Police have released “dozens” of photos that reveal the squalid conditions in which a Connecticut man allegedly lived for more than two decades — locked away in a tiny room by his evil stepmother and forced to set the house on fire in a desperate bid for freedom.
The disturbing photos — released Monday by the Waterbury Police Department — show several rooms in disarray, with walls charred black from the blaze.
Piles of clothing and debris can be seen strewn about the ramshackle home, including a stack of blackened garments sitting atop a pair of plastic storage containers, which appear to have warped and melted under the intense heat. A burned-out dresser containing yet more clothes is shown coated in soot and ash.
The photos show several doors of the home, including one with a lock that appears to have been hastily reinforced with painted plywood. However, it was not immediately clear whether it was the door to the 9-by-8-foot storage space in which the man was allegedly locked up for decades.
The 32-year-old victim weighed just 68 pounds when fire crews pulled him safely from the inferno, and he told police his stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, 57, had been his cruel jailer since he was just 11 years old.
Sullivan, who was arrested earlier this month but released after posting $300,000 bail, has maintained her innocence.
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