Kimberly Sullivan: Connecticut House of Horrors // 582

Summary

Going West: True Crime

Episode 582: Kimberly Sullivan – Connecticut House of Horrors
Release Date: February 13, 2026
Hosts: Daphne Woolsoncroft & Heath Merryman

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Episode Overview

This chilling episode of Going West delves into the "Connecticut House of Horrors"—the shocking survivor story of S., a man held captive and brutally abused for nearly three decades by his stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, and father, Craig Sullivan. Hosts Daphne and Heath guide listeners through the heartbreaking journey of S.’s childhood isolation, the systemic failures that enabled it, and his courageous escape sparked by setting his own room on fire at age 31.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

The Sullivan Family and Setting

• Location & Background:

  • The events occurred at 2 Blake Street, Waterbury, CT (04:01), a modest home burdened by financial struggles.
  • Kimberly (née Soto Santo) lived with husband Craig, their two daughters, and Craig’s son, S.
  • Financial hardship, bankruptcy, and toxic family dynamics were part of the backdrop (04:45).

• Kimberly’s Personality:

  • Former coworkers described Kimberly as “flinty,” “aggressive,” “always lying,” and “argumentative” (05:30).
  • Resentment toward her caregiving duties for a wheelchair-bound Craig was noted (06:01).
  • She spoke lovingly of her daughters but “never mentioned” her stepson, S. (06:31).

Early Victimhood and Family Estrangement

• S’s Biological Mother, Tracy:

  • Tracy suffered mental health challenges after losing daughter Heather to foster care (07:02).
  • Relinquished S to Craig, believing him to be more capable (08:10), but deeply regretted being cut off from her son (08:49).
  • Heather, S’s half-sister, searched for him for years without success (09:39).

• Craig’s Actions:

  • After gaining custody, Craig severed all connections between S and his biological family (09:39).
  • Kimberly and Craig lied, saying S had left home, preventing Heather from contact (10:45).

Escalating Abuse and School Warnings

• Abuse Begins:

  • Food and water were routinely withheld from S as early as age three, coinciding with Kimberly’s arrival in the household (12:12).
  • S began sneaking food, leading to harsh punishments (11:29).

• School Interventions:

  • Faculty at Barnard Elementary noticed S’s malnourishment, pale appearance, and hunger-driven behaviors (13:43).
  • Principal Tom Panone observed S drinking from urinal freshwater because he was too small to reach the fountain (14:34).
  • School staff called Department of Children and Families (DCF) multiple times, but after initial investigations, S was pulled out of school and ostensibly "homeschooled" (17:03).

  Tom Panone (school principal): “[S] was constantly hungry. These teachers were constantly bringing food in for the kid… We knew it. We reported it. Not a damn thing was done. That’s the tragedy.” (16:41)

• Homeschool Cover-Up:

  • S’s education ceased; he received only token worksheets, never advanced, and soon lost all outside contact (18:07).
  • School and police could never confirm his enrollment elsewhere; neighbors and classmates lost track of him (19:09, 21:13).

The Captivity Years

• Confinement Intensifies:

  • By 11, S was almost never allowed outside; his room was locked from the outside (22:13).
  • Daily “meals”: 2 sandwiches and a maximum of two small cups of water (22:13).
  • Occasionally, with Kimberly out, Craig let S sit in the living room or do chores (22:34).
  • When visitors came, S was to remain silent, hidden (23:04).

  Neighbor Paula Depina: “He was on the second floor in the window, looking out like a little ghost—he was pale, like white.” (23:58)

• Isolation from Siblings:

  • S’s half-sisters attended private school, while he was forbidden from education or social interaction. Their role is unclear but remains a source of anger and speculation (19:35, 24:10).

• Father’s Death & Increasing Danger:

  • Craig died in January 2024, leaving S completely at the mercy of Kimberly (24:24).

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The Escape: House Fire and Rescue

• Setting the Fire:

  • On February 17, 2025, S set fire to his own room to force a rescue, risking his life to escape (28:04).
  • His room was locked from the outside; he hoped firefighters would have to break in (36:12).

  S (through investigators): “I wanted my freedom.” (28:48)

• Discovery by First Responders:

  • Paramedics found a malnourished, 68-pound, 31-year-old S in the fetal position under a table (27:09).
  • His hair was matted, teeth decaying, and he hadn’t bathed in a year (37:17).
  • Forensic examination verified S’s story: locks on the outside, nailed-shut plywood windows, a non-functioning bathroom, makeshift urine funnel, and containers of human waste (37:51).

• Police Actions:

  • Kimberly was arrested March 12, 2025, and charged with unlawful restraint, assault, kidnapping, reckless endangerment, and cruelty (41:08).

  Police Chief Fred Spinolo: “33 years of law enforcement—this is the worst treatment of humanity I’ve ever witnessed. It’s really hard to talk about still.” (42:56)

• Kimberly’s Defense Attempts:

  • Kimberly claimed to be “blown away” by the charges (48:42).
  • Her attorney argued she “was not the villain” and blamed the now-deceased Craig, an assertion hosts thoroughly refuted (53:14).

  Prosecutors: “[S] was, without exaggeration, akin to a survivor at Auschwitz death camp.” (48:52)

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Systemic Failures & Community Response

• Repeated System Failures:

  • DCF and police wellness checks repeatedly failed to uncover ongoing abuse; S was coached to lie (19:53, 21:30).
  • After being pulled from school, S became “invisible.”

• Community Anger:

  • Public outrage erupted, especially after Kimberly’s release on bond, possibly funded by her daughters. Community demanded accountability from all complicit parties (43:53).

Reflections, Motives, and Speculation

• Why Did Nobody Help?

  • S’s sisters, and even Kimberly’s mother, allegedly knew of the abuse. Their reasons for silence remain unclear—fear, manipulation, or complicity are all possible (40:46, 44:34).

