Man accused of attempting to bribe judge

SHERMAN, Conn. (AP) -- A Connecticut man is charged with offering a $100,000 bribe to a judge to influence a grand jury investigation of his wife's 1984 disappearance.

Authorities said 76-year-old Dominic Badaracco Sr. of Sherman surrendered Wednesday and was freed on $150,000 bail until an April 25 hearing.

The arrest warrant said Badaracco was considered a suspect and possible target of a single-judge grand jury reinvestigating Mary Badaracco's disappearance. It concluded last month with no indictment. Her disappearance was classified a homicide in 1990.

The warrant says Superior Court Judge Robert Brunetti reported the alleged bribe to authorities in 2010 about two months after the grand jury probe began.

Badaracco's attorney, Richard Meehan, tells the News-Times of Danbury his client "vehemently denies" the bribery charges and any involvement in his wife's disappearance. Badaracco says his wife left him.