Police have charged a second person in connection with a body that was discovered in a remote area of Somers in 2021.
Zachary Joseph Apt, 34, was taken into custody at his Southington home early Friday on a warrant charging him in the death of 28-year-old Jason Comes of Wilbraham, Massachusetts, according to Connecticut State Police.
Apt was apprehended by the state police Eastern District Major Crime Squad, Bureau of Special Investigations, Emergency Services Unit and members of the Southington Police Department. He faces charges of murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping with a firearm, conspiracy to commit second-degree assault, conspiracy to commit third-degree robbery, tampering with physical evidence and criminal liability for acts of another to tamper with evidence.
Apt was held on a $2.5 million bond and is expected to face a judge in Rockville Superior Court on Tuesday. The arrest warrant affidavit supporting the charges has been sealed, state police said.
Biker club member charged with murder, kidnapping in death of man found in CT woods
State police called Apt’s arrest the culmination of a 4 ½ year investigation into Comes’ death. Timothy Lange, 36, has also been charged. According to state police, investigators believe Lange is a member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.
Lange faces murder, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree robbery charges, as well as conspiracy and accessory offenses.
State police said the investigation began in August 2021 when the body of Comes was found in a car discovered in a wooded area about 500 feet off of Durkee Road near farmland. At the time, troopers said they were investigating a suspicious death and that it appeared to be an isolated incident.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later ruled the death a homicide, finding that Comes died of a “gunshot wound of trunk with perforations of heart and lungs.”
Lange’s case remains pending in Superior Court in Tolland. He has pleaded not guilty, according to court records.
Lange’s case has been marked down for a jury trial, records show. He is set to appear before a judge on Tuesday and remains held on a $1.5 million bond.