A woman accused of poisoning her former partner now faces charges for allegedly using her nephew to fake the results of a paternity test taken in the midst of a custody battle.
Kristen Hogan, 33, of New Canaan was arrested last Thursday and charged with three counts of perjury and a single count of tampering with evidence, according to Connecticut State Police.
The arrest warrant affidavit supporting the charges said a state police detective with the Western District Major Crime Squad began investigating on Oct. 10 after receiving word from officials with Danbury Superior Court that Hogan was allegedly involved in “deceitful activity” involving a custody battle with her ex-fiancé, a 36-year-old man. Investigators said she was reported to have shared a daughter and a son with the man — who is not the same person she has been accused of trying to kill by pouring mono ethylene glycol into an open bottle of wine.
The man involved in the custody battle had previously paid child support before the money was returned and his visitation rights were revoked in March 2022, the warrant affidavit said. An over-the-counter paternity test indicated the man had fathered a daughter with Hogan, but she reportedly denied that he was the father of a child she gave birth to in 2021, according to the warrant affidavit. The man said Hogan claimed she knew who the father was but refused to disclose his name.
In March 2023, paternity tests that were ordered indicated that the man was not the father of the boy, the warrant affidavit said. Following a request for another test, the testing was canceled in September 2023 after a lab director found inconsistencies in the DNA samples that had been taken, indicating that a sample may have been taken from an “incorrect person,” state police wrote.
In April 2024, another test was ordered to be taken with a lab in Trumbull. During the test, two private investigators who were hired conducted surveillance on Hogan, according to the warrant affidavit.
The private investigators arrived early at the lab and waited for Hogan who entered the lot shortly before 9:20 a.m., the warrant affidavit said. She arrived with a woman believed to be her mother and was seen taking a boy from the vehicle, a Hyundai Santa Fe, and putting him into a stroller before entering the lab building, according to the warrant affidavit.
One of the investigators stationed in the building watched Hogan as she brought the boy into the lab office and took “covert video” of them, the warrant affidavit said. He then returned to the vehicle the private investigators arrived in and waited for Hogan to leave the building.
Once she did, the investigators began surveilling the vehicle as Hogan left the parking lot, according to the warrant affidavit. The vehicle was then seen entering a driveway at a home in Wilton, state police wrote.
Hogan was then allegedly seen leaving the home alone not long after she took a child seat out of the Santa Fe and handed it to her mother, the warrant affidavit said. She was followed to a residence she reportedly owned with another individual in Ridgefield where a Honda Pilot was also parked, state police wrote. About an hour later, her mother arrived in a Honda Accord, investigators noted.
Both the Pilot and the Accord were later allegedly seen leaving before parking in a lot outside a pharmacy that was near Ballard Park, the warrant affidavit said. Hogan was allegedly seen removing a baby carrier from the Pilot with a child inside while her mother was seen helping three children out of the Accord, including the boy allegedly taken for the DNA test, state police wrote.
The private investigators said they saw the family enjoying a picnic before they returned to their vehicles and went back to Hogan’s residence, the warrant affidavit said. The mother was then allegedly seen leaving and heading to her home with the boy who was taken for the test, the private investigators noted. Not long after, the vehicle was allegedly seen leaving and heading to the residence of Hogan’s sister, the warrant affidavit said.
The boy was allegedly seen being carried in the direction of the home and out of view behind a bush before the mother drove away, the warrant affidavit said. The private investigators said they believe the boy had been dropped off at the sister’s home.
The investigators conducted surveillance on the sister as she left the home with the boy and was allegedly seen picking up two more children from a school, the warrant affidavit said. She later returned home before private investigators said they saw the children playing in the driveway. During the surveillance, the investigators claimed the boy who had been taken to the DNA test could be allegedly seen and heard referring to Hogan’s sister as “mommy,” the warrant affidavit said.
In November 2024, state police said Hogan testified during custody proceedings that her children were conceived by in vitro fertilization, the warrant affidavit said. She allegedly said she believed that would explain why she was not identified as the mother in the previous DNA testing.
The following month during another hearing, the private investigators testified about what they observed and Hogan allegedly denied that the boy she took for DNA testing was her nephew, according to the warrant affidavit. She also produced photos that she said showed her son, state police wrote.
The photos were compared to ones she had previously provided in April 2024 before a probate court determined Hogan’s testimony “had changed” and was not “truthful,” the warrant affidavit said.
According to the warrant affidavit, a guardian ad litem who was appointed to represent the children later confirmed for investigators that the child who was allegedly seen during the surveillance was not Hogan’s son.
Following her most recent arrest, Hogan posted $50,000 bond. She is scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 23 in Danbury Superior Court.
She also faces two counts of attempted murder and one count of interfering with police after a 34-year-old Ridgefield man became violently ill in early August and went to a hospital. A blood test later revealed the man had ethylene glycol in his system, which is a poisonous ingredient that can be found in antifreeze and other household products, state police said in the warrant affidavit supporting those charges.
The man told investigators he had consumed some wine on Aug. 10 from an open bottle that was in his refrigerator, the warrant affidavit said. Days earlier, he told investigators he was at Danbury Superior Court in response to a complaint filed by Hogan, his former partner, who never showed, the warrant affidavit said. While waiting at court, the man alleged that he received a notification on his phone indicating Hogan’s cell phone was uploading data to the wi-fi router at his residence, according to the warrant affidavit.
At the time, the man told police Hogan had unrestricted access to the home. He also told investigators he believed she had poisoned the wine believing she would become the full owner of the residence and would gain full custody of their child, according to the warrant affidavit.
The man told investigators his child also became ill in September and had to be hospitalized.
State police said Hogan initially denied the allegations before allegedly saying she never wanted the man to die and that she only wanted to make him sick as payback for him being “mentally abusive,” the warrant affidavit said. When asked if she had ever poured mono ethylene glycol into any other beverages in the man’s home, she allegedly told investigators that she had put some in an ice tea bottle on a separate date, the warrant affidavit said. State police said she adamantly denied that her child could have ingested the tea, according to the warrant affidavit.
Hogan posted the $1 million bond in the attempted murder case and has not entered a plea to the charges, court records show.