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Families Battle For Custody Of Dog

NEWPORT CITY -- A custody battle over a dog left behind after a Lyndonville murder-suicide opens a window into the life that estranged couple Carole Anne Lozinski and Jon Chichester of East Haven shared before their deaths.

Friends and family members gathered in Orleans District Court Thursday morning to testify about who loved and cared more for Mickey, the 6-year-old golden retriever, described by one witness as "the sweetest dog I ever met."

Orleans District Court

The hearing was held in Newport City because of scheduling in order to expedite the case.

Witnesses also told Judge Thomas Devine that they believed Chichester, who kept Mickey with him when Lozinski moved out, used her love of the dog as leverage to attract her back to see him on a regular basis.

State police say Chichester, 33, on Nov. 5 shot and killed Lozinski, 32, and then turned the gun on himself in the parking lot behind the Lyndonville municipal building.

A friend of Lozinski, Danielle Kvam, told Judge Devine that Lozinski had arranged to see Mickey that afternoon in a public place. Kvam also said that Lozinski was afraid but had been prepared to tell Chichester that she didn't want to see him anymore.

Kvam said Lozinski failed to make her "safety call" to say she was OK after meeting Chichester that day.

Kvam said she drove around looking for Lozinski and didn't find her. She said she knew that Chichester had shot Lozinski before police told her Lozinski was dead.

After the shooting, police ordered Lyndon animal control officer Cindy Cady to take custody of Mickey and another dog in Chichester's car.

The second dog was Scarlet, a golden retriever owned by Chichester's sister Jamie.

Jamie Chichester told Devine on Thursday that she gave Scarlet to Chichester to keep Mickey company when her brother went to work.

Chichester's mother, Carol, of West Town, N.Y., said she arrived the day after the shooting to pick up both dogs, and was told that she couldn't have Mickey until custody was resolved. She filed for custody of Mickey, as did John J. Lozinski, Lozinski's brother and the administrator of her estate.

Attorney David Williams, representing Lozinski's family in the Mickey case, said Thursday the Lozinski estate has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Caledonia Superior Court.

The complaint says that the Lozinski family is seeking compensation and more than $1 million in punitive damages on behalf of her parents and three siblings from the Chichester estate.

Williams told Devine that even if the Chichester family is given temporary custody of Mickey, the estate would seek to include him as part of property to be attached in the lawsuit. Williams said he would file a temporary restraining order, if Judge Devine gave temporary custody to the Chichester family