Saturday, July 23, 1994
Page:E16 Section:CONNECTICUT Edition: STATEWIDE Type:
Illustration: Source:MATTHEW KAUFFMAN; Courant Staff Writer
MAN GIVEN 32-YEAR PRISON TERM FOR KILLING TRANSSEXUAL
FRIEND
Thomas Saltonstall, who admitted killing a transsexual
friend and hiding the body in the trunk of a car, was sentenced Friday
to 32 years in prison.
Saltonstall's attorney said tabloid television shows had
a ``field day'' with the story because the victim, Christiaan D'Arcy,
was taking male sex hormones and had undergone surgery to change her
sex.
But despite the sensational facts, the case ended like
many other murder prosecutions: with a contrite, red-eyed defendant and
benches filled with teary-eyed relatives.
D'Arcy, 40, was strangled in January 1993 during a fight
with Saltonstall, who was then 20.
Saltonstall maintains the killing was accidental, that
he blacked out and awoke to find D'Arcy dead. Panicked, Saltonstall
wrapped the body in rugs, bedding and a shower curtain. He tied the
bundle with rope and hefted it into the trunk of his car.
The body stayed there four days. But on Jan. 23, 1993,
the car's engine caught fire as Saltonstall was driving on I-84 in
Hartford. He left the car on an exit ramp and ran. As police
investigated the case, they learned that Saltonstall, the son of
well-to-do schoolteachers, had also committed two armed robberies. Judge
Carmen Espinosa included those crimes in sentencing Saltonstall Friday.
In Hartford Superior Court, family members struggled to
explain Saltonstall's sudden, brief streak of violence. His wife of
three years, Rita Saltonstall, said she believed the robberies were
motivated by financial desperation.
She said she has been unable to understand Saltonstall's
involvement with D'Arcy, and even as the case ended Friday, the
relationship between the two was a mystery.
D'Arcy and Saltonstall met at a beauty school, where
they were studying cosmetology.
State's Attorney James E. Thomas had asked for a 40-year
prison sentence, but when Saltonstall pleaded guilty in June, Espinosa
indicated she would impose no more than 32 years. In court Friday,
Thomas urged Espinosa not to go any lower than 32 years.
D'Arcy's mother, Eleanor Ford, did not talk about the
prison term when she addressed the judge. She talked about her daughter.
Holding a single crutch, Ford pulled herself to her feet. During her
short speech, she called her daughter ``Christine,'' a name that had
eluded D'Arcy throughout the investigation of her death.
D'Arcy had adopted the name Christiaan as part of her
effort to become a man. Her physical features -- she had had a double
mastectomy and weighed 240 pounds -- were convincing enough to confuse
law enforcement authorities, who had to rewrite documents in the case
that referred to D'Arcy with masculine pronouns.
``I don't really know what to say,'' Ford said softly.
``I just wanted to be represented here so my daughter Christine would be
recognized as having lived and having been a very important part of my
life.''
Twenty of Saltonstall's friends and relatives went to
court, including his parents, Sam and Linda Saltonstall. His mother read
a prepared statement in which she recounted happy events from
Saltonstall's childhood, including sailing trips, church camp outs,
karate lessons and Cub Scouts.
But by adolescence, Saltonstall was having emotional
problems. And as a teenager, he rebelled against his privileged
upbringing, said his lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Chris Cosgrove.
Saltonstall, 21 and with boyish features, told Espinosa
he regretted his actions.
``Judge Espinosa, when I got arrested a year and a half
ago, I was sorry; sorry that I got caught,'' Saltonstall said. ``The
last year and a half, it's turned into: sorry because I did something
wrong; sorry I hurt my family.''
Family members asked Espinosa to impose a 25-year prison
term, the minimum for murder.
The judge said she could not.
``Mr. Saltonstall is alive,'' Espinosa said. ``He will
have a life after prison. Christiaan D'Arcy will not. And society and
this court cannot forget that.''
Family members filed slowly out of the benches. Ford, in
the first row, walked toward the prosecutor's office. Sam Saltonstall,
in the second row, walked the other direction toward the exit. The two
parents met in the middle and Saltonstall put his arm on Ford's
shoulder.
``I just wanted to say I'm sorry,'' he said.
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