3 UConn officers honored in capture of rapist

State Attorney Matthew Ged­ansky honored three University of Connecticut police officers Thursday (June 2) for their involvement in the investigation and subsequent arrest of a Vernon man convicted in connection with a sexual assault on the University of Connecticut’s Storrs campus.

Sgt. Daniel Gugliotti, Officer Peter Harris and Officer Justin Gilbert were honored as “Officers of the Year” by Gedansky during a ceremony in Rockville Superior Court.

The officers were heavily involved in the investigation of a sexual assault case that led to the arrest of Robert O. Morgan, 26, of Vernon, who was sentenced Dec. 3, 2010 to 41 years in prison with five years of special parole and lifetime sex offender registration.

Morgan, a former Federal Ex­press driver, was accused of rap­ing a UConn senior on September 2008 on a path between Alumni Drive and Hilltop Apartments and of trying to rape a woman sitting in a field off Horsebarn Hill Road in June 2009.

He was linked to the assaults by his DNA, found on the shirt of a woman who was raped in 2008 and on a T-shirt near the site of the 2009 attack.

For the 2008 rape, a jury in September found Morgan guilty of aggravated first-degree sexual assault, first-degree kidnapping with a firearm and second-degree threatening.

Morgan was also convicted of attempted aggravated first-degree sexual assault, attempted first­-degree kidnapping with a firearm, third-degree assault and third-­degree criminal mischief for the 2009 attempted rape.

The honor is awarded in each Connecticut county by a state attorney to an individual or mul­tiple officers for their work on the police force.

Gedansky presented the honor to Gugliotti, Harris and Gilbert because he is the state’s attorney for Tolland County, where the main UConn campus is located.

UConn Police Major Ronald Blicher said the “work done by these offi­cers stood out” among other officers in Tolland County and involved a level of expertise of the officers during an “inten­sive” investigation.

The investigation, he said, required a “great deal” of paper­work, including paperwork for the court.

The three officers combined have nearly 20 years of experi­ence at UConn, he said.

Sgt. Daniel Gugliotti has been with the department for nine years. Harris has been with the depart­ment for six years and Gilbert has been in the department for four.

“It’s a great honor for them,” Blicher said.

A female victim reported that she was forced into a wooded area and sexually assaulted by a male during the 2008 attack, police said. According to police, the male threatened her with a handgun before fleeing the area.

While the first attack was still being investigated, UConn police received a report in June 2009 of a rape attempt.

During that incident, a female victim was approached in an agricultural field off Horsebarn Hill Road by a male attacker who threatened her with a handgun, police said.

Police said the victim fought the attacker and she was able to escape. The man then fled the scene. UConn has numerous safety measures on cam­pus to ensure the safety of its students. This includes Blue Lights, alert lights on campus, and the HuskyWatch Escort ser­vice.

Husky Watch operates seven days a week from 5 p.m. until 2 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.

The Storrs campus also has a service similar to Husky Watch, “Guard Dogs.” It is run by a student organization on campus and is funded primar­ily by the Undergraduate Student Government.

Gedansky could not be reached for comment in his office Friday.

Posted 6-4-2011

Have a news item or event you’d like posted on this news site? Simply send your information to editor@htnp.com and include your town in the subject line of your email. Please also include a phone number where you can be reached if there are questions.

Keep up-to-date on your local news – Like us (HTNP) on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Lawmakers appoint head UConn trustee to new term

University of Connecticut Board of Trustees Chairman Lawrence McHugh will continue in that role for six more years after his appointment was confirmed by the state legislature last week.

Along with McHugh, the legislature also confirmed the appointments of Thomas Kru­gers of Stamford and Marilda Gandara of Hartford to the board.

Former Gov. M. Jodi Rell first appointed McHugh in 2009 to complete the unexpired term of former Chairman Jack Rowe.

McHugh is also currently president of the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce and, previ­ously, spent more than a decade on the Con­necticut State University System’s board of trustees, including a stint as chairman.

During his confirmation hearing May 20, McHugh highlighted many of the noteworthy events and accomplishments during his two years and said he hopes to build off of those.

” We have a clear mission: to offer an excep­tional education to our students; to be a great research university and to produce excellent graduates who are a credit to the state of Connecticut and part of our economic backbone,” he said.

McHugh specifically mentioned the board’s decision to hire incoming UConn President Susan Herbst in December and said he believes she will be an effective leader.

“We have the utmost confidence in Susan’s ability to lead and effectively work with all of the university’s stakeholders, including the legislature and the governor,” McHugh said. “I’m confident that she is the right person to lead UConn through this difficult period and into a very bright future.”

He also noted proposals for a technol­ogy park at the Storrs campus and a biosci­ence program at the UConn Health Center in Farmington, which he said will help improve UConn and the state’s economy.

“This will allow us not only to add vital heft to our economy, but also to continue to deliver top-quality patient care while growing as a regional and national research hub, attract­ing vital funding to Connecticut,” he said of the Bioscience Connecticut proposal for the health center.

McHugh mentioned a newly created com­mittee that will compare UConn’s compensa­tion to what is offered to employees at other universities, saying the board wants to make sure money is spent responsibly.

“This will help ensure we are where we ought to be, and provide greater oversight when it comes to compensation,” he said. “We have an obligation to show we are good stew­ards of taxpayer dollars.”

Mansfield Mayor Elizabeth “Betsy” Paterson said the confirmation will also benefit the town because of McHugh’s efforts to work with municipal leaders.

“I think it’s a very positive step,” she said.

Paterson also said McHugh values a part­nership with Mansfield and has been “very willing to meet” with her and other town offi­cials on a regular basis.

Posted 6-3-2011

Have a news item or event you’d like posted on this news site? Simply send your information to editor@htnp.com and include your town in the subject line of your email. Please also include a phone number where you can be reached if there are questions.

Keep up-to-date on your local news – Like us (HTNP) on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!