Robyn van Ekelenburg knows her brother’s death at his Cheshire home in 2023 was determined to be a homicide, but two years later, she and her family do not know much more than that and are desperate for answers.
Investigators initially told Shane DeJongh’s family that they believed he died of natural causes, van Ekelenburg said. But after her family traveled from California to Connecticut to see his body, she said they immediately knew something was wrong.
“He didn’t look like he had had a neck,” said van Ekelenburg, who was named the administrator of her brother’s estate. “And we didn’t know at that point, but we knew enough to know there’s something wrong with his neck. It was like he had no neck. I can’t even explain it.”
At that point, van Ekelenburg said, she started gathering potential evidence and documenting everything.
“I knew something was wrong,” she said.
The family’s suspicions were confirmed when they learned of DeJongh’s autopsy results.
According to the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, DeJongh’s official cause of death was found to be “cardiac arrhythmia following physical altercation with blunt injuries of head and neck, complicating hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.” The death was ruled a homicide, a spokesperson for the office said.
The autopsy report showed that DeJongh’s injuries to his head included “cutaneous contusions,” an abrasion to his left ear and a subdural hemorrhage — indicating a bleed near his brain. The injuries to his neck included a focal hemorrhage and a perimortem fracture of his “left superior cornu of the thyroid cartilage,” the report said.
“We knew at that point something really did happen that night,” van Ekelenburg said.
DeJongh grew up in California with his family and relocated to Connecticut in 2020 to work as an engineering manager with APCT, according to his obituary.
“He enjoyed all kinds of things like making music and fishing,” van Ekelenburg said, describing him as a “life of the party kind of guy.”
DeJongh was “an accomplished musician, writing and composing many of his own songs of several different genres, and playing for many fundraiser events for the benefit of others,” his obituary said. “He loved boating and was a proud fisherman, who caught countless bass and other exotic fish. Shane put love into everything he did and had had a passion for life.”
DeJongh’s hobbies also included “working on his beautiful home, traveling, cooking, gardening, camping and entertaining,” according to his obituary.
Shane DeJongh’s sister, Robyn van Ekelenburg, said he was a fisherman, chef and musician. “When Ozzy (Osbourne) died this year, I know we all felt a sense of sadness and closeness to Shane because he was a big Ozzy fan, too,” she said. (Courtesy of Robyn van Ekelenburg)
He was 53 years old and living with his girlfriend, Natasha Vadasz, at her home on Plank Road in Cheshire when he died sometime overnight on Oct. 5, 2023, according to a civil lawsuit previously filed by Van Ekelenburg against Vadasz.
The lawsuit, filed in New Haven Superior Court in the spring, was withdrawn last week. According to the family’s attorney, Kenneth Krayeske of BBB Attorneys, the lawsuit was withdrawn to allow for Zoey DeJongh Quinn, DeJongh’s daughter, to be added as a plaintiff and another person to be added as a defendant.
Two years later, DeJongh’s family still has no answers, though they believe they know who is allegedly responsible. To help find answers and potentially bring closure for DeJongh’s death, they had initially filed the lawsuit..
Shortly before his death, DeJongh was happy about getting an offer for a new job in Georgia, van Ekelenburg said. The anticipated move led to Vadasz listing her home for sale, the withdrawn lawsuit states. The couple and their real estate agent went out for drinks the night DeJongh died to celebrate what they thought would be the next chapter of their lives.
DeJongh was found in his bed in clothes from the prior night when authorities were called to the home the next morning.
“We’re living in California, so none of us were there,” van Ekelenburg said. “And so we heard about his passing, and we thought it was a heart attack. That’s what we were told.”
One of the last photos of Shane DeJongh when he took a family trip to Hawaii. According to his sister, DeJongh, her husband and her sons chartered a boat and caught some fish. “He made ahi poke tacos for us and it was (amongst many other things) a very special memory,” she said. (Courtesy of Robyn van Ekelenburg)
According to Frederick J. Jortner, chief of the Cheshire Police Department, officers responded to the home on the report of an untimely death. Jortner said the investigation was “promptly assumed” by detectives who were assisted by the Connecticut State Police‘s Central District Major Crimes Squad and the medical examiner’s office.
“To date, a comprehensive investigation has been conducted, including multiple interviews and extensive forensic analysis,” Jortner said, adding that investigators are working under the direction of the New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office.
Jortner declined to release any additional details “in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation.”
None of the incident or case reports tied to the investigation were released in response to a Freedom of Information request made by the Courant. A spokesperson for the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice did not issue comment on behalf of the New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office.
“I don’t understand how an autopsy can call it a homicide and a police department not make an arrest and a warrant not be issued,” Krayeske said.
“It’s troublesome, but the aim of our lawsuit is not to get an arrest,” Krayeske added. “The aim of our lawsuit is to get damages for the family from this terrible wrong that they’ve suffered.”
According to van Ekelenburg, her family has struggled to get updates from investigators. She claimed that they were only able to get bits and pieces of what happened from Vadasz before she and her son moved to North Carolina, according to van Ekelenburg.
“We don’t know what really happened that night,” van Ekelenburg said. “It’s like trying to put a puzzle together without all the pieces. But whatever the case is, Shane was the only one with injuries that night.”
The civil action seeks monetary damages and punitive damages as well as attorney fees and costs.
When reached for comment, Vadasz deferred to her lawyer. Her attorney has not responded to a request for comment.
