WESTON -- Police have confirmed that the remains of two people found at a home in Weston are those of an Easton couple who has been missing since August.
State Police announced earlier on Friday that several agencies are working together to investigate the deaths of Jeff and Jeanette Navin.
Their son, Kyle, who was the primary suspect in his parents' disappearance, was charged in their murder late Friday night. Specifically, he was charged with two counts of murder and murder with special circumstances. Bond was set at $2.5 million, though he is already incarcerated without bail.
Also on Friday night, Jennifer Valiante, Kyle Navin's girlfriend, was arrested at her home for conspiracy to commit murder in connection to the case, according to State Police.
Valiante was also charged with hindering the prosecution in the first degree. She is being held on $2 million bond and is due in court on Monday.
State police say the bodies were found in the yard of a Weston home that hadn't been occupied in 10 years. Police would not say if the homeowner has any connection to the Navins, but are investigating that possibility. Local authorities say items outside the home did not belong based on yard work that was being done.
Weston Police called in the Connecticut State Police around 3 p.m. Thursday after the remains were discovered in the yard of a home on Norfield Road. Thursday night, State Police remained on Norfield Road in Weston as part of the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Jeff and Jeanette Navin.
Earlier on Friday, prosecutors named Kyle Navin as the primary suspect in the investigation for the first time, despite previous documents indicating that police were suspicious of him.
Kyle appeared in federal court in Bridgeport at noon Friday for a detention hearing. That's when U.S. prosecutors said he should be held behind bars due to the discovery of the bodies and other evidence in his parents' disappearance. The judge agreed.
When Kyle and Jennifer's Bridgeport home was searched in September, police found hypodermic needles, baggies with heroin, empty Oxycodone bottles and a gun, for which Kyle was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by an individual who is an unlawful user of/addicted to a controlled substance. He has been held without bail since, which is what the detention hearing--which was arranged before the developments in the case this week--was held for.
Prosecutors also cited text messages that appeared to link Kyle to his parent's disappearance.
In the affidavit for Jennifer Valiante's arrest on Friday night, it states that one of Jeanette's friends told police on August 10 that on July 26, just over a week before the Navins disappeared, Jeanette had told her that they were cutting Kyle out of their will due to his drug abuse and the "tempestuous" relationship between the parents and their child.
Jeanette also said on that day that she and her husband were selling their garbage truck business, J&J Refuse, and after that Kyle would be on his own without any financial support from his family.
In the original affidavit for Kyle's arrest for the gun charge in September, police said they'd determined 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 Navins were officially reported missing August 7 by their sister-in-law, but were last seen on August 4. Their pickup truck was found with a shattered window August 9 in a commuter lot in Westport.
Jennifer Valiante is connected to the case based on her movements on August 4, the last day that the Navins were seen.
Police got surveillance video from a security camera in Easton that recorded at 3:06 p.m. on August 4. The video showed Jeffrey’s garbage truck being driven toward his home. Valiante's car was recorded following closely behind Jeffrey’s truck.
About 29 minutes later the security camera showed Valiante's car driving in the opposite direction of the Navins' Easton home. Law enforcement later found Jeffrey’s truck parked in his driveway.
Law enforcement officials interviewed Valiante after viewing her car on the security footage. She initially lied and said she was home in Bridgeport all day, but when confronted she said that Kyle asked her to follow him as he drove his father’s truck from their Bridgeport home to the Navin’s Easton home.
When they arrived at the Navins' Easton home, Kyle parked his father’s garbage truck in the driveway, and then Valiante drove the two of them back to Bridgeport in her car.
She said she didn’t know how or why Jeffrey’s truck was at her Bridgeport home, or why Kyle needed to drive it back to Easton.
Based on the information gathered above in the interviews, on August 13 the investigators executed a search warrant on Navin’s Bridgeport home on Aldine Avenue, and seized two firearms and numerous rounds of ammunition from his bedroom. They also found a Home Depot receipt from August 5 at 8:36 p.m. showing that Kyle had purchased germicidal bleach, hair grease drain opener, “Goo Gone” stain remover and contractor cleanup bags.
