A man has been accused of dumping a woman’s body in a remote area of Thompson — where authorities discovered the remains last October — after claiming that he found her dead in a hotel room where the two were allegedly packaging illegal narcotics that they were selling.
Vendetta Robinson, 44, of Plainfield was arrested Thursday in connection with the remains of 33-year-old Alicia Balderston of Plainfield, who had been missing for a year before her remains were found behind a large rock in a wooded area about 100 feet off of Lowell Davis Road, according to Connecticut State Police.
He faces charges of illegal disposal of a human body, illegal removal of a human body and tampering with physical evidence.
Robinson’s arrest came after an investigation that was conducted by the state police Eastern District Major Crime Squad. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, authorities on Oct. 9, 2024, began searching for human remains in an area off of Lowell Davis Road. The warrant does not say what alerted officials to the area or what made them believe they would find remains there.
The search included inspectors from the Windham State’s Attorney’s Office, state police detectives, a K-9 unit and other law enforcement. Eight days later, authorities searched a different area off of the same road and found human remains behind a large rock, which obstructed the view from anyone using Lowell Davis Road, according to the warrant affidavit. Authorities immediately suspected that someone had dumped a body there based on the appearance that the remains had been hidden from the road, the warrant affidavit said.
The remains were turned over to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as state police detectives combed through the scene. A forensic anthropologist analyzed the remains and concluded that they were in the woods for “at least” a year, according to the warrant affidavit.
The analysis also found that the remains belonged to a woman who was likely between 25 and 40 years old, the warrant affidavit said. There were no signs of injuries that would have occurred around the time of the individual’s death, the analysis showed. Investigators also found that the remains only included bones from the individual’s upper torso, according to the warrant affidavit.
Authorities searched the same wooded area on Nov. 8, 2024, and found additional remains that were turned over to the medical examiner, the warrant affidavit said. Samples from both sets of remains were sent to the state Division of Scientific Services.
A DNA sample from the remains that were first found was compared to a national database, which matched a hit for Balderston based on DNA that was collected by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement after she was reportedly convicted of a felony, the warrant affidavit said. Investigators then learned that Balderston had been reported missing to the Plainfield Police Department on Oct. 11, 2023.
State police went through the reports tied to the missing person complaint and found that whoever reported her missing — which is not included in the warrant — said they had last had contact with her in March 2023. The reports also showed that interviews with Balderston’s friends suggested she became involved in a relationship with Robinson in early 2023 and that she had allegedly been packaging drugs for him to sell, the warrant affidavit said.
The reports showed that Plainfield police found records indicating Robinson had been renting a room at a local motel, though they were unable to contact him when they went there, the warrant affidavit said.
In March, the autopsy on Balderston’s remains was completed and was unable to determine her cause of death, the warrant affidavit said. The toxicology report, the warrant affidavit said, showed that she had multiple drugs in her system, including marijuana, fentanyl, norfentanyl, ibuprofen and theophylline — which is used to treat respiratory conditions like asthma.
In April, detectives visited Robinson at a hotel in Mashantucket where he agreed to an interview in a room he was renting, according to the warrant affidavit. He also allowed police to search him and the room.
During the interview, Robinson told police that Balderston was in a “hard spot” when he met her in early 2023, alleging that she was using crack, had nowhere to live and struggled with financial problems, according to the warrant affidavit. He allegedly admitted that he was selling drugs at the time and that he “hired” her to help him package the narcotics, which consisted of fentanyl, crack, cocaine and marijuana, the warrant affidavit said. He claimed that she would either package the drugs and give them to him to sell or she would sometimes sell them herself, investigators wrote.
Robinson told police he would rent rooms and change locations often, the warrant affidavit said. He also told police he did not believe Balderston used fentanyl, the warrant affidavit said.
According to the warrant affidavit, Robinson told investigators he returned to a hotel room “one day” after having been away for a few days to find that the door was barricaded from the inside with a “Brinks bar,” which he said he and Balderston often did, the warrant affidavit said. When he eventually got inside, he told police, he allegedly found her dead face down on the floor, according to the warrant affidavit.
Robinson claimed that it appeared as though she had been dead for “some time” and that the room was filled with a “large quantity” of drugs that she had been packaging, the warrant affidavit said. He allegedly said he put her body into a laundry bag and wrapped her belongings in a bed sheet, state police wrote. He then took the body and her personal items and left in his truck, the warrant affidavit said.
Robinson told investigators he broke Balderston’s phone into several pieces and threw her belongings into multiple dumpsters hoping no one would find them, according to the warrant affidavit. He said he drove north on Interstate 395 and took an exit somewhere near the Massachusetts border where he parked on the side of a “secluded” road, the warrant affidavit said.
Robinson told detectives he carried the body into the woods and leaned it up against a rock, the warrant affidavit said. He allegedly admitted to police he “didn’t want anyone to find the body” and that he believed the “animals in the woods would help in getting rid of” it, according to the warrant.
The warrant for Robinson’s arrest was signed by a judge on Sept. 8. He was released on a $20,000 bond following the arrest and is scheduled to appear in Danielson Superior Court on Sept. 25.
