April 3, 1917 - Murder May Have been Committed

Here is the article that came out in the newspaper the day after the crime, from the post yesterday, was committed. They certainly worked fast to get this done. I have done a little searching and found part of a follow up article about the case. The article was from 1925 which shows that there were not very many murders in Shelton in those days.

MURDER MAY HAVE BEEN COMMITTED

Charred body of William B. Normanvin Found in ruins of

Small Shack

Eugene Gagoin, a discharged employee, held under $5,000 Bonds on charge of arson—Body was terribly burn­ed — was Ill-feeling among the Men.

The horribly burned body of William Broad Normanvin, a sawyer, was found in the smoldering ruins of a shack, near a woodcutting camp, on the farm of Walter Wheeler in lower White Hills, early Sunday evening. The body was in terrible condition when found, the arms and legs having been burned completely off, while the trunk and head were badly charred and burned, the condition of the body being such that it was impossible to tell whether the fire or previous wounds caused the
victim's death. Because of the cir­cumstances surrounding the affair, Eugene Gagoin, who until Thursday was an engineer at the camp and had been discharged, was taken into cus­tody by the police late last night. He is charged with having burned an­other shanty near the camp and is held under $5,000 bail as the police are inclined to the belief that they have evidence which will connect Gagoin with the crime.
Ill feeling apparent.
Both Normanvin and Gagoin work­ed for Allen Doolittle of Guilford, a woodcutting contractor, who is doing work for James E. Fair on the Wheeler farm. There are several others employed there and it is said that there has been more or less trouble and ill-feeling among the men. Both Normanvin and Gagoin were in the employ of Doolittle for six or seven years and are said to have not been very friendly. The ill will among the men resulted in hav­ing several small shacks erected for them, thus separating them when they were not working. On Thursday last, according to Mr. Doolittle's story, he discharged Gagoin and the latter took his belongings and left the camp. Mr. Doolittle said that he had more or less trouble with the man, who, he said, had threatened harm to Normanvin, and was no longer able to put up with his impu­dence. He seemed to fear discharg­ing the man, as he said, he thought he might do some harm to him. When Gagoin left the camp on Thursday, Doolittle did not see him again. The latter went to New Ha­ven on Saturday and did not return to the camp until early last night, after the body had been found.
From the stories current and from what was told the police it appears as though Gagoin returned to the camp either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. It was in the early hours of the morning, it is said, when one of the shanties was burned down and it happened to be the one that Gagoin had occupied when he worked for Doolittle. It is for the burning of this building that the po­lice hold Gagoin. The latter is said to have remained in the camp dur­ing the day and was not interfered with by the other workmen, some of whom remained in their respective shacks or had left the camp on Saturday.
At the cabin
A man named Royal Cutts, who lives near the camp, and whose house is situated directly opposite to the shack in which Normanvin lived, claims to have seen Gagoin as late as 4:30 o'clock on Sunday afternoon. He told this morning that Gagoin visited his place at that hour and purchased some eggs, which he said he was going to take to Normanvin shack to fry. It is said that Cutts asked him where Normanvin was and that Gagoin re­plied he was in the shack and was drunk. To Cutts it appeared as though Gagoin was under the influence of liquor also.
It was a short time later when Cutts and other people in the neighborhood noticed the shack on fire and it was about 6 o'clock when the body was lo­cated among the ruins. Although burned beyond recognition the other workmen found no difficulty in identi­fying the body as being that of Normanvin. When it was located word was sent to the local police and Chief of Police W. P. Robbins, Lieut. E. I. Barnes and officer Ernest Nettleton secured an auto and were driven to the place which is about three miles from the center of the city. The police had been notified previously of the burning of the other shack and the information of the finding of the body made them believe from the beginning that Normanvin had met with foul play. Medical Examiner Lewis of Milford, was called and examined the body ordering its removal.
Arrested in derby.
After the blaze, Gagoin seems to have disappeared entirely although the police believe that it was he whom they passed while going to White Hills. They had not a description of the man at the time but upon arriving there and getting a description of him they concluded that they had passed him on the road. The man was later seen heading for Ansonia and Seymour and upon returning from White Hills, Lieut. Barnes and A. H. Beattie, started in pursuit of him they had reached the East Derby transfer point and Lieut. Barnes was talking with a policeman there asking if he had seen anyone answering the description pass there, when Mr. Beattie happened to look through the window of the trolley station and saw Gagoin sitting there asleep. He was brought back to Shelton and examined by the police and detained on the arson charge, bail being fixed at $5,000.
The police say that Gagoin when questioned denied all knowledge of the crime and said that he had returned to the camp to spend the day.
This morning Coroner Phalen and medical examiner Fitzgerald, both of Bridgeport, came to this city to invest­igate the death. Coroner Phalen did not remain, but returned to Bridgeport, while medical examiner Fitzgerald conducted an autopsy on the body in the undertaking parlors of C. E. Lewis and Son, and afterwards stated that he had nothing definite to give out but that the coroner was in­vestigating the case. Prosecuting At­torney J. G. Shapiro spent a good por­tion of the morning in examining the witnesses and those who knew some­thing about the case.
William Broad Normanvin was forty years old and a native of Montreal, Canada. He was single and worked for Mr. Doolittle about six years.

December 5, 1925 The Bridgeport Telegram

The last murder in Shelton was committed in the spring of 1917, when Eugene Gagoin killed a fellow worker, William Broad Normanvin, in a White Hills lumber camp. The two men had some difficulties and early one night the shed occupied by Normanvin was burned. In the ruins his body was found and investigation showed that the bed where he lay was saturated with oil. The presumption was that he was killed in his sleep and that his slayer had set fire to the shed to hide the crime. Gagoin was arrested a few hours later as he was about to take a trolley car at the East Derby junction. His case was heard in the local court on June 4 and in the following session of the Superior court he was sentenced to prison for 13 years. Is Serving Term. At present, he has served about half his term and with time off for good behavior will probably be released in about three years. It is a coincidence that Gagoin occupies a cell at Wethersfield very close to the one where Gerald Chapman has been confined awaiting the disposition of his case.

The next letter is April 5