Darien Police Ask For Help with 35-Year-Old Murder Case

Darien Police issued this news release on Dec. 4, 35 years after a 1978 murder of a man whose body was found behind an abandoned house where BMW of Darien is located today.

Police are hoping someone out there has more information on the case, which they still hope to solve. Here's the news release:

The Darien Police Department is reexamining a 35 year old homicide case and is seeking information from the public. 

On the morning of Dec. 4, 1978, the body of Canadian citizen Greg Sjolander, age 36, was found behind an abandoned house at 143 Ledge Road (BMW of Darien’s present location). 

Sjolander had been shot two times with a firearm at close range.  Sjolander was a parolee and had been working as a hairdresser in Montreal, Quebec, until April of 1978. 

Although little is known about Sjolander’s activities in the United States, at least three independent reports place Sjolander in the Stamford area.  He may also have spent some time in New York City. 

The last confirmed sighting was in November of 1978 when Sjolander was observed exiting an apartment located on Ursula Place in Stamford.  At the time of his death, Sjolander may have been using the alias “Paul Swanson”. 

Sjolander had at two distinctive tattoos on his arms which are being released to the media.  One tattoo, written in script, reads “Terry my Love”. 

“Terry” is believed to be an American-born woman who was living in Montreal during the late 1970s; she has yet to be identified. 

“Terry” has been described as a black or bi-racial female with family ties to the New York City area.   

The morning of Sjolander’s death, three males dining at the nearby Howard Johnson’s Restaurant (formerly located at 150 Ledge Road) were overheard discussing a murder.  The males sat at the counter where they were served breakfast. 

The three males were described as follows:

• White male - neat, dressed like a workman;

• White male – tall, thin, wearing glasses. Described as neat, dressed like a workman;

• Black male – very dark skin, wearing a leather hat or cap, in his late 20s or early 30s.

The black male was observed skillfully drawing on a paper menu and a napkin with a felt type pen. 

These unique drawings were preserved by the witness and turned over to police.  Photographs of these drawings are being provided to the media in an attempt to identify the men.

Evidence from the Sjolander homicide was processed by the FBI forensic lab in early 1979, long before the advent of DNA testing. 

Some of this evidence is being sent to the FBI Lab in Quantico, VA for reanalysis.  Evidence is also being sent to the Connecticut State Forensic Lab for DNA testing.  

Darien investigators believe that Sjolander’s death is connected with another unsolved murder from 1978.  In June of 1978, Darien native Ronald Poole was found shot to death in Dutchess County, NY. 

Poole (AKA “Slump”) was a member of the Charter Oaks Motorcycle Club and was known to frequent the Ursula Place apartments in Stamford.  

Anyone with any information regarding Greg Sjolander or Ronald Poole should contact Detective Sergeant Johnson at 203-662-5330 or jjohnson@darienct.gov