On June 15, the Norwich Police Department responded to 16 Spaulding St. for a suspicious death investigation. Chadwick’s death was ruled a homicide, and the medical examiners office said she died of stab wounds to the head and neck.
According to the arrest report for Jacques, Chadwick’s boyfriend, who we are not naming because he is not a suspect in her death, called 911 to report finding Chadwick’s body in a closet in her apartment.
When police arrived on the scene they interviewed the boyfriend who gave the following recount of events:
The night before Chadwick was killed, her boyfriend says he got a text from her around 11:29 p.m. saying that “Zoe” was at her apartment.
The boyfriend described Zoe/Jean as dark-skinned, Haitian, and about 40 years old. He said that Zoe said he spent 16 years in prison for murder. Police immediately recognized the description as someone they knew with the street name Zoe, and when the boyfriend was shown a photo of him he immediately recognized him.
The man, who’s real name is Jean Jacques, had served prison time for a murder he committed in 1996. He was released in January of this year and is on parole.
The boyfriend said he called Zoe after getting the text message, and Zoe said he was at Chadwick’s home. Zoe asked the boyfriend if he was planning to come over to Chadwick’s home that night, but he said he wasn’t.
The boyfriend had a friend with him when police arrived at the scene of the crime, and he provided a statement as well. He said that around 1 p.m. on June 15 he got a call from the boyfriend saying he was concerned that he couldn’t reach Chadwick. The two went to Chadwick’s home together, but didn’t find her, though they did notice the apartment was in disarray with things strewn across the floor.
The two left for about 30 minutes and then returned. The boyfriend looked in the victim’s closet and found her body.
Her keys and wallet were still in the home, but her trash, cell phone and some drugs that were in the apartment were missing. The missing trash may have been due to an attempt to clean up the crime scene.
Jacques was arrested at around 3 a.m. on June 16 during a drug investigation. When he was arrested police noticed fresh bandages on his hand and fingers covering several bleeding lacerations. He said he got the cuts on a broken plate when he was working as a dishwasher, and a coworker did confirm he cut himself at least once that way. However, a doctor said that the cuts were consistent with a sharp force object, which was also what caused Chadwick’s death.
He was processed by police, and a cell phone with the suspect’s phone number that the boyfriend provided was in his custody. He also had some counterfeit money, as well as real money with blood on it. Blood was also on his sneakers and underwear, and was also found all over his apartment.
DNA processed from the scene matched Jacques’ DNA, leading police to charge him in Chadwick’s death.
Jacques is being held on a $1,000,000 bond.
