NORWICH – The family of Tammy L. Periard says they were told by law enforcement officials that the man accused of her death made a confession after her body was discovered in his apartment.
Police revealed Thursday that Daniel L. Brown, 45, had been arrested following a strange phone call. Officers were dispatched to Chenango Memorial Hospital in an effort to locate a suspect on Wednesday, but would not confirm if it was Brown. A short time later, however, Brown was arrested and a warrant to search his apartment was issued. Brown allegedly revealed some specifics about the crime to police after the search warrant was obtained. Neither the District Attorney’s Office nor the Norwich Police Department would confirm or deny the claim.
“We have an ongoing investigation and more information may yet come to light that could lead to other arrests,” said Norwich Police Chief Joseph Angelino.
Norwich Police released a preliminary medical report on the victim from Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, conducted Thursday by Dr. James Terzian. The findings of the report said the cause of Periard’s death was asphyxiation by ligature strangulation. Periard also suffered blunt trauma injuries to the head. Police said they believed that she was attacked with a stick-like weapon.
Brown, of 56 Henry St., has been charged with 2nd degree murder, a Class A-1 felony. Police have not ruled out that more people may have been involved. The body was discovered by police early Thursday morning during the execution of a search warrant after police arrested Brown.
Family members reported Periard, the manager of several local apartment houses, missing to police on Tuesday afternoon; the last time she was seen alive was around 8 a.m. Monday.
Police discovered Periard’s abandoned vehicle at 5 p.m. Tuesday in a parking lot on Rexford Street and reported that there was no reasonable explanation why it would have been there. None of her managed buildings were near the location where her car was found.
Several other police agencies were called in Wednesday to intensify the search. Family members posted “Missing” signs across the city. Police employed the aid of a New York State Police search helicopter and canine units. Investigators spent much of the day following leads and questioning many local citizens. Police searches seemed to be intensified in the neighborhoods of Rexford Street, Lee Avenue and Borden Avenue Wednesday afternoon.
Police would not say what led them to Brown as a suspect, but would confirm that he was a tenant in an apartment house managed by Periard. Brown was also reportedly in the process of being evicted from that property.
“I would hope that anyone with further information about this would continue to call us,” Angelino said. Police still maintain a command post at the Norwich Police Station; the telephone number there is 334-1212.
There has been a great amount of tension during this investigation for both police and the DA’s office to control the release of information. “We want to make sure that this plays out in court and not in the media, to both ensure that the defendant gets a fair trail like he should, and two to keep bias about people’s preconceived opinions from entering the court room because of something they read in the paper,” said District Attorney Joseph McBride.
Angelino expressed similar concerns, saying, “This will all come out in court, and it’s not the department’s job to release all the information. We need to protect the integrity of the investigation.” The last murder to take place in Chenango County was on April 8, 2002 when Peter M. Wlasiuk, 37, was charged with 2nd degree murder for allegedly murdering his wife, Patricia.
Brown appeared for his arraignment in Norwich City Court Thursday morning. Judge James Downey briefed Brown on his rights and assigned John Cameron as his public defender. Cameron requested a preliminary hearing, at which the judge will decide if there is enough evidence to force the defendant to stand trial for 2nd degree murder. Probable cause is the legal standard in making this determination. The hearing is scheduled to begin on Monday at 10 a.m.
Public Defender Alan Gordon had previously acted in family court proceedings as a law guardian involving Brown and his family. The Public Defender’s office said this did not seem to present any conflicts with them representing Brown, but did say they had consulted with state officials in order to be sure. Cameron said he would officially place these issues on the record during Monday’s hearing.
McBride said Brown was not eligible for bail because of the crime’s Class A felony status and the defense reserved its right to request bail at a later date. Downey passed on a ruling over bail and Brown was remanded to the Chenango County Correctional Facility until Chenango County Court could set an amount.