Potato Left At Crime Scene Leads To Arrest Of Connecticut Stripper Charged With Arson And Burglary
A 19-year-old Connecticut stripper, Willow Martin, thought she had gotten away with arson and burglary, but an unlikely object led police to her arrest. A potato found stuffed in the tailpipe of a van would ultimately lead them to Martin. The stripper reportedly started the fire over a $400 debt owed to her by the business owner’s daughter.
The Daily Mail reports that Willow Martin was arrested for charges related to arson and burglary after DNA on a potato found at the crime scene led them to the stripper. According to the police, Willow met Breonna Constantino at the Hollywood Connecticut Strip Club where they both worked as dancers. The pair hit it off and quickly became “best friends.” However, after a summer trip to New Jersey together, Breonna would end up borrowing $1,200 from Willow which she promised to pay back.
A 19 year old stripper from Prospect is going to jail because her DNA was found on a potato. More: https://t.co/Ey2FkBpqu6
— Connecticut’s KC101 (@KC1013) July 13, 2016
Breonna was slowly paying Willow back the borrowed money, but Willow allegedly became angry when the payments weren’t being made fast enough. Despite Breonna only owing the former friend $300-$400 of the initial $1,200, Willow was determined to retaliate. Therefore, Willow allegedly targeted Breonna’s stepfather. Martin’s arrest warrant reveals that the young stripper set fire to the stepfather’s business, MTM Masonry, as a means of retribution for the slow payments by Breonna.
On the night of the fire, Sept. 15, the stepfather was alerted to the blaze and immediately drove to the scene. However, as he went to get into his van, he noticed a potato stuffed in the tailpipe. The man removed the potato and took it with him to the scene of the fire. The potato was handed over to police investigators and it was tested for traces of DNA.
The Hartford Courant reports that Breonna immediately suspected that Willow was behind the blaze and the DNA would implicate the former friend in the arson. The DNA matched that of Willow’s 28-year-old boyfriend Matthew Garguilo, who is serving time in prison for unrelated charges. When the boyfriend was questioned, he immediately proceeded to rat out Willow as the arsonist and said that though he had handled the potato, he was not the one who put the starchy vegetable into the tailpipe. The boyfriend explained that Willow was upset over not being quickly paid back by Breonna and that she had asked him to go with her when she set the fire.
“Analysts at the state lab did find a DNA profile on the potato and entered into an online offender database, which yielded the name of Matthew Garguilo.”
The boyfriend says that he watched as Willow broke into the business and set it ablaze. Garguilo says that he provided Willow with a hammer, gas can, and other items from his home to commit the arson but that he did not physically participate in the crime and that he only watched. In addition to the potato DNA and the boyfriend’s testimony, another man who dated Willow after Garguilo says that the stripper told him about the fire and potato when they dated.
[Image via Willow Martin/Facebook]
