New video, documents provide insight into Conn. man allegedly held captive

Waterbury police have released new body camera footage and documents pertaining to the case of a man who said he was held captive inside a home for 20 years.

The body camera footage shows police officers responding to the Blake Street home on the night of Feb. 17, when police say a man set a fire in his room to escape.

In the footage, a police officer interviews Kimberly Sullivan, the man’s stepmother.

“Was the door locked in his room?” an officer asked. “No,” Sullivan responded. “Is it normally locked?” the officer continued. “No,” Sullivan answered. “It’s normally open?” asked the officer. “Yes,” Sullivan said. “And he has free reign to go out of there whenever he wants?” the officer continued. “Yeah,” Sullivan said.

She also asked police if they thought her stepson started the fire, and the officer replied, “Well, we don’t know yet.”

The body camera footage shows the man being carried out by first responders. In the arrest warrant, investigators said he was emaciated, weighing just 68 pounds.

“[He] says he hasn’t had a shower in over a year,” a police officer is heard saying to another in the footage.

“We already got all of her info, I just don’t want her to [expletive] go anywhere. We don’t have enough to really detain her,” another officer said.

The footage was released to NBC Connecticut through a Freedom of Information Act request, and included dozens of images of inside the home, and documents pertaining to Sullivan.

Photos: Inside Waterbury home where man says he was held captive

Among the documents were police reports from when two visits were made to the home in 2005.

The first, on April 1, 2005, that reads, “…DCF received a telephone call from school children who used to go to school with [the victim]…that something must have happened to [the victim], that he may have died, because he has been out of school for so long.”

The report states that Sullivan was homeschooling her stepson at the time.

The officer wrote in the report, “I spoke to [the victim] and he appeared to be healthy and happy. The residence appeared normal and lived in.”

The second visit was documented as a harassment complaint by Kregg Sullivan, the victim’s father.

On April 18, 2005, police wrote, “Mr. Sullivan stated that he believes he’s being harassed by school principal of Barnard. ... He believes [the principal] placed several calls to different agencies attempting to have his family investigated. He has no proof or evidence proving Mr. Sullivan is responsible.”

From 2005 to up until before the fire, there had been 13 other interactions with police, but none explicitly referencing the stepson.

Sullivan’s defense attorney, Ionnis Kaloidis, held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, upset that Waterbury police released the evidence.

“We were shocked at this,” he said. “In 22 years of doing criminal defense, this is the first time I've had literally the discovery in the case, that we often struggle and we often wait months to get, to be released to the general public."

Kaloidis said it will impact his client’s right to a fair trial.

“It's clearly being done to sway public opinion,” Kaloidis continued. “As if there weren't enough people rooting against my client already, as if there weren't enough people that had already made up their minds and convicted her. We believe this grossly reckless act by the police department, or intentional and reckless disregard for my client's constitutional rights, was just completely inappropriate."

He filed a motion to preserve the evidence in the case, and said he may motion to move the trial out of Waterbury when the time comes.

"What we're really gonna need is some jurors that can keep an open mind. What we have is millions of people behind their keyboards, behind their monitors, having convicted her without knowing anything about this case,” he said.

"Everybody’s got to do their job. This is ultimately going to be up to a judge to take control of the case. The defense attorney, even if it’s hard for people to accept, he's doing his job," Jim Bergenn, a legal analyst and defense attorney, said.

He said this situation is not uncommon in high profile cases and believes the evidence-based court system should do its job fine.

But due to heightened public interest, he does expect the eventual jury selection process to take longer than usual.

"The system will restrict it to evidence, it will require picking jurors who are qualified to look fresh,” Bergenn said.

"It is reckless to his work, but it isn't reckless in terms of getting justice," he continued.