, police said.

Nunez was employed by the Sandy Hook resident from November 2011 until February 19, 2013. The resident died in September 2013. Her family continued with the suit through William W. Boughton III, who had been appointed executor of the late woman's estate.

The complaint, filed May 22, 2014, indicated that Nunez, who was employed by Connecticut Caregiver Connection, Inc., was not competent to serve in the capacity of a CNA because she "had a propensity for and/or history of larceny, which the defendant ... knew or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known." The complaint also charged that CT Caregivers failed to notify the plaintiff's decedent of the limitations of insurance, or bonding, on its agent.

Many of the items stolen from the Sandy Hook residence, according to the complaint, were family heirlooms, many of which were irreplaceable.

Police were able to recover some of the stolen items, however, the recovered items represent about a quarter of the dollar value of everything that was stolen, police said.

According to the State Judicial website, Nunez was also arrested by Bethel Police on September 3 of 2013, and eventually pled guilty to a similar charge. She was also sentenced on the Bethel case September 16.

The Bethel investigation stemmed from a complaint police reportedly received on June 1, 2012.