On a summer evening in Norwich, Connecticut, on June 3, 2006, the life of 19-year-old Sean Hill, a Caucasian male, was tragically cut short. That night, Hill had accompanied a friend, Justin Smith, to an apartment building at 60 Boswell Avenue. While Sean Hill waited outside, his friend went into the building to carry out a $13 drug deal. This seemingly minor transaction would quickly escalate into a fatal encounter.
Inside the apartment, Justin Smith was ambushed by two men, Bruce
Gathers and Gregory Smith. They assaulted and attempted to rob him. Justin Smith managed to break free and flee from the apartment. As he ran, a gunshot rang out. The bullet struck Sean Hill, who was waiting nearby, in the abdomen. He died from his injuries shortly after.
For years, the case of Sean Hill's death remained a painful open wound for his family and the community. While both Bruce Gathers and Gregory Smith were convicted and sentenced for the robbery of Justin Smith, neither was immediately charged with Hill's murder due to a lack of evidence. Gregory Smith received a seven-year prison sentence in Connecticut, and Bruce Gathers was sentenced to four years and was incarcerated in New Jersey on unrelated charges.
The break in the case came years later when the Southeastern Connecticut Cold Case Unit revisited the investigation. New witness testimony emerged, providing crucial details about the events of that night. One witness reported seeing Bruce Gathers and Sean Hill in a physical altercation just before the gunshot was fired. This new information led to arrest warrants being issued for both Gathers and Gregory Smith for the murder of Sean Hill. In August 2010, Gregory Smith was arraigned on murder charges, and Gathers faced the same charges later that year after his extradition from New Jersey. Ultimately, in March 2013, Bruce Gathers pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter with a firearm. He was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison, followed by four and a half years of special parole. Gregory Smith was also convicted of manslaughter in connection with Hill's death, bringing a long-awaited sense of closure to a case that had haunted the city of Norwich for nearly seven years.