  Daphne: “She bragged about her daughters… and she never mentioned S once. He was like invisible to her. She didn’t care about him and she abused him horribly.” (44:51)

• Kimberly’s Past:

  • This was not Kimberly’s first brush with disturbing crime. As a teen, she was last seen with best friend Laura Ann Melio before Laura’s rape and murder in 1986—a crime for which a different perpetrator was convicted, but for which Laura’s family holds Kimberly indirectly responsible due to her abandoning Laura at a park at night (50:05).

S’s Recovery and Voice

• Survival and Hope:

  • S is living under a new identity, receiving medical and psychological help, and working with Waterbury’s Safe Haven program.
  • He released a powerful statement reclaiming his story and expressing gratitude for his rescuers (55:47):

  S (public statement):
  “Please call me S. This is not the name given to me by my parents when I was born. I am choosing a new name for myself and I will use that name as I reclaim control over my life and my future… I am much better and stronger than I was the day the first responders carried me out of my home… I am beyond grateful for the care I have received since then… I appreciated the chance to have my first ever birthday party to celebrate turning 32…” (55:47)

• Detective Steve Brownell:

  “Considering what he’s been through, it’s really about his spirit. When anybody's around him… everybody’s trying to get him to the future.” (57:26)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “She wasn’t well liked. She was constantly lying, argumentative with other people.” — Lee Wassell, Kimberly’s former coworker (05:44)
• “He was on the second floor in the window, looking out like a little ghost—he was pale, like white…” — Neighbor Paula Depina (23:58)
• “[S] was, without exaggeration, akin to a survivor at Auschwitz death camp.” — Prosecutors (48:52)
• “I was thinking that I was giving my son a better chance at a full life. If I had known... I just can’t fathom… When he is healthier and he is stronger, if he wants a relationship with me, I am right here.” — S’s biological mother, Tracy (47:25)
• “I am a survivor of more than 20 years of captivity and domestic abuse. I was held prisoner in my home from the time I was taken out of the fourth grade at age 11 until two months ago at age 31, when I purposefully set the fire that helped set me free.” — S (55:47)

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Key Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Summary | |------------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 04:01 | Introduction to the case and key family members | | 13:43 | Teachers’ early suspicions and failed interventions | | 21:13 | S’s removal from school, homeschool charade | | 24:24 | Confinement during and after Craig’s death | | 28:04 | S sets fire for rescue and details his escape | | 37:17 | Paramedics discover S’s condition, home inspection | | 42:56 | Police and community reaction to the revelations | | 47:25 | S’s mother Tracy reacts to his rescue | | 48:52 | Prosecutors liken S’s survival to Holocaust prisoners | | 55:47 | S’s public statement after rescue | | 57:26 | Detective Brownell on S’s resilience |

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Takeaways

• Systemic failure over decades allowed unimaginable abuse to go undetected or unpunished.
• Survivor’s courage: S’s ingenuity and bravery in setting the fire risked his life but finally secured his freedom.
• Community accountability: Listeners are left questioning how many people—within the family, neighborhood, and institutions—could have intervened but didn’t.
• Unanswered questions remain about S’s siblings’ role or knowledge in his captivity.

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Tone & Closing

Daphne and Heath expertly balance outrage, empathy, and incredulity, guiding listeners through a tale as tragic as it is astonishing. Their language is candid, expressing both their heartbreak for the victim and furious condemnation of the abusers and systemic shortcomings. The episode closes with hope for S’s recovery and a promise to update listeners when Kimberly Sullivan’s trial proceeds.

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For photos, updates, and further discussion, follow Going West on Instagram @goingwestpodcast and TikTok.

Transcript

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What is going on? True crime fans?

[A]

I'm your host, he and I'm your host, Daphne.

[B]

And you're listening to Going West.

[A]

Hello everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in today. This story that we have is a little bit different than anything that we've really ever covered before, but it is absolutely true crime. It is a horrific, surreal story.

[B]

Yes, this is definitely a very different type of case. It is a survivor story, but one that will make you cringe to your core.

[A]

Yeah. Make sure that you are following us on socials to see photos associated with this wild story. And without further ado.

[B]

Alright guys, this is episode 582 of Going West. So let's get into it.

[A]

Sam. In February of 2025, firefighters responded to an emergency call from a Waterbury, Connecticut home. But what initially appeared to be a routine house fire became a disturbing mystery when police made a horrific discovery. The fire had broken out inside a room upstairs with locks on the outside. What followed was an investigation into two decades of abuse inside the house that came to be dubbed as the House of Horrors. This is the story of S. And Kimberly Sullivan, known as Connecticut's House of Horrors. At Tube Lake street in Waterbury, Connecticut, which lies near central Connecticut, about halfway between New York City and Boston. Kimberly Sullivan, formerly Soto Santo, lived with her husband Craig, their two daughters, and Craig's son from A previous relationship. Now, Craig spent most of his career working for Gem Manufacturing, which is a company that makes metal products. And for years, Kimberly worked retail inside a mall, but either quit or was fired in 2021. And in the years leading up to her arrest, most of her reported income came from welfare. However, ironically, when she was a teen, she aspired to go into law enforcement.

[B]

She would be a very shitty cop.

[A]

Yeah, you guys will see why we're saying that very soon. Now back to life at 2 Blake street so money was tight for Kimberly and Craig, who shared a modest four bedroom, one bathroom home on the southwest side of Waterbury, Connecticut. And both Kimberly and her husband Craig filed for bankruptcy at one point, to give you an idea of how tight money was. And both had accrued substantial amounts of credit card debt, so they were frequently behind on their mortgage. A former coworker of Kimberly's at the West Farms mall in Farmington, Connecticut, named Lee Wassell recalled that she had trouble getting along with her co workers and that her kind of flinty and aggressive Persona often clashed with her fellow employees and customers alike.

[B]

Yeah, she was definitely the type of person that would get in arguments with customers, so definitely not great for business.

