BRIDGEPORT — A woman accused of conspiring with her boyfriend to kill his parents made her first court appearance Monday. Jennifer Valiante, 31, of Westport, appeared in court, and was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and hindering prosecution. She is being held on a $2 million bond.
Her boyfriend, Kyle Navin, 27, is facing two counts of murder and two counts of murder with special circumstances. Currently, he is being detained at a correctional facility in Rhode Island on federal firearms charges--he was arrested on September 8 and has been denied bail since. But, he is expected to receive a formal arrest warrant on the murder charges on Tuesday, State Police said. Once those charges are formally filed, he will face a $2.5 million bond and will be arrainged.
Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin of Easton were reported missing on August 7. Police said their son Kyle was the last person to see them.
Valiante's attorney, Eliott Warren, said she is a lifetime resident and throughout the investigation she never tried to leave town. He said she moved out of Kyle Navin's Bridgeport home and back in with her family in Westport shortly after the Navins went missing and asked for her bond to be reduced.
“We are disappointed and saddened by the charges. And, we expect that, in the legal process, that it will be determined that she is innocent of these charges,” Warren said. He also denies text messages between Valiante and Kyle Navin would implicate her in the Navin’s murder.
Among the text messages mentioned in the arrest warrant affidavit:
- July 8, 2015, Kyle to Jennifer: It would solve every single problem and give us a wealthy amazing life
- July 8, 2015, Kyle to Jennifer: Wipe out the infection and get $ for life
"I think that a lot of them you may think are incriminating have been juxtaposed and are not in context with the conversation," he said. "She would deny that she ever said anything in those texts or orally or to anybody that related to this crime."
Valiante will appear in court again on November 24.
Meanwhile, Kyle Navin is expected to be formally arrested in connection to his parents' deaths on Tuesday, though he has remained in custody on federal firearms charges since September 8. He will be arraigned after the arrest.
Police investigated for months until a major break in the case Thursday afternoon. Court documents said Kyle's old friends was cleaning out the yard at a vacant home he owned in Weston when he discovered human remains. On Friday, the medical examiner identified the victims as Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin.
In federal court on Friday, prosecutors said Kyle Navin, the couple's son, is a suspect in their deaths.
The affidavit for Valiante’s arrest revealed the Navins were planning to cut Kyle from their will because of concerns about his drug use. Forensic evidence outlined in the affidavit links Kyle to blood belonging to both Jeffrey and Jeanette.
The affidavit also includes text messages between Kyle and Valiante saying they need to figure out how to take down his parents to "get money for life."
His parents, Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin were reported missing August 7 by their sister-in-law. The affidavit for Kyle’s firearms arrest in September said that Jeffrey didn’t show up for work on August 6 and 7, which his brother, who works with him, said was very unusual and that Jeffrey always made prior arrangements to cover his shift. Both of their phones were also turned off.
The report said that Kyle was the last person to have seen his parents on the morning of Tuesday, August 4.
In a series of text messages released by investigators, Jeffrey Navin accused his son Kyle of framing him for murder.
- Jeffrey to Kyle (12:43 p.m.): Did you hurt mom?
- Kyle to Jeffrey (12:43 p.m.): No absolutely not. Why would you think
- Jeffrey to Kyle (12:44 p.m.): I go home and get framed for murder
- Kyle to Jeffrey (12:45 p.m.): Oh stop
- Jeffrey to Kyle (12:48 p.m.): I'm going to the police first
Investigators also interviewed Navin’s girlfriend after she was captured on a security camera driving towards Jeffrey and Jeanette’s Easton home while closely following someone driving Jeffrey’s truck. When police interviewed her, she initially lied and claimed she was home in Bridgeport all day. She later told police that Kyle “asked her to follow him to his parent’s house in Easton.”
