Crime & Safety

Medical Examiner: Former Darien Man's 'Suspicious' Death an Accident [UPDATE]

The state medical examiner's office says the demise of Russell J. Pinto, 45, who grew up in Darien, was an accieent due to heart problems.

Update 4:39 p.m.:

Russell J. Pinto's funeral will be held Saturday, with calling hours on Friday at the Edward J. Lawrence Funeral Home in Darien, according to his obituary.

Update 4:10 p.m.:

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A 45-year-old Stamford man discovered deceased in his home has been ruled an "accidental death due to cardio issues,"—in other words, heart trouble—Stamford police announced Tuesday afternoon.

According to a statement released by Lt. Diedrich Hohn, of the Crimes Against Persons Division at the department, the state medical examiner's office had completed an autopsy on the body of Russell Pinto, of 329 Sylvan Knoll Rd., and made the determination.

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Hohn said the ruling as preliminary and said the department is still awaiting toxicology results. He also said the trauma to the body noted in the initial discovery has been ruled unrelated to Pinto's death, but said there is an ongoing investigation into the cause of that.

Anyone with information relating to Pinto's whereabouts on the night of Saturday, April 6, is urged to contact the Stamford Police BCI unit at 203.977.4417.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE, 11:34 a.m., Tuesday, April 9:

Stamford police are calling the death this weekend of Russell J. Pinto, 45, who grew up in Darien, suspicious and are asking the public for help with the case.

Police said they discovered his body with signs of blunt-force trauma in his home at 329 Sylvan Knoll Rd. in Stamford. Police were called to the scene at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

Pinto was briefly in the public eye on at least two previous occassions—when he was described as a close friend of well-known Darien resident Alex Kelly and when he was charged with driving while under the influence after a car crash Christmas Eve in Darien.

Christmas Eve crash

In February, Pinto was in the news when he was charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol the previous Christmas Eve. Police said his sport utility vehicle struck a telephone pole on the Post Road near the Darien YMCA, knocking out power to about 600 homes in town for part of Christmas morning.

Just before 5 p.m., Darien police said, Pinto drove onto the roadway shoulder, where his vehicle struck a utility pole, causing it to snap and block the two eastbound lanes and one westbound lane on the road.

Phone, cable and power lines were cut and Pinto was hurt, although not with life-threatening injuries. He was transported by Darien EMS-Post 53 to Stamford Hospital.

Pinto pleaded not guilty to the charge and his case was still pending in state Superior Court in Stamford when he died.

On Christie Hill Road

Growing up on Christie Hill Road, Pinto became a friend of his next-door neighbor who was the same age—Alex Kelly. After having famously fled the country and lived abroad for years, Kelly later was convicted of having committed two rapes as a teenager. (Pinto was not accused of ever having anything to do with the rapes.)

In Susan Weller's book about Alex Kelly, Saint of Circumstance, she calls Pinto and Kelly best friends as teenagers:

"When they became teenagers, Russell Pinto, the son who was Alex's age, would drive Alex around in his prized Mazda RX-7, taking the winding country lanes at almost a hundred miles an hour."

Weller quotes an unnamed source describing Pinto as a "hard partyer" who was "always one of the last ones to make it home at night."

According to Weller, when Pinto was young, his family briefly kept a tiger as a pet in the backyard, "an act that caused a neighborhood uproar," and the Pinto home always had lots of expensive cars, motorcycles and sometimes snowmobiles.

A Darien resident who asked not to be named said she didn't know Pinto well, but was impressed by him. "He was just a super nice guy," she said.

Investigation continues

The body was removed and sent for an autopsy, which will be conducted Tuesday by the Medical Examiner. The States Attorneys' Officer assisted police in obtaining a search warrant for the residence.

Stamford Police said an investigation is ongoing and more information would be available following the autospy. Anyone with information regarding Russell Pinto' passing or his whereabout Saturday evening are urged to contact police at 203-977-4417.

Editor's note: Parts of this article were previously published by Stamford Patch.


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