Funeral for slain socialite set as police continue search for clues
NORTH SALEM, N.Y. -- No arrests have been made in the death of 83-year-old socialite Lois Colley, police said Thursday as they continue to investigate the homicide to see if it is linked to any other crimes in the area.
Their investigation has taken them to nearby Ridgefield, Conn., where four residential burglaries and one car break-in have been reported since Oct. 31.
New York State Police investigator Joseph Becerra said Wednesday that there did not appear to be a connection to Colley's slaying but that it was one avenue they had to pursue.
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"We are looking at it because of the close proximity to the case here," Becerra said, adding that the Ridgefield crimes are one of several angles that authorities are looking into.
Three of the Connecticut break-ins were approximately two miles from North Salem.
In one of the thefts, a resident told Ridgefield police that a white man armed with a knife forced his way into the house. The victim of the Connecticut burglary told police that the suspect was 5 feet, 5 inches tall, approximately 20-25 years old and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and high-top sneakers.
Nothing appeared to be taken from the Titicus Road home on a 300-acre estate that Lois Colley shared with her husband, Eugene, except for a small fire extinguisher, state police said.
Lois Colley was found dead in the laundry room of the home around 5 p.m. Monday. Investigators have said she died of blunt force trauma. They have not identified the murder weapon. There were no signs of forced entry.
Eugene Colley, 88, a multimillionaire who owns numerous McDonald's restaurants, is not a suspect, Trooper Melissa McMorris said.
Investigators are interviewing family members, but have no suspects among them, McMorris said.
The killing has shocked North Salem, a wealthy area known for its horse farms and large estates. There hasn't been a homicide in the community for four years.
Local residents were still coming to grips with Lois Colley's death. Many made their way through the rain Thursday to Clark Associates Funeral Home in Katonah, N.Y., to mourn her.
JoJo Shakeridge, a mourner and member of the local fox hunt community, said at the wake Thursday, "I can't wrap my head around how this could happen to such a wonderful woman."
After a funeral mass Friday at St. James' Episcopal Church, Lois Colley will be buried in the town's historic June Cemetery, where graves date back to before the Revolutionary War.
Bob Daros, owner of Heritage Fuel and Propane near the Colley Group's office in Katonah, said Wednesday he knew Lois Colley from social functions around town. She was an active volunteer who was dedicated to her four sons and extended family.
"She was just a very nice person, always pleasant, very easy to talk to," Daros said. "Who would do something like that? I can't reason with what happened because she was such a nice woman."