Date: Fri 12-Feb-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Northrop-intruder-plea

Full Text:

Sentencing Scheduled-- Man Accepts Plea Bargan In Nocturnal Invader Case

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

A Riverside man has accepted a plea bargain agreement with the state which

could put him in prison in connection with a series of nighttime Riverside

burglaries in which he allegedly entered homes late at night with the intent

of massaging children with vegetable oil.

Defendant Kennith J. Northrop, 28, of 86 Alpine Drive pleaded "no contest"

Wednesday in Danbury Superior Court to second-degree burglary for an August 5,

1997 incident; second-degree burglary and fourth-degree sexual assault for a

June 29, 1997 incident; and third-degree criminal trespassing and breach of

the peace for a June 23, 1998 incident, according to court officials.

The state is recommending a prison sentence of 15 years, suspended after three

years, plus five years probation. Northrop is scheduled to be sentenced May 5.

Northrop will undergo a mental health evaluation, an action that might allow

him to serve his sentence at Whiting Forensic Institute, a hospital for the

mentally ill in Middletown, according to court officials.

Northrop's probation would require that he stay away from his victims, that be

tested for AIDS, that he undergo sex offender treatment and that he be

registered as a sex offender.

Assistant State's Attorney Devin Stilson said Thursday the sentence that

Northrop receives will depend on the results of the psychiatric examination, a

pre-sentence investigation, and the comments offered to the judge by the

victims at the time of the sentencing.

Last November, police arrested Northrop on a charge of second-degree burglary

stemming from a June 1997 nighttime intrusion at a Riverside residence,

marking the fourth illegal entry for which he had been charged.

Those illegal entries occurred in the area of Underhill Road, Bankside Trail

and Dock Drive, where the Interstate 84 Rochambeau Bridge crosses the

Housatonic River. No physical injuries resulted from the incidents, police

have said.

The burglary charge lodged last November in the so-called "nocturnal intruder"

case against Northrop stems from the earliest of the four Riverside nighttime

intrusions which occurred on June 21, 1997 at an Underhill Road home.

"(The) investigation determined that an unknown person entered the (Underhill

Road) home during the nighttime hours and removed a six-month-old infant from

its crib and put the infant on a lawn chair on the backyard patio. The unknown

intruder then fled the area," according to the arrest warrant.

Police pressed the second-degree burglary charge against Northrop based on

similarities between the June 21, 1997, crime and similar crimes he allegedly

committed in Riverside on June 30, 1977, and August 5, 1997.

According to the arrest warrant, on June 30, 1997, "An unknown person forced

entry into (a Bankside Trail) house during the nighttime hours and entered the

bedroom of two female youths. The unknown intruder then fled the area."

On August 5, 1997, "An unknown person forced entry into (a second Underhill

Road) residence during the nighttime hours and entered the bedroom of an

infant. The unknown intruder then fled the area," the warrant states.

Town police and state police collected evidence at the three crime scenes.

State police analyzed it at their forensic laboratory.

Dock Drive

On June 23, 1998, at 2:52 am, police responded to a Dock Drive residence after

the homeowner informed them someone had entered a tent in the backyard where

children were camping out.

The homeowner's daughter, 14, and her friend, 13, had been sleeping in the

tent when the friend was awakened by a noise, according to the warrant. The

friend then saw a flash of light and spotted someone who had partially

unzipped the tent door, reached inside the tent and touched the foot of the

homeowner's daughter, according to the warrant.

The homeowner confronted the intruder who was kneeling on a walkway between

the house and garage, about 15 feet from the tent, according to the warrant.

The intruder, who was later identified as Northrop by police, "resisted"

attempts to be restrained...but was detained (by the homeowner) until police

arrived," the warrant states.

Police then charged Northrop with second-degree criminal trespassing and

breach of the peace.

The state police's Western District Major Crime Squad then collected evidence

at the Dock Drive residence.

Evidence from the 1997 incident at the first Underhill Road home was compared

with evidence from the other 1997 incidents at the Bankside Trail home and the

other Underhill Road home, the warrant states.

Also, "Fingerprints of Kennith Northrop (gathered at the Dock Drive residence)

(in June 1998) were identified as those being obtained at the (second

Underhill Road) residence (in August 1997)," according to the court document.

An oily substance found at the Bankside Trail home and the second Underhill

Road home was consistent with an oily substance found on Northrop's body at

the Dock Drive residence, according to the warrant.

That substance was a vegetable-based cooking oil, which Northrop had planned

to use to perform massages on his victims, according to police.

Last September 29, town police, state police and the Federal Bureau of

Investigation went to the Northrop home and charged Northrop in connection

with the Bankside Trail and the second Underhill Road incidents. Police

charged Northrup with one count of second-degree burglary and two counts of

fourth-degree sexual assault in connection with the Bankside Trail incident.

The second Underhill Road incident resulted in one count of second-degree

burglary and one count of fourth-degree sexual assault.

The November 1998 arrest of Northrop in connection with the June 21, 1997,

incident on Underhill Road is based on the facts and circumstances of the

three 1997 nighttime entries, plus facts and descriptions which have been

provided by Northrop, according to the warrant.

"(Police have) reason to believe that only the person involved in the entry of

the (first Underhill Road) residence on June 21, 1997 would know such facts

and circumstances," the warrant states.

The nighttime incidents led police to boost surveillance in the Riverside area

and conduct door-to-door interviews of residents in a lengthy investigation of

the case.

In the summer of 1997, police conducted a neighborhood meeting for area

residents concerned about the nighttime intrusions, and raised the possibility

that residents form a neighborhood crime watch to keep an eye on suspicious

activity.