May 23—The man appealing his life sentence for the brutal beating and murder of three members of a Griswold family in 2017 told a judge on Thursday that he is “unduly vexed” by the way he is being transported from prison to the courthouse.
A smiling Sergio Correa, shackled and wearing prison garb with a set of rosary beads around his neck, appeared in New London Superior Court on Thursday for a hearing on his motion “to correct an illegal sentence.” He claims in his self-authored motion that his sentence of life without the possibility of parole plus 105 years was illegal.
In 2021, Correa was convicted of 13 different charges in the Dec. 19, 2017, killing of Kenneth, 56, and Janet Lindquist, 61, and their 21-year-old son Matthew Lindquist. Correa’s sister was additionally convicted of taking part in the killings, which were part of a scheme to exchange drugs for guns taken from the Lindquists’ Griswold home.
Matthew Lindquist was chased with a machete into the woods by the Correas and found months later with more than 60 stab, slash and chop wounds. The Correas entered the Lindquists’ home with a bat and golf club, and prosecutors said Correa beat Kenneth Lindquist to death and beat and strangled Janet Lindquist, leaving her for dead before stealing items and setting the house on fire.
Judge John Newson delayed any discussion on Correa’s motion while a lawyer from the public defender’s office is appointed to the case but listened to Correa’s plea for special transportation. Correa rode to the courthouse on Thursday in a van with other state Department of Correction prisoners. He is serving his sentence at the Cheshire Correctional Institution.
“I had to wake up at 3 in the morning,” Correa said. “What do I do with the vexation this is causing me?”
Newson said transportation is within the discretion of the state DOC and would not get involved with any requests for special treatment.
“That is beyond the authority of a Superior Court judge to address,” Newson said.
The case was continued to June 3 when Newson said an attorney representing Correa could make an argument to back Correa’s motion.
Correa’s motion in New London is just one of a string of appeals he has pending in multiple jurisdictions. He is represented by the Office of the Chief Public Defender in his Appellate Court case and additionally has a civil petition claiming his due process rights were violated and a habeas corpus claim against the state DOC.
Eric Lindquist , Kenneth and Janet Lindquist’s surviving son, sat quietly in the courtroom during Thursday’s proceedings and declined to comment afterwards.
Source Agencies
