Ex-Investigator Claims Man In Custody On Unrelated Charges Is 1981 Darien Cop Killer

DARIEN, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- The now-retired lead investigator in the killing of a Darien police officer 34 years ago is convinced that a suspect in custody on unrelated charges is the same man who fatally shot the cop.

Officer Kenneth Bateman, 34, was killed May 31, 1981, while responding to a burglary at a fast food restaurant.

Former police Capt. Angelo Toscano said that while other potential suspects were questioned, intelligence consistently led police back to Anthony Sabato. Toscano said Sabato carried out several burglaries near the restaurant where Bateman was killed.

According to the Darien News, Sabato has been arrested in Connecticut 37 times since 1975 on burglary, drugs, weapons and assault charges.

"There's nobody else. He did it," Toscano told WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau. "And for me to say that, you've got to know that I really am convinced he did it. I spent time with Anthony. I've talked to him. I feel that it was right on the tip of his tongue to tell me."

Toscano said police fingered Sabato, now 57, days after the shooting and tracked him for decades. There was a point in the investigation, Toscano said, when Sabato agreed to take a lie-detector test.

"And when they started asking him questions, he ripped the blood-pressure cup off and the other instruments he had on, and he refused to go through with it," Toscano said.

While the Darien case is still pending, Sabato was charged this week on unrelated federal drug and gun charges. Darien police officers crowded into a Bridgeport courtroom for Sabato's appearance, Schneidau reported.

Sabato and another man are accused of making repeated drug deals with undercover officers in West Haven and attempting to buy a firearm from an undercover officer.

If convicted, Sabato faces up to 40 years in prison on the drug charges and 20 years on the weapon charge.