New Britain, Ct. – A suspected serial murderer with ties to Hampton Roads will be served an arrest warrant Friday charging him in connection to the homicides of six people.
Hampton-native William Devin Howell, 45, is currently serving a 15-year sentence in a Connecticut prison after being convicted of Manslaughter in the First Degree in the homicide of Nilsa Arizmendi.
Arizmendi’s remains were found buried alongside the remains of two other women and a man earlier this year in a wooded area behind a strip mall in New Britain, Connecticut. In 2007, the remains of three women were found in the same area.
Howell will now be charged with three counts of Capital Felony, three counts of Capital Murder, and three counts of Murder in relation to the homicides of those six additional people.
All of the people whose remains were found disappeared in 2003. Police had believed the killings were likely committed by the same person during separate incidents.
Arizmendi was reported missing from Wethersfield, Connecticut and was last seen alive in Howell’s van in July of 2003. Howell had been living in Connecticut in 2003.
Howell’s van was seized in North Carolina in 2004 and forensic tests found blood from Arizmendi inside. Howell was found to be living in Hampton and was arrested in May of 2005.
Howell’s case has remained open because authorities were unable to find the source of additional blood found in his van. Authorities say a “substantial amount of blood from a second, unidentified individual was present.”
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In June, Hampton Police were were contacted by the “Greater New Britain Serial Killer Task Force” in relation to the case.
Hampton Police filed a search warrant to search a home at 100 Gumwood Drive where Howell previously resided. Along with the FBI and authorities from Connecticut, every structure on the property was searched over the course of two days. The warrant states that they were specifically looking for body parts, human remains, blood, hair, fibers, clothing and a site where a body may have been disposed of.
They later announced they found no additional evidence.