[A]

No, not, not a customer service gal. Lee remembered, quote, she wasn't well liked. She was constantly lying, argumentative with other people. According to Lee as well, she also complained often about her money woes to her coworkers, especially after Craig's declining forced him to retire and remain wheelchair bound at home with Kimberly as his sole caretaker. So she talked a lot about that as well. Lee explained, quote, her husband was handicapped. He was in a wheelchair. She hated when her shift was over how she had to go home to take care of him. So, you know, not only was there like a lot of resentment in their marriage because of that, like, you guys will see even more so again, why she's like this, because not only is she a piece of shit, but she, she doesn't have a caring bone in her body.

[B]

No, definitely zero caring features inside of her.

[A]

But the one bright spot in her life were her daughters. Though when it came to her stepson, Lee admitted that she, quote, never mentioned him at all. Never mentioned him. But remember this stepson because he is the focus of this story today.

[B]

Well, let's talk about him. So Kimberly's stepson, whose name has yet to be released to the public, but who was asked via his victim's advocate to be referred to as S, was relinquished to his biological father after his biological mother felt that she just really wasn't in a position to adequately care for him because his mother, Tracy Valerand, had been struggling with her mental health for years prior to the birth of her son. Now, aside from S, Tracy had a daughter that she named Heather. But when Heather was still a baby, protective services actually removed her from the home, alleging that the baby's father had given her shaken baby syndrome. So she was taken into custody in 1990 and was put into foster care while Heather's father was sent to jail. Thus, Tracy was forced to move forward without her daughter, and her mental health suffered significant significantly as a result of this loss. Ultimately, she did try to take her own life and was placed in the care of a mental hospital. So, in the midst of her custody battle and her fight to regain a semblance of normalcy, Tracy met and married Craig Sullivan, and the pair had their son, who, again, is S. Yeah, we're.

[A]

Gonna talk about a lot of different people and relationships here, so we're gonna try to make it clear, but it can get a little confusing.

[B]

Well, concerning Tracy, she found herself unable to escape the ghosts of her past, and she just really couldn't care for herself or her child. When Tracy and Craig filed for divorce, she offered him full custody of their son S. You know, believing that Craig was the more responsible and apt parent. But she never gave up on seeing her son again and also having a relationship with him. Like, for example, she knew of this park where Craig supposedly took their son to play, And Tracy recalled stalking out that park for hours at a time in her car, just hoping to catch a glimpse of S, though she never did.

[A]

And it's sad to think of that and where this story is going to go, that Tracy gave S to Craig, believing that he was the. More, like you said, heath, apt parent, and that he was going to be a better caregiver, which literally could not be further from the truth. And here's Tracy just trying to get a glimpse of her son. And, you know, obviously, she herself is saying that she couldn't care for him either, but it does feel like deep down, she cares a lot more about S. Than you guys will see. Craig does.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. And it's. It's just a really sad situation because obviously, she's dealing with her mental health struggles. She does know that she's just not up for being a full custody parent. But she. She does really, really want to have some sort of relationship with S. Yeah.

[A]

Overall, this is a really devastating situation.

[B]

Well, after assuming custody of S, his dad Craig shut out Tracy and her entire side of the family. He's like, yeah, you guys can't have any sort of relationship with S, including S's half sister, Heather Tessman. And we talked about Heather earlier, and none of them ever saw or heard from him again. Well, years later into adulthood, Heather led an exhaustive search for her brother, combing social media as well as genealogy websites and even consulting court records. But she was never able to find him. And again, I just want to give you guys just a quick little recap since we've, like Daphne said, thrown a lot of names at you guys. So Tracy is the mother of Heather, and S. Craig is the father of S, who they had when he and Tracy were still together. After Craig and Tracy divorced, Craig married Kimberly Sullivan. And together, Craig and Kimberly had two daughters. And the main players of this story are absolutely Kimberly and S. Now, this.

[A]

Is important to remember, too. Heather claimed that she reached out to her brother S's side of the family when she and S were adults. Like, she obviously knows how old S is. She knows he's an adult, so she's like, oh, now that he's older, maybe I can find him and have a relationship with him and not be stunted by Craig and Kimberly. Right, Naturally. But she also said that she was told by Craig and his wife Kimberly that S had graduated high school and left the home, and they refused to give her any information about his whereabouts or even help connect her with him. So they're saying, oh, yeah, we. He left. We don't. We don't know where he's at, and you don't get to talk to him.

[B]

Yeah, and you guys will see that that's just very much not true.

[A]

But that's why this is such an important part, because it's like they're. They're lying to Heather. Even like Heather, every time that she tried to reach Craig and Kimberly, she was greeted with nothing but hostility from them, which she now knows the reason for. But starting from when he was three years old. Let's go back. Ss dad, Craig, and stepmom Kimberly withheld food from him at home. And poor S became so desperate that he would sneak out of his room at night and take food from the kitchen. But when the wrappings were discovered in the trash, he would be locked in his room as punishment. Like, they even withheld water from him.

[B]

Yeah, just the basic necessity to stay alive. Or water they withheld from him.

[A]

And I know you guys are like, heath and I, and you're like, why? It doesn't make any sense. Like, it's it's not like he was a bad kitten. Even if he was, that's like, I mean, straight up abuse.

[B]

Still do that?

[A]

Yeah. So there's really no explanation for this. But it's going to get so much worse, unfortunately. Now, according to Tracy Craig, remember, Tracy is the ex and S's biological mother. Craig met Kimberly when S was around three years old, and that's when the food stopped being given to him. So coincidence? I think not. So, you know, obviously this is, this is tracking with the timeline of the onset of abuse. S also had friends from elementary school who recalled how their friend simply vanished from their classes without a word and that they looked for him. They stopped by his house and they asked around about him for years after he suddenly and mysteriously vanished one day, but that no sign of him ever materialized. But little did they know, he never left. So jumping to fourth grade when this is happening, S's teacher started to notice him exhibiting concerning behavior. This is before he suddenly disappears. I was just giving you a little teaser as to what's to come. So not only was S small for his age, especially when compared to the other boys in his grade, but he began taking food from anybody he could and was even caught scavenging food from trash cans.

