Sponzo, key judge in Reilly case, dead at 92

Judge Maurice J. Sponzo, an icon to many in the Northwest Corner and best known locally as the man who played a powerful role in clearing Peter Reilly of murder charges three decades ago, died June 20 in Simsbury. He was 92.

Reilly was a Falls Village resident who, at the age of 18, was accused by state police of murdering his mother. He arrived at his home the night of Sept. 28, 1973, to find his mother lifeless and in a pool of blood — the victim of a grisly slaying that shocked the Northwest Corner and subsequently made headlines across the nation. Reilly did not know his father.

State police from Troop B in North Canaan eyed Reilly as the primary suspect almost immediately. He was taken into custody, was given little food or water, was not allowed to sleep for 25 hours and was not given prompt access to a lawyer. The high school student signed a confession, which he later retracted while serving his sentence.

He was subsequently charged with manslaughter and convicted the following April. But months later additional evidence emerged and the judge ordered a new trial.

Reilly’s plight became a cause celebre, attracting the attention of luminaries such as playwright Arthur Miller, film director Mike Nichols and author William Styron.

In November 1976 the charges were dropped after the state’s attorney’s office finally released evidence that seemed to clear Reilly.

That’s when Judge John A. Speziale, who himself presided over Reilly’s wrongful conviction, appointed Sponzo to serve as a one-man grand jury to investigate possible crimes in the investigation of the Reilly case.

The following June, Sponzo issued a 59-page report that essentially cleared Reilly and was highly critical of the police and prosecutors — but found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Moreover, Sponzo and his staff issued a secret addendum identifying five other possible suspects who had the means, motive and opportunity to commit the murder.

"He was a hero," said Lakeville Journal publisher emeritus Robert Estabrook. "He restored the good name of the justice system after it had been cast in ill repute by the state police."

Kent resident Donald Connery, a former foreign correspondent for Time and Life magazines, became captivated by the case, helped Reilly clear his name and wrote a seminal book on the saga, "Guilty Until Proven Innocent."

"He rose to the occasion with the highest of principles," Connery said of Sponzo.

Connery described Sponzo’s probe as "the most extensive and expensive investigation in Connecticut criminal history" and "the vital centerpiece for Peter Reilly’s exoneration."

While Connery acknowledged Sponzo was "a key figure and a heroic figure," he felt the judge’s report should have been more critical of the state police and the prosecutors.

Some observers felt Sponzo’s lack of bluntness might have been the result of his judicial temperament.

"But it was remarkable enough to get from any court a strong judgment that the lawmen had screwed up royally," Connery surmised.

Indeed, a 1977 Lakeville Journal editorial, which Connery quoted in his book, complained of "a lack of indignation about what happened to Peter Reilly" in Sponzo’s report, perhaps because the judge was being "judicious. "

"Nonetheless," the editorial continued, "an enormity, a huge wrong was committed because of the system — because of authorities who were blinkered, who were unwilling to admit error. Someone ought to shout about it."

Reached at his home in Tolland, Reilly, now 52, praised Sponzo not only for the judge’s role in clearing his name but for finding other more likely suspects, even if no indictments were issued against them.

"Unfortunately, the state police didn’t follow up," Reilly said.

According to Connery’s book, after reading Sponzo’s report, Reilly "threw [it] down in disgust" but later revised his opinion after being convinced by others, including his adoptive mother, Marion Madow, that the report "was more powerful than it appeared at first glance."

Sponzo was born in Hartford in 1914. After graduating from the University of Connecticut Law School, he began practicing law in 1940. He served in the Pacific theater during World War II in the Army’s 81st Infantry "Wildcat" Division.

Upon his return to the United States, Sponzo served as a prosecutor in the West Hartford town court and eventually moved on to the state court system, where he was named chief administrator of the state superior court.

Sponzo is survived by two daughters and two sisters.

"He was a great man doing a difficult job," Reilly said.