Shawn Conlon: Man accused of ‘violent’ murder of news anchor's mother over unpaid rent pleads not guilty

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

CONNECTICUT, NEW ENGLAND: In response to charges of second-degree homicide, the man who was detained last month in connection with the death of the mother of a Connecticut news anchor, entered a not guilty plea.

At his Friday, January 19, arraignment in Brattleboro, Vermont, 44-year-old Shawn Conlon entered a not guilty plea. Months after Claudia Voight, 73, was found dead in her home on February 20, 2023, Conlon was taken into custody in Connecticut in late December.

Claudia Voight's 'death was not natural, nor peaceful'

Heidi Voight, a news anchor for NBC Connecticut and the 2006 Miss Connecticut, is victim Claudia's daughter. At first, law enforcement officials thought Claudia Voight had experienced a medical incident.

However, upon conducting an autopsy, it was discovered that Claudia had died from compression of her neck. In a social media post on Friday, Heidi Voight acknowledged the plea and shared a passage from a newspaper article about Conlon's court appearance.

Heidi Voight disclosed on social media in July that she had been holding a "painful secret."

"My mother's death was not natural, nor peaceful," she wrote, as per New York Post.

She went on to say, "My mother was murdered, violently, in the place she should have felt safest — her own home in Windham, Vermont. ... This has broken me and changed me. But I am my mother's daughter, and I will come back stronger. I will fight for her."

Shawn Conlon lived in Claudia Voight's property without paying rent

Conlon allegedly rented a room in Claudia Voight's house but stopped paying the rent in late 2022. He, however, continued to live there until February 2023, when he allegedly attacked and killed her, according to Vermont State Police.

Conlon's lawyer at his arraignment refused to comment on the matter on Saturday, January 20, CBS reported.

Heidi Voight is an award-winning reporter and morning anchor who was raised in Milford, Connecticut, according to her online work bio. In 2006, she competed as a state representative in the Miss America Pageant.