Investigation provides new information about alum’s death

No traces of drugs or alcohol were found in the body of the alleged murderer of Fairfield alumna Ciara McDermott, putting some final pieces of the investigation of this murder-suicide into place last week, according to West Hartford Police.

The toxicology tests were done on the body of State Trooper Victor Diaz, who shot his former girlfriend, McDermott, a 37-year-old police officer, and then turned the gun on himself Nov. 21, according the to the West Hartford police.

The tests, performed by Toxicology Associate Inc. in Ohio, were negative for drugs and alcohol, said police.

Investigators had found an empty bottle of Abilify, a drug used to treat bipolar disorder, in Diaz’s car, according to the Associated Press.

Empty bottles of Trazadone, an anti-depressant, and Winestral Veca, a synthetic growth hormone, were found at his place of residence, leading investigators to look into the drug testing, according to the Associated Press.

Additionally, police confirmed they recently received Diaz’s phone records, which revealed two calls on the day of the killings that police were already aware of; one to Diaz’s lawyer and one to his former commander.

Police said they are just waiting for the second batch of “more advanced tests” from the toxicology lab in order to put the last pieces of the investigation together.

Toxicology Associates Inc. would not release any information on the testing.

Diaz was McDermott’s former boyfriend and, at the time of the murder-suicide, was undergoing allegations of illegally using the police database to look up information on McDermott’s new boyfriend. He was also serving a 60-day job suspension as a result of a drunk-driving arrest.

At Fairfield, McDermott had been a member of Phi Beta Kappa, singer for the Glee Club and editor of The Sound, the university’s literary magazine.

She was also the winner of a position on the Connecticut Student Poetry Circulation, which enabled her to read her poetry around the state.

At the time of her death, she was working as a Newington, Conn. police officer.