Man Charged in Death of Jogger After Body Is Found
A 36-year-old man was charged with kidnapping Tuesday night in connection with the death of a woman whose body was found on property owned by the performer who plays Big Bird on the children’s television show “Sesame Street,” state police said.
Caroll Spinney, who also plays Oscar the Grouch on the show, had no involvement in the woman’s death, said Sgt. J. Paul Vance, a state police spokesman.
The suspect, Scott Deojay, was being held on $1-million bond and was to be arraigned today. Vance would not say how Deojay, of Plainfield, knew the victim, 44-year-old Judith Nilan.
Nilan’s body was found in a storage building Tuesday morning on Spinney’s property, which straddles the Massachusetts-Connecticut line, after a search by state police, tracking dogs, volunteers and a helicopter. Police said her death was a homicide.
Nilan was reported missing Monday night by her husband, who said she went jogging and never returned.
Woodstock official Delpha Mae Very said Spinney’s property was a very large tract of remote wooded land.
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