She died in a fire police say was set on purpose, and now eight years later, finally an arrest for Kathy Hardy’s death.
Steven Martone appeared in U.S. District Court in Hartford, charged with Arson Resulting In The Death Of Kathy Hardy.
A federal grand jury indicted Martone on Wednesday.
On March 7, 2006, Martone is accused of entering Hardy’s two-floor house in Branford, dousing the living room and stairs leading up to her 2nd floor bedroom with an accelerant, and then setting the house on fire.
The indictment stated that Martone bragged to someone that it was impossible for police to have any DNA evidence, “because of the way we left that.”
“I felt anger, real anger for the very first time looking at his face, and he was crying a little bit, and I thought you’re crying, what have we been doing for 8-years?” Bette Barrett, Hardy’s mother, said.
The indictment implied Martone may have had some help.
John Vailette, who’s serving time for drugs, cried to at least two people that he had done “something horrible”…”as bad as can be.”
After the fire, police recovered some of Hardy’s belongings, including jewelry, from a pickup truck Vailette was driving around.