Patricia Torbicki, a 46-year-old Caucasian female from Newington, Connecticut, was killed on Thursday, September 21, 2017, in what was described as a senseless act of domestic violence. On that morning, around 9 a.m., a neighbor discovered Patricia's body, covered in blood, lying in the doorway of her home on Gilbert Road and immediately called 911.
First responders arrived to find her with serious injuries and appearing to be deceased.
The incident prompted police to issue a shelter-in-place order for the immediate neighborhood as they secured the scene. Inside the residence, they later discovered Patricia's husband, 45-year-old Michael Torbicki, with serious, self-inflicted injuries. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment. The ensuing investigation by the Newington Police Department's Detective Division led them to treat the case as a homicide, with Michael Torbicki as the sole suspect. Relatives informed police that Michael struggled with alcoholism and depression, and that the couple had been contemplating divorce.
The investigation revealed that Michael Torbicki had shot his wife with a shotgun. He first shot her in the leg while she was in their bedroom. As she attempted to flee the house in her pajamas, he shot her a second time, this time in the head. Following his release from the hospital, Michael Torbicki was arrested on October 12, 2017, and charged with the murder of his wife. He was held on a $2 million bond.
While awaiting trial, Michael Torbicki was incarcerated at a correctional facility in Suffield. On December 11, 2017, he was found unresponsive in his jail cell by prison staff during a routine tour. A ligature was found tied around his neck, and despite immediate life-saving measures and transport to a nearby hospital, he was pronounced dead. His death was investigated by the Department of Corrections Security Division. His attorney had been seeking a lower bail and argued that his client, a disabled military veteran suffering from alcoholism, depression, and PTSD, should have faced a manslaughter charge instead of murder.
