AVON, Conn. — FOX61 got access Monday to the personnel file of Avon Police Sgt. Thomas Jacius. He took his own life after shooting and killing his wife, Doreen, inside their East Granby home last Sunday.
Monday was also the day when we heard directly from Avon Police Chief Paul Melanson. All indications are this tragedy was as much of a surprise to the colleagues of Thomas Jacius as it was to the families involved. Avon Police said that in the days preceding the tragedy, Jacius was smiling and interacting normally. He even planned a fishing trip with a friend.
“When you first hear about it, obviously it’s a disbelief. It turned into anger,” said Chief Melanson.
“We’re trained,” continued Melanson, “So everybody is looking at themselves saying how could we miss this, how could somebody that we knew and worked side by side with say in and day out, how could we miss this?”
FOX61 poured through the hundreds of documents that made up Sgt. Thomas Jacius’s personnel file. In his 24 years of service, Jacius had dozens of unsolicited commendations, exemplary performance evaluations and two internal investigations. One in 2005. A citizen complained the drunk driving arrest of his daughter was mishandled — Jacius was exonerated. There was another internal investigation in 2008 when Jacius and several other officers broke town policy by using their department email to forward a political message. He was issued a written reprimand.
“There is nothing to indicate that he was capable of anything like this,” said Melanson.
Back in East Granby Monday, the displays of love and remembrance for his wife Doreen got bigger outside the library entrance where she was the director. Doreen’s profile is now added to the National Gun Violence Memorial website. A still ongoing state police investigation will reveal whether Jacius used his duty weapon to commit the tragedy.
“Just as in state law, our policy requires you to keep it under your control at all times and if it’s not it has to be secured in a locked container,” explained Chief Melanson.
Meanwhile, the GoFundMe established to benefit the couple's two daughters nears $100,000. Those who knew T.J. best said from the outside looking in, it’s incomprehensible.
“I had a lot of long conversations with him,” recalled Avon Police Lt. John Schmalberger. “He had a lot of interests. Outdoors like most of the family. He often talked about mountain biking with his daughter Amanda and the Rails to Trains that Doreen helped work on.”
Chief Melanson told FOX61 that in accordance with the new police accountability law, they just sent 1/5th of their department to get a mental health screening in July. Sgt. Jacius was not one of those officers. Chief Melanson said officer mental health is taken a lot more seriously now than it was 30 years ago. He said he’s committed to continuing those mental health screenings and also adding drug testing every three years.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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