Kriti Mehrotra
When 25-year-old Trenton State College student Sigrid Stevenson was found lying in a pool of her own blood in Kendall Hall on the evening of September 4, 1977, it left the entire nation baffled to the core. After all, evidence showed she’d been tied up and likely assaulted before being bludgeoned to death, following which her nude body was covered with the piano cover. It was well known she used to spend hours in that hall practicing her craft, but no one could have ever expected that’s where she’d meet her demise too, only for Charles “Chuck” Farrington to be considered a suspect.
The Allegations Against Charles “Chuck” Farrington Were Slow to Rise
Although a native of New Rochelle, New York, Chuck relocated to South Egremont, Massachusetts, alongside his family at the age of 9 in 1965. He thus graduated from Mount Everett Regional High School before attending the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, shortly following which he found himself in New Jersey as a young artist. It was there that he got a chance to be a part of a play in early September, just to meet Sigrid at around 7 pm on the fateful day after she’d returned from hitchhiking through Canada and New England.
The truth is Sigrid had a copy of the program near her when her body was found, and underneath Chuck’s name, she’d written something along the lines of “Nice guy. He brought me beer.” He was hence quickly brought into questioning by investigators, only for them to have a hunch he possibly could’ve been involved despite his accounts of the night seeming perfectly okay. This resulted in him undergoing a polygraph test and passing it, after which there was essentially no follow-up on him, that is, until one of his ex-girlfriends came forward accusing him of killing the rising piano star.
It was Susie Banks who accused Chuck of murder after Sigrid’s cold case was posted on a public forum, and she later told authorities it was because he had admitted as much. According to the aforementioned show, they got together in 1987 when she was a single mother, only for the relationship to turn extremely abusive once they moved in together. It was there, she said, that after a particularly nasty argument, he told her he would kill her and get away with it because he had done that before too -s he fortunately managed to leave their relationship soon after, but his words stuck with her.
There Was Circumstational Evidence Against Charles “Chuck” Farrington
After Susie came forward with her accusations and the police deemed her credible, they zeroed in on everything they had on Chuck once again to figure out if he indeed was responsible. That’s when they realized he’d played the role of a policeman in the play, and evidence showed that it was possible Sigrid had been beaten with a baton while being handcuffed behind her back. However, the then-young artist’s costume was never taken into custody, so it couldn’t be examined, but his apparent history of abuse, as well as prior connection with the pianist, did make him a very likely suspect.
The authorities hence began focusing on finding a probable cause so as to get a warrant for his DNA, especially as they had recently also uncovered a partial male profile from the victim’s clothes – her blouse had been wrapped around her neck, and this male suspect’s DNA was recovered from in between the knots. However, before they could do so, it came to light Chuck had sadly passed away, just for them to continue on this path so as to find closure. They actually got one of his brothers to agree to a DNA test, the genetics of which they analyzed against the evidence, but it did not match – in other words, Chuck was ultimately cleared as a suspect.
Charles “Chuck” Farrington Died in 2016
According to reports, also known as Charles Judkins, Chuck eventually relocated to Brunswick, Maine, where he pursued a career as an artist until the end of his days – he was a painter and sketchmaster. But alas, on May 19, 2016, two weeks before he was to turn 60, he sadly passed away while surrounded by most of his loved ones. The official cause of his death has never been made public, but Susie has since indicated on Reddit that he died a cruel death wherein he struggled to breathe in his last moments. He is survived by his mother, his aunt and uncle, three sisters, two brothers, a line of nieces, nephews, their respective life partners, as well as their children.
Read More: Julia Caldwell: Where is the Ewing Police Detective Now?