[B]

That's just so sad to think about a fourth grader dumpster diving for food at school.

[A]

Well, according to the principal of his elementary school, Barnard elementary, the principal is named Tom Panone. Concerns about abuse in the Sullivan home began when S was just around 5 years old. Tom recalled thinking that he was only about a quarter of the size of his peers and that he was perpetually pale and sickly because he wasn't even getting water at home. He would drink as much as he could throughout the day. But Tom claims that he couldn't even reach the water fountain because he was so small. So maybe out of embarrassment, he resorted to drinking from the fresh water that drained into the urinal in the boys bathroom, which is something that Principal Tom even saw him doing on occasion.

[B]

It's just, again, it's just so fucking sad.

[A]

Yeah. And you're probably thinking, like, why? Like the principal saw this and didn't do anything about it. You know, from his perspective, he was very alarmed by this, but he wasn't sure necessarily that it warranted a call home because he didn't know what was going on behind the scenes. He was actually thinking this was just the quirky behavior typical for an elementary school boy.

[B]

Yeah, he's just like being, you know, like an elementary school kid. They do Some funny things sometimes. So he's not. He's not super concerned at this point, but he will get to that point.

[A]

Yeah. Like, he didn't know that it meant that S. Wasn't allowed to drink water at home and that any abuse was happening. But teachers then began to notice that S. Would always eat his lunch as soon as he got to school, inhaling it as if he hadn't been permitted to eat at home. Tom also took note that S lunchbox was always filthy and didn't appear to be getting properly cleaned or restocked. Tom later said in an interview he was constantly hungry. These teachers were constantly bringing food in for the kid. So when Tom was asked if he was getting breakfast at home, S. Said that he wasn't. So at this point, Tom placed a concerned call to his parents, instructing them that they make sure he had eaten breakfast before he left for school every day. Which is like, I get why Tom did that, but you're like, you're calling him out. You like. I guess I just wish that he would have thought, you know, is this abuse? And not, oh, guys, don't forget to give him breakfast. What are you guys doing? Like, this is deeper than that, probably.

[B]

Sure. And there's probably only so much that Tom can do at this point, you know, aside from. I mean, he could have definitely called cps, which we're gonna get there. But, you know, at this point, he's just like, hey, you know, I gotta. I gotta remind you guys, like, that this child needs to be having breakfast before he comes to school.

[A]

Well, and after he said that, for a while, this behavior stopped.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But likely only because he was being punished at home for it. Tom said sadly, quote, we knew it. We reported it. Not a damn thing was done. That's the tragedy of the whole thing. But he also later said that he regretted not having done more, knowing that something was up, obviously enough to call back to the house.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

And also remember, this would have been in the late 90s and early 2000s.

[B]

Well, s. Would also casually tell stories at school about his home life without realizing just how disturbing these stories actually were. Tom recalled hearing, mother would order pizza, and he wouldn't get any of the pizza. And this kind of stuff kind of broke your heart. And over the years, from kindergarten to fourth grade, between myself, the school nurse, the parent liaison, the teachers called dcf, the Department of Children and Family Services, numerous times. But sadly, after the first visit from dcf, Craig and Kimberly did not change their ways, and they actually pulled S out of school. In the midst of his fourth grade year and began homeschooling him, meaning then that nobody could see or hear about the abuse. So they're like, oh, fine, you're gonna make a problem of this. We're just gonna pull him from school, and now you can't do anything about it.

[A]

Yeah, now you can't see how we're mistreating him.

[B]

And according to S, he was merely provided worksheets, but his skill level never advanced because the. They weren't actually teaching him anything. They're just like, here, have these little. Have these little stupid worksheets. They're not. They don't want him to advance. They don't care. And eventually they stopped trying to teach him altogether. After fourth grade, potentially even before the conclusion of the year, S suddenly stopped showing up to school. Now, Tom did claim that he asked after S. And that some of the kids in his neighborhood actually reported seeing him waving to them from his window, but that he was never allowed to come out and play. Now, after calling the police for multiple wellness checks and even stopping by the house himself, Tom heard from officers who had spoken to Kimberly that she was actually going to enroll him in the nearby Woolcott school district. But Tom called all of the elementary schools in that district, and S. Was never registered to any of them.

[A]

And this does show how much Tom cares and he's trying to do things. And to be fair to him, like what I said earlier, that I wish he had approached it differently, like, he does care. And I think that that is worth a lot.

[B]

Yeah, it's worth noting for sure.

[A]

And the fact that he is saying, well, I want to see if you're telling me the truth. So I'm going to call all the schools and see if he is enrolled, only to find out that he isn't. Like, he's. That's his own personal time he's doing that on. That's his own. His own watch.

[B]

Well, to give you guys a little bit more perspective about how shitty this situation is for S, his sisters were actually enrolled in private school. So he's not enrolled in school at all. And Kimberly is putting up the buck for her daughters to go to private.

[A]

School for her pride and joys.

[B]

Yeah, Exactly. Now, in 2004 and 2005, so when S. Was 11 and 12 years old, police and child family services were sent to the Sullivans home multiple times. And several people from Barnard elementary, including principal Tom, the Barnard elementary school nurse, and multiple of S's teachers, stopped by the house to check on him. And they Were always told, of course, that S was safe and that he was enjoying being homeschooled, but were forbidden from seeing him. So Kimberly's like, yeah, he's doing fine. Don't worry about it. But, yeah, you can't see him now. At every DCF visit and wellness check, the Sullivans told the police that S was thriving. And police even noted in one of their reports that the home appeared normal and lived in. Which when you see photos of this home, you're gonna be like, what the fuck were they thinking? What are they even talking about? Police even spoke with S directly and wrote that he was happy and healthy. But of course, S's life took a downward turn when he was pulled out of school. But he was instructed, when asked to tell the officers that everything was okay and that he was not being held captive or being abused. After the second visit, Kimberly threatened legal action against dcf, claiming that their family was being maligned, treated unfairly, and even harassed. So S never showed up at Barnard to start the fifth grade, and none of his friends or the concerned staff at Barnard ever saw him again.

