Jun. 9—Witnesses are expected to testify in court this week during a hearing for a 23-year-old Norwich man accused in the fatal 2020 shooting of a Norwich woman.
Atlantikh Balidemaj remains held on a $5 million bond, charged with murder in the death of 30-year-old Jashira Pagan. Balidemaj will be at the center of a probable cause hearing slated to begin Tuesday in New London Superior Court.
The probable cause hearing is a legal proceeding for serious crimes and similar to a trial with witness testimony and evidence presented by state prosecutors. Judge Arthur Haddan, the presiding judge in the case, will determine whether there is enough evidence for the case to proceed to a pre-trial phase.
Balidemaj was arrested on Dec. 9, 2022, and has yet to enter a plea. The case was delayed in part by a change of attorneys. The state successfully argued that Balidemaj’s former attorney Drizislav “Dado” Coric had a conflict of interest because he had previously represented several key witnesses in the case who might be called to testify if it went to trial.
Balidemaj is now represented by attorney William T. Koch Jr., who was not immediately available for comment. Koch has filed several motions in an attempt to bar certain evidence from being presented at trial, including testimony about gunshot residue police said was on his clothing. Koch argued that residue may have come from a powder-actuated nail gun Balidemaj was using prior to the shooting.
Koch argues in court documents that police have no evidence that Balidemaj possessed a gun and there is no video surveillance of the murder.
Pagan was found shot in the face on the morning of Nov. 5, 2022, outside her home at Uncas Condominiums at 527 W. Thames St. in Norwich. Police said she was found unconscious on her back with a black shirt but naked from the waist down. She had no apparent brain activity, police said, and was officially pronounced dead at the hospital on Nov. 7.
Police learned that Pagan and her mother had been at Modelo Bar & Grill in Norwich, also known as Bella Fiore restaurant, on the night before the killing. On the morning of Nov. 5, Pagan’s mother told police that she woke up to hear “one of the sons (of the owner) at Bella Fiore” arguing with her daughter in her bedroom. Pagan’s mother said she asked the man — later identified as Balidemaj — to leave and escorted him to the front door.
While looking for a suspect in the shooting, police said they picked up Balidemaj walking near the Spa at Norwich Inn and took him into custody.
Police said Balidemaj’s brother, Vullnetar Balidemaj, and his father, Haxhe Balidemaj, showed up at the scene of the shooting and told police that Vullnetar Balidemaj had received a call from Atlantikh Balidemaj urging his brother to pick him up immediately because, “I don’t want to be here. It’s a very bad situation.” Vullnetar Balidemaj said he could hear a woman screaming in the background, saying “stop yelling my mom is sleeping,” police said.
Under questioning, Atlantikh Balidemaj told police he had a bouncer drop him and Pagan off at Pagan’s home where they drank and had sex, police reports show.
Police said he changed his account of what happened next, at one point telling police he ran from the home after a confrontation between Pagan and her mother.
In another version, police said Balidemaj claimed he heard knocking on the door and that Pagan told him it was her boyfriend, asking Balidemaj not to leave because her boyfriend “is crazy, he will kill both of us if he sees you.”
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Thomas DeLillo and Assistant State’s Attorney Marissa Goldberg.
Court records show that in an unrelated case, Balidemaj’s younger brother, Vullnetar Balidemaj, and another man face gun-related charges stemming from a Nov. 1, 2022, arrest by Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Police. The arrest is linked to an early morning confrontation at Foxwoods where a victim claimed to be threatened with a gun. Police said a search of Vullnetar’s vehicle turned up a BB gun, two expandable batons and a 9mm gun with its serial number altered, also known as a ghost gun.
Vullnetar has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is free on a $20,000 bond.
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