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Girlfriend connected to killing of boyfriend’s parents accepts 8 year plea deal

BRIDGEPORT —  The legal proceedings surrounding the murders of Jeffrey and Jeannette Navin, of Easton, in 2015, are closing in on a conclusion. Their son,...

BRIDGEPORT --  The legal proceedings surrounding the murders of Jeffrey and Jeannette Navin, of Easton, in 2015, are closing in on a conclusion.

Their son, Kyle Navin, is accused of killing his parents, allegedly because they wanted to cut him out of their will. But Friday, Kyle Navin's girlfriend, who's been in prison for over two years, on a conspiracy to commit murder charge, accepted a plea deal.

Jennifer Valiente's attorney, Norm Pattis, said he doesn't think there's any dispute that Kyle Navin killed his parents in 2015.

"There was plenty to argue that she didn't know he was going to do it the day he did it," said Pattis. "But she became aware that he had done so and helped him with the cover up."

That would be hindering prosecution, for which she agreed to an eight-year sentence. But, Pattis said his client was prepared to go to trial on the conspiracy to commit murder charge.

Pattis noted "the law of conspiracy requires you to enter into an agreement with another to do something wrong. There was no agreement."

But, both he and Valiante, 33, admitted to the judge that a jury might have found that there was indeed an agreement "based on text messages and the hostility between the parents and the son and based on her cleanup efforts afterwards," Pattis said.

So, he advised his client to avoid the risk of a 10 year maximum sentence on the hindering charge by accepting the eight-year offer. The total effective sentence: 16 years, which will be suspended after eight years.

Valiante is not not due to be sentenced until January 26, which is after it's expected Navin's case will be resolved.

"The reason I believe for that is they want to make sure she doesn't testify," said Pattis. "Until she is sentenced, there's no judgment in this case and no lawyer would permit her to testify."

Pattis explained that's because if her testimony implicated her, perhaps the judge would withdraw her plea deal.

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