[A]

The older he got, the less time S was permitted to spend outside. And by 11 years old, he was almost completely confined to the house. S himself recalled being away from the home for the last time at 14 or 15. And this was only to assist his dad with transporting yard waste away from the house. He described his day to day life at 2 Blake street as brutally consistent and that he was let out of his room only to complete his chores, which took between 15 minutes and 2 hours per day.

[B]

Yeah, so he doesn't get to go anywhere. He doesn't get to do anything unless it has to do with some sort of manual labor or chore work.

[A]

Yeah, quote, unquote, chores. So other than that, he was confined to his bedroom, which was eventually locked from the outside to permit him from taking food from the kitchen or trying to escape. He was given two sandwiches per day, either peanut butter, tuna, or egg salad, and a maximum of two small cups of water. This is all he's getting for the whole freaking day. S recalled that when his stepmother Kimberly was away from the house, his father, Craig, would sometimes allow him to sit in the living room with him and watch tv or that they would occasionally work in the yard together. On the rare occasion that someone came to visit the house, S. Was instructed to remain quiet and did so out of fear of retaliation. By the time he reached his teens, no one seemed to even remember that he was inside. After their daughters moved out, most of the family's neighbors were unaware that anybody aside from Kimberly and her husband even lived in the house. Their neighbor, Paula Depina, lived next door to the Sullivans from 2003 to 2009 and remembered seeing S only three times during those six years. Paula recalled, he was on the second floor in the window, like, looking out like a little ghost. Like, he was pale, like white. And then I'm like, I don't know why, maybe he doesn't like to come out, but I never thought anything was wrong. So. Like many others, Paula later said that she wished she had reported recorded her harrowing sighting sooner and really quick. For anybody who is wondering why the sisters were allowed to go to private school and move out, we really don't know yet. Like, of course, we are so curious why they didn't help because they apparently very rarely interacted with their older stepbrother, S. So surely they were either afraid or they were manipulated into believing that there was something wrong with S and not that he was being abused or something. But we hope there will be some more closure on this at some point because what the hell? But we're also gonna dive into that a little bit later.

[B]

Well, more on the neighbors. The Sullivan's subsequent next door neighbor, Shay Baker, remembered a similar interaction. As Paula's saying, I was just in the backyard playing and I looked up and saw a boy and I waved at him and he smiled and waved back. And I hadn't seen him in the house or anywhere around since. So I just figured that it was family visiting. Is it someone I made up? There was no sign of him anywhere outside of that day. But as bad as things were for ass at the house, they took another turn for the worse on January 25, 2024, when Craig passed away after a very long struggle with his health. So during S's 30th year, for the 13 months he spent alone in the house with Kimberly, S's police report detailed that the only time he would ever be out of the house once his father died was to let the family dog out in the back of the property. And that even this was for only about a minute at a time. Then on February 17, 2025, emergency services responded to a 911 call about a house fire breaking out. Her voice tight and on the verge of tears, Kimberly called 911, reporting a fire that had allegedly started with the TV in her stepson's upstairs bedroom. She begged for an ambulance, telling the operator that her stepson was injured. When asked how, she stammered and said, I Don't know. He's kinda passed out. He's out of it now. By Kimberly's account, she wondered if maybe S. Had fallen asleep and possibly set the fire by accident, or if perhaps a wire shortage had started the blaze. She claimed to have been asleep as well at this time and said that she smelled the smoke from her adjacent upstairs bedroom, omitting the fact that S. Was locked inside the room as the blaze began. Kimberly claimed that she went to his room to get him, but that the room was engulfed in flames.

[A]

So she told first responders that S. Had trailed after her downstairs emerging from his room, but that somehow they got separated, with Kimberly grabbing her dog and heading outside and S. Staying behind in the kitchen. When first responders and firefighters arrived, they attempted to usher Kimberly away from the house in an attempt to flesh out the whole story. Kimberly seemed reluctant to leave her stepson alone with them while she barked various orders and demands at the firefighters, because.

[B]

Of course she would.

[A]

Of course she would. One of them gallantly carried 31 year old s. Out of the house and placed him in the back of the ambulance. He was so small when firefighters spotted him crouched under the table in the kitchen that they actually assumed that he was a child. Waterbury's fire captain John Paul Oldham recalled, quote, I saw the mother and at the time, what I thought was a child in the kitchen. He was in the fetal position in the kitchen. Now, one of the firefighters who tended to S. Gabriel Goya, said the victim was curled up in a little ball underneath the table. Then I went up to him, scooped him up and just took him out the front door. So sensing immediately that something was not right, Kimberly and S. Were kept apart by paramedics and go freaking paramedics for recognizing this.

[B]

Yeah, they did the right thing here.

[A]

So when investigators questioned what had happened at the house that night, S. Revealed straight away that the evening's events had been intentional, explaining that he had set the fire in his room in order to seek help.

[B]

This is such an amazing story and such like, it's just incredible that S. Being as weak as he was at that point because he had been kept away, locked away, malnourished, all these things, had the foresight to understand that this was his chance, this is how he was gonna do it, this is how he was gonna get away from this abuse. He was going to intentionally start that fire so that people had to come to his rescue.

[A]

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[B]

After S was saved by a fire crew, he laid out the detailed nuances of his scheme, which had started about a year earlier when he found a lighter in his deceased father's jacket. In early February of 2025, he began to put his plan into action, setting aside pieces of printer paper, which he eventually doused in hand sanitizer as an extension accelerant and then lit on fire. So with the upstairs breaking out in flames, Kimberly was forced to release him or leave him trapped to his demise. So this was a risk that S was clearly willing to take. He's like, either I'm gonna light this fire and she's gonna unlock the door because remember, there were locks on the outside of his bedroom door. So he's either gonna light this fire and she's gonna have to unlock the door and let him out, or she's just gonna let him die in there and then she's probably gonna be charged with murder because they're gonna find those locks.

