Zachs To Begin 60-Year Sentence Thursday

Convicted killer Adams Zachs of West Hartford will appear in Hartford Superior Court Thursday morning and begin serving a virtual life sentence in prison by the afternoon, judicial and law enforcement officials said Wednesday.

The final short step in the court process ends a 24-year pursuit for justice in the murder of Peter Carone of West Hartford.

A Hartford Superior Court official said Zachs’ appearance in court is not required by law before he can start serving his 60-year sentence. But it is expected to bring a measure of closure to a high-profile case that has received national attention over the years, said a high-ranking member of the U.S. Marshal Service, which helped capture Zachs.

“It is a statement,” said Joseph P. Faughnan, head U.S. marshal for Connecticut. “People have to know if you flee, especially for as long as he has, the pursuit never ends.”

Carone was 29 and engaged to be married when he was gunned down by Zachs outside a West Hartford bar March 22, 1987.

Zachs, now 48, was convicted of first-degree murder on Aug. 28, 1988.

After more than two decades on the run, Zachs will be presented before Judge David P. Gold to dispose of a 22-year-old fugitive warrant. Zachs failed to show for a scheduled court action in June 1989 while free on appeal.

Gold’s third-floor courtroom in Part A of the criminal division is expected to include family and friends of Carone. One television camera will be allowed and court security will be increased, a court official said.

“We’ve had high-profile cases before and [security] will be appropriate,” the official said.

Zachs for nearly five months from a Mexico City jail cell. He waived extradition and agreed to return to Connecticut last week, Faughnan and Chief James Strillacci said.

The Courant reported Tuesday night.

Faughnan said that West Hartford Det. Mark Puglielli arrived Tuesday in Mexico City, where Zachs has been held in a prison since his capture Feb. 1 in Leon, Mexico.

Puglielli took custody of Zachs Wednesday with Deputy U.S. Marshal Michael Novak and was expected to return on a commercial flight to New York before midnight. Zachs will be lodged in an undisclosed location before he is taken to court, Faughnan said.

State judicial marshals were expected to take Zachs to prison immediately after his court appearance, Faughnan said.

“The effort extended over the years to find him, and the effort involved for him to stay two steps ahead of law enforcement, it is important to know that we will never give up,” Faughnan said. “We will chase every lead down.”

The local, state, federal and international effort to locate Zachs heated up late last year, and Puglielli was sent to Mexico in December after investigators received a tip. and fellow  were honored for their roles in the investigation.

When , he was running a computer repair business, authorities said. A Hall High School graduate, Zachs was living under the name of Ruben Fridman. He also has two children through a marriage to a Mexican citizen, authorities said.

In February, Strillacci said local connections led to Zachs.

On June 8, Zachs’ 78-year-old father, Frederick Zachs, in U.S. District Court in New Haven to harboring a fugitive.

Frederick Zachs, who is free on $100,000 bail, admitted in court that he arranged a flight in New York in 1989 for his son to flee to Mexico. He also admitted he provided a stream of financial support through third parties that allowed Zachs to grow into middle age as a computer repairman in Leon.

Frederick Zachs is not expected to serve more than six months of a possible five-year prison term when he is sentenced Aug. 26, prosecutors said.