Boyfriend suspected of murder all along

EAST HAMPTON, Conn. (WTNH) -- 38-year-old Anthony Garofalo is facing charges in the death of 30-year-old Jini Barnum. Her body was found in a shallow grave in Glastonbury, last September.

Garofalo remains behind bars held on a million dollars bond. The registered sex offender was arrested on a parole violation in August shortly after his live in girlfriend Jini Barnum went missing July 29th.

Police now say he strangled her and left her body in a shallow grave in Glastonbury on land where he used to hunt.

"It's shocking really," said Jayson Baker of Center Package Store.

Baker says Garofalo was a regular at Center Package store and seemed distraught right after Barnum a mother of a 6-month-old girl went missing.

"He wasn't his normal self when he would come in usually. So he seemed like kind of I don't know how to explain it but not himself at all," said Baker.

Garofalo even hung up missing person posters at the store and around town.

"Seemed like he'd seen a ghost basically. That's what it's like," said Baker.

Garofalo told police he and Barnum had gotten into a fight and she took off but News 8 has learned neighbors heard strange noises coming from their second floor apartment and heard thumping coming down the stairs.

News 8 went back to the apartment house to get their reaction to this arrest.

One neighbor who did not want to speak on camera did speak through the door and is not surprised by this arrest at all. In fact that neighbor told police from the start Garofalo probably did it.

"A lot of people already thought he did it and then other people were like weary about it," said Baker.

Police also suspected Garofalo all along.