[A]

Yeah, they're gonna see everything. His whole situation, which please get into the bedroom sitch.

[B]

Well, as he was assessed for injuries, paramedics were shocked and appalled at his condition. S claimed that he had not been Allowed to shower in over a year. Year. His hair was matted and his appearance dirty and disheveled. His teeth were reportedly decaying. And he claimed that he had never been allowed to see a dentist and that he hadn't been to a doctor since he was young, probably around the same time that he was pulled out of school. At 31 years old, he was 5ft 9 inches tall, and he weighed just 68 pounds. He was so malnourished and feeble that his muscles had atrophied from the fire. He had suffered mild burns as well as smoke inhalation, so he was admitted to the hospital in critical condition. But back at the house, his bedroom was assessed for the fire damage that it sustained, and so investigators could obviously assess the validity of S's claims as well as the allegations against his stepmother, all of which were unfortunately found to be true. The room in which S was kept was squalid and in disrepair and looked like something straight out of a hoarder's house. The windows of S's bedroom were nailed shut with plywood, and multiple locks adorned the outside of his bedroom door, confining him and trapping him in the room where the fire broke out. There was also a small bathroom that was attached to S's bedroom, but it was not in working order because, of course, it wasn't. So to relieve himself, he devised a makeshift funnel to direct urine out of the window using straws. According to an affidavit included in the warrant, water bottles and other plastic receptacles were found to contain human waste as well. So it's just. I mean, it's like even confined in this bedroom and having this bathroom attached to the bedroom. Kimberly didn't, you know, mind to. She didn't. She didn't care to fix this bathroom so that it was in working order so that S could use it. He had to resort to peeing through straws out of a window. And also, I gotta say, the difference between his quarters and the rest of the house was staggering, to say the least, with the conditions in Kimberly's quarters of the house appearing mostly clean as well as livable. The room in which he was being held was described as a room concealed inside of another room, likely to prevent his escape. And as law enforcement put it, the stench of human waste and filth was palpable, as the mattress in S's room was covered in stains and wasted trash. Clutter and leftover food scraps from what little food he was being offered were scattered throughout this room in what was one of the most infuriating details of the case. S. Claimed that his two half sisters had known about the confinement as well as the abuse, like we briefly mentioned before, as had Kimberly's mother. But they had all chosen to keep it a secret, either out of support or. Or protection for Kimberly, or because they were complicit in it and agreed with whatever false justification Kimberly may have peddled. After S. Was safely shuttled to the hospital, Kimberly was questioned at the scene, seated in her daughter's vehicle. And there, a detective tested the waters, questioning whether S. Was kept confined or not, to which Kimberly responded with feigned shock, saying, no.

[A]

But investigators built their case against her very quickly. Kimberly was arrested on March 12, 2025, and charged with first degree unlawful restraint, first degree assault, second degree kidnapping, reckless endangerment, and cruelty. And I gotta say, like, who knows how much longer it would have been of this type of behavior and abuse until she would have been charged with his death. You know, like, if things had kept going, he probably wouldn't have survived this forever.

[B]

Yeah, I don't think so. I mean, at 31 years old, he was 68 pounds, and he was barely getting any water. He wasn't hardly getting any food. So, yeah, I mean, at some point, it's like you really could see the writing on the wall that it was either S. Was going to escape or he was going to perish in that room.

[A]

Well, also imagine, even if that didn't happen first, if she died, you know, because Craig died. So what if she died and he's.

[B]

Just locked in there.

[A]

Yes. Like, this is. It's so dangerous to do that for so many reasons. Even you think about the fire on its own, and he's locked in there. Like, you can't do that.

[B]

And some of you may be thinking, well, why didn't he try to escape before? Well, because they. They boarded up his windows. They locked the door from the outside. And again, he was £68. He was malnourished, so he really didn't have the strength to try and get away. And then, of course, Kimberly, at this point, is all he knows because he's been confined for so long, he doesn't have any friends that he can lean on for help. He doesn't have any family members. He doesn't have Tracy, his biological mother, to lean on if he tries to escape.

[A]

And he knows what happens when he asks for help. He gets punished more and he doesn't get help.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Well, at a press briefing about the fire and Kimberly's subsequent arrest, Police chief Fred Spinolo added, 33 years of law enforcement. This is the worst treatment of humanity that I've ever witnessed. It's really hard to talk about still. And yet still. Unfortunately, Kimberly was quickly released on a $300,000 bond and allowed to return to her home. And it's. It's unknown who posted her bail, but it was most likely one of her daughters, 29 year old Alyssa or 27 year old Jamie. Reportedly, one of the women was working as a veterinary assistant at a local clinic and public outrage caused them to fire her after their identities were released in like a New York Times article. Because again, everyone's like, were you complicit in this because you weren't abused as far as anybody knows?

[B]

Exactly. People were pissed there. They want everybody that's involved in this bullshit to be held accountable.

[A]

Well, especially if they were one of them or both of them helped pay her mom's bond. Because now it's like, now you're, you're helping her.

[B]

You like, yeah. You're not, you're not saying, wow, this situation was so messed up. Like, why would I help her at this point?

[A]

Yeah, finally she's locked away, by the way. I have been trying to report this for years or whatever, you know, but again, we really don't know their part in this or their role. I'll say so because of that. Some have expressed empathy for Kimberly's daughters, wondering if they were victims themselves.

[B]

You know, I can't. I would say maybe, probably just knowing who Kimberly is as a person because she's just a horrible human being. But also, when you think about the private school shit, she really did put effort into her daughters and just disregarded everything when it came to s. And.

[A]

She bragged about her daughters. She told her co workers she loved them. They were her pride and joy. And she never mentioned S once. He was like invisible to her. She didn't care about him and she abused him horribly and didn't want people to ask about him because she knew what she was doing. Well, for the time being, despite the fire damage, Kimberly was allowed to live inside the home in which she had made her stepson's life a living hell. Now the house outside of her stepson's room, again, was habitable, though her design tastes were pretty questionable.

[B]

Yeah, absolute trash.

[A]

Pictures show that her walls were painted hot pink.

[B]

What the hell, you know, fine, if.

[A]

You have a hot pink room, no judge. No judge. But she had like outlines of a woman's face made up like, almost like a. Looked like a doll face in the pink paint. Also, talking about dolls, a doll hung in the corner of the living room as well. There was a large poster of Marilyn Monroe adorning the wall. You know, it's her house, she could do what she wants. But then upstairs, her stepson is living in despicable squalor, like so. Just saying that to say her house was a mess anyway.

[B]

How dare she disgrace the queen Marilyn Monroe in that shitty hot pink house.

[A]

Yeah, well. As the investigation was underway, Kimberly had been allowed to come and go from the house, though she was required to wear a GPS tracker. And as the news of her arrest circulated, those who knew her or were familiar with S began to come forward with their own stories about the Sullivan family. Jeffrey Guglielmo, who graduated from Waterbury's Willby High School with Kimberly, said, I was very shocked, but then I was not surprised because of the way she was, the way she acted, the way she lived. When all of this came about, none of us were really surprised, but we didn't think she was this dark because, I mean, you've gotta be a real horrible person to do that to somebody.

[B]

So this just confirms that Kimberly has been a shitty person for her entire life. If even your high school classmates are saying, yeah, well, it didn't really surprise us she sucked in high school too.

[A]

So true. This isn't like an ex, this is like a classmate, so.

[B]

And nothing like, it's like, it's not like there was some sort of progression into her horribleness. Like she's just been this way.

[A]

And I'm sure the shock was like, oh my God, this is a crazy story, I can't believe this. But then, wait, yeah, she was kind of.

[B]

Yeah, like that, huh?

[A]

Ss mom, Tracy, like his sister Heather, whom he never knew, claimed that she spent years looking for him, as we know, to no avail. But when she was notified of the horrors. This is Tracy I'm talking about. That her son had been subjected to, she said, sadly, things didn't work out between the two of us, meaning her relationship with Craig. And I was thinking that I was giving my son a better chance at a full life. If I had known. I just can't fathom. I have no words. I was not expecting him to be locked in a room when he is healthier and he is stronger. If he wants a relationship with me, I am right here. I am not going anywhere. On April 1, 2025, 56 year old Kimberly pleaded not guilty to all of the charges stacked against her. Of course, through her lawyer, Joannis Colotis, Kimberly issued a statement that claimed the allegations stacked against her were, quote, absolutely not true. He was not locked in a room. She did not restrain him in any way. She provided food and she provided shelter. And she was blown away by these allegations. Absolutely not.

[B]

Shut up. I almost just said the same thing.

[A]

Shut up.

[B]

Just shut up, bro. We already know the situation and the circumstances. You're not gonna pull a fast one.

[A]

Yeah. So the prosecutors rebutted this with their own statement saying, quote, he was, without exaggeration, akin to a survivor at Auschwitz death camp. I mean, that is a really big statement to make. And they are saying, without exaggeration.

[B]

But if you are wondering if, you know, this is just who Kimberly has been her whole life, like we said earlier, this was not the first time that Kimberly's name has been tied to a potentially brutal crime. Because although Kimberly was never officially considered a suspect or a person of interest, she was one of the last people to see her teenage friend alive before she was brutally murdered. Laura Ann Melio was born on September 27, 1969, to parents Jacqueline and Frank, and she grew up alongside a sister named Francesca and a brother named Bruce. Well, on the evening of July 16, 1986, Laura and her best friend, who happened to be Kimberly, were out with friends for the evening when Kimberly abruptly headed home. She left Laura behind at Sylvan Lake, which is located about 10 minutes north of Waterbury, with a male friend who was seven years her senior. According to this friend, Robert Tartaglia, Laura was too drunk to walk home with him, so he briefly left her alone at Sylvan Lake while he went to pick up his car so that he could safely drive her home. But when he returned to fetch Laura, she had vanished. It wasn't until November 12th of that year that her body was found discarded in the woods off of Sylvan Lake Road, about a mile and a half or 2.4km from where she had last been seen in the park with her friends. She had been sexually assaulted and she was also strangled to death. And months passed before justice came in this story. On January 31st of 1987, a 37 year old man named Robert Burke was arrested for her murder and entered an Alford plea, signifying that he maintained his innocence, but that he was aware that they had adequate evidence to convict him. And by the way, he had no connection to Laura other than the opportunity that he had come across a woman in a vulnerable position in a park that night, as he lived directly across the street from where her body was found. And disturbingly, he had already had multiple sexual assault convictions under his belt. So Laura was not the first woman he attacked. In 1988, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison, where he maintained that he had not intended to kill her and that he had done so accidentally while trying to silence her after raping her.

[A]

That is not better.

[B]

Yeah, it doesn't make the situation any better, you idiot. So, you know, despite the fact that Kimberly and their friend Robert were not entirely to blame for Laura's murder, her family does believe them to be indirectly involved. Laura's sister Francesca said, you don't leave your best friend in a park alone at night. You guys had a few drinks. You just don't do that. She took off with my sister's pocketbook. We didn't get it back for months. When she took off and left Laura stranded, she had Laura's purse in the car. If she hadn't been left there stranded, I believe that murder never would have happened. That set in motion the events.

[A]

So she's basically saying Kimberly is a shitty person, a shitty friend.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, why would you leave your best friend in a park alone at night? You know, obviously Robert was there at the time as well, but he left to go get his car. But still, you took her purse with you. You took her pocketbook. Like, you definitely left your friend in a very vulnerable position.

