A Manchester man will plead guilty Wednesday to the 2001 fatal shooting of a pawn shop owner, making it the first conviction for the state’s Cold Case unit, which opened six years ago.
Arthur Collins, 46, was arrested back in 2012 after the state’s Cold Case unit reopened the case earlier that year. This is one of 104 unsolved homicides the unit was given to look into starting in 2009.
Collins has agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder for shooting George Jodoin while he slept in his bed more than 14 years ago. He is expected to serve a sentence of 30-years-to-life in prison.
At the time of the shooting, Collins worked as a handyman for Jodoin, and according to police he was at Jodoin’s house in Auburn repairing a flat tire the day of the killing.
But when prosecutors interviewed Collins days after the shooting he denied any involvement. And investigators never got enough information to make an arrest.
The Attorney General's Office would not say what broke the case but said to expect more information to come out during the hearing at 1 p.m.
