A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the estate of Caroline Ashworth against the Branford Police Department alleging negligence in failing to secure the firearms that were owned by Micheal Mollow prior to the incident in which Mollow murdered Ashworth and then committed suicide in Wethersfield on August 27, 2022.
The lawsuit has been filed against three defendants: the Branford Police Department; SVMC holdings, the hospital that discharged Mollow; and the Mollow estate.
The lawsuit has resulted in an Internal Affairs investigation within the Branford Police Department, with disciplinary action being taken against two members of the department.
Branford police chief Jonathan Mulhern has issued the following statement:
“In August of 2022, there was a murder suicide involving Michael Mollow and Caroline Ashworth in Wethersfield. Both individuals were Branford residents, which has now resulted in litigation.
“Within days of the criminal actions of Michael Mollow, the Branford Police Department conducted an internal investigation to review any prior calls for service involving these parties. Our investigation revealed issues that needed to be addressed and corrective actions were taken by our agency as a result of our investigation. Due to the pending litigation, we cannot speak to the facts, circumstances, and complexity of this suit at this time, but these issues will be further addressed in the proper judicial forum.
“We assure our community that we will continue our daily efforts to combat domestic violence and provide mental health services to those affected within our community. We remind the public to call police if you, a loved one, or friend fall victim to domestic violence or suffer from a mental health illness.
“We thank the public for their patience and continued support of our agency at this time.
“The men and women of the Branford Police Department express our condolences to all those impacted by this tragedy.”
On August 27, 2022, Mollow, a well-known dentist who lived in Branford, drove to Wethersfield and shot and killed Caroline Ashworth. Mollow, 59, and Ashworth, 21, had been in a relationship that she had recently ended.
According to the lawsuit filing, Mollow and Ashworth had a tumultuous relationship that included calls to police for domestic issues. Those calls did not result in any arrests. For a while, Mollow and Ashworth lived together until Ashworth ended the relationship, moving out of the home on August 22, then drove a truck registered in Mollow’s name to Alabama to visit her grandmother.
According to the lawsuit, Mollow “became so emotionally distraught over Caroline leaving him that he voluntarily committed himself to the Emergency Department at Midstate Medical Center for depression, with homicidal ideations directed specifically against Caroline.”
Medical notes filed as part of the lawsuit show that Mollow and Ashworth had a 3 year relationship, that he was ‘totally obsessed’ with her, that he had homicidal thoughts regarding Ashworth, that he had a pistol permit and owned guns, was using alcohol and Xanax, was suffering from sleep disturbances and felt he was unable to remain safe outside the hospital.
On August 23, according to the lawsuit, a clinician at Midstate contacted the Branford police department regarding a Duty to Warn, a process that is used by mental health professionals when it is believed a third party could be at risk of injury, indicating that Mollow had reported homicidal ideations against Caroline Ashworth, and that he had a pistol permit with firearms in his home, and that Caroline was purportedly on her way to Alabama.
The initial call from the clinician, Carol Szymaszek, was received by Lieutenant Ramey, who was the acting day shift commander. Ramey, recognizing the names from two past family dispute cases, accessed those prior cases and printed them, then assigned Officer Robert Iovanna to investigate the report.
The lawsuit is centered on how the investigation was handled by Officer Iovanna, and how it was reported by Iovanna to his superior officer, Sergeant Konesky.
According to the lawsuit, and supported in large part by the police internal investigation, Off. Iovanna did not search for incidents beyond the two that LT. Ramey gave him, and did not pursue seizure of any of Mollows weapons, based on the fact that Mollow was then hospitalized and Ashworth was out of state.
He did try to contact Ashworth, but she did not answer and her voicemail was not set up. Consequently, Off. Iovanna placed the report on ‘inactive status.’
According to the lawsuit, in his report to his superior officer, Off. Iovanna did not include that Mollow had homicidal tendencies toward Ashworth and failed to mention that Mollow owned weapons.
After the murder/suicide, police record show that many firearms were removed from Mollow multiple properties in Branford and Vermont, and he had 20 firearm permits.
An Internal Affairs investigation by the police resulted in disciplinary actions being taken against Off Iovanna, who received a 30 day suspension without pay, and Sergeant Konesky, who received a 3 day suspension.
The claim in the lawsuit is that the death of Ashworth is a result of negligence by the police, including failing to make arrests in two prior domestic disturbances, the failure by Off. Iovanna to include the firearms permits in his report, the failure to include the homicidal ideations in his report, and additional details.
The police investigation confirmed some of these claims, finding that Off. Iovanna’s performance in handling the case violated several specific general orders of the Branford Police Department, and that he ‘should have taken further investigative steps including a comprehensive ‘Risk Investigation’ into Mollow and continued attempts to contact Ashworth. Ashworths statement could have established probable cause to seize Mollows weapons.
The report further found that Off. Iovanna should have known and could easily establish that Mollow owned weapons through a simple check of records, and that investigation was inadequate and negligent.
The findings concluded that Sergeant Konesky’s handling of the case was “below the expected standard of performance for a supervisor,” and he was suspended for 3 days without pay.
The Ashworth estate is also suing the hospital ownership, stating that he was prematurely discharged, that staff failed to properly assess the risks he posed, failing to assess his use of alcohol and Xanax, which he was not prescribed, and failing to determine how he would act if seeing Caroline and if his intrusive thoughts returned.
Both cops should be terminated and their certificates revoked.