[A]

Well, let's get back to S. So Kimberly and her legal team blamed Craig entirely for S's mistreatment, which doesn't make a lick of sense, claiming that he alone dictated how his son was to be cared for. Which, even if that was true, first of all, the abuse continued after he died.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Second of all, if. If. If you're with somebody who is abusing their child, you don't just sit back and watch it happen, you know? And so it's like she, at the very least, would have been complicit in that abuse. But I don't believe that to be true anyway.

[B]

Yeah, she's so full of. So full of dookie, this woman. I mean, honestly, I would say that she definitely, in this situation, it feels like she is the manipulator. She's the overbearing person in this situation. Probably wears the pants because as we know, she didn't even want to take care of her husband, Craig, when he was in a wheelchair. I mean, she fucking hated that. And obviously not to take any accountability away from Craig because he was very much so complicit in this entire situation. I'm just saying that I think that she was probably the ringleader.

[A]

But of course, Craig is dead and she's saying, no, it was all him. Yeah, like that's your only. That's the only thing you have, is your only defense is to blame the dead guy.

[B]

That's the out she's going to use.

[A]

But you're absolutely right. Craig is definitely complicit in this as well. You know that your son is being abused. You know, he's locked upstairs. You know, he's not going to school, you know, he's not eating, you know, all this shit. Because also, like we said, he would let. He would let us watch TV with him sometimes or do yard work with him. And before making him go back into his locked cell, you know, you knew what was happening.

[B]

Yeah. And on top of that, this wasn't just like a few years of abuse. This was like 28 years. 28 years of abuse.

[A]

That's a long ass time. So her attorney, Iannis, maintained, quote, we think as the evidence comes out, you will see she's not the villain she's being made out to be. I doubt it.

[B]

Such a lie.

[A]

In another desperate attempt to paint herself as the victim, Kimberly, by way of Ionis, complained that she was, quote, fighting for her life and that the victim's name and location so s should be shared publicly as hers has been. So she's saying if people are allowed to come after me, they should be allowed to come after s girl.

[B]

For what?

[A]

What, for like painting her out to be a villain and lying, you know?

[B]

Yeah, whatever.

[A]

She's like. So. So he can lie and say that I'm a monster and you guys can come after me, but not him, because he's allowed to keep his identity hidden. Yeah. You locked him in a room and he had a piss through a straw in a window.

[B]

Yeah. The evidence shows that you are a monster.

[A]

Ayanna stated in the press, quote, we believe there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to shield the accuser from my client. In fact, my client has a right to confrontation, has a right to confront her accuser in a public setting if her accuser wants to hide and be anonymous. Well, that's not how this works. Well, unfortunately, a judge did rule in favor of Kimberly's motion telling them that she can have access to S's new name, identity and location, but warned her not to share them with the public as a means of retaliation for the justified backlash that she has been receiving. So it's like you can know where he is, but you can't tell anybody else. Right now, S is still recovering and in physical therapy as well as talk therapy, so he is on his long road to recovery. He has been assisted through the Safe Haven of Waterbury, Connecticut, who are helping him navigate his impossible transition through Safe Haven. S released a statement that read, quote, please call me S. This is not the name given to me by my parents when I was born. I am choosing a new name for myself and I will use that name as I reclaim control over my life and my future. My name is my choice and it is the first of many choices I will make for myself now that I am free. I am a survivor of more than 20 years of captivity and domestic abuse. I was held prisoner in my home from the time I was taken out of the fourth grade at age 11 until two months ago at age 31, when I purposefully set the fire that helped set me free. I am speaking out today to begin the process of reclaiming my life and to have my say in how my story is told. I am much better and stronger than I was the day the first responders carried me out of my home. I am beyond grateful for the care I have received since then. To all the healthcare professionals who have helped and nurtured me, thank you. In addition to all of your care, I appreciated the chance to have my first ever birthday party to celebrate turning 32. I also want to thank the first responders, the law enforcement, investigators, and everyone who is working to hold those responsible for my abuse accountable. Waterbury Police Detective Steve Brownell said in admiration of S. The victim. Considering what he's been through, it's really about his spirit. When anybody's around him, he understands what he's been through and where I think everybody's trying to get him to the future. S. Is reported as being in good spirits, and Steve says that he is kind, easy to talk to, and has an excellent sense of humor. Thank you so much, everybody for listening to this episode of Going West.

[B]

Yes. Thank you guys so much for listening to this very harrowing story of Going West. I'm so glad that S made the decision to light that fire and to choose his freedom.

[A]

Well, because like we were saying, it's just wild to know that he knew he was risking his life doing that. He knew it could have ended very, very badly.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And that's how bad his situation was that he felt like that was his only option was to possibly die.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

To get out.

[B]

It felt like a now or never type of situation. And thankfully he is doing a lot better. You know, this is definitely not our typical type of story that we display on Going West. But honestly, what an incredible story.

[A]

And we will let you guys know what happens to Kimberly because the trial is supposed to happen sometime later this year in 2026, but it has not been released. Like the trial date has not been set or chosen yet. So we usually do those smaller type of updates on our socials. If you guys don't follow us already ahead of to Instagram @goingwest podcast. We're also on TikTok. We do some videos. We've been exploring some video social media clips lately which you guys can check out if you want to see Heath and I in the flesh. But yeah, thank you guys for tuning in to this wild, disturbing story and we will see you on Tuesday.

[B]

All right guys. So for everybody out there in the.

[A]

World, don't be a stranger. Why have I asked my h vac guy I found on Angie.com to change my grandpa's trachea tube? Because I was so amazed by how quickly he replaced our air ducts, I knew I could trust him to change Pop Pop's tube while I was on vacation.

[B]

Make it quick young man.

[A]

Aw, see, Pop Pop trusts you.

[B]

I trust.

[A]

I think we should call a doctor.

[B]

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[A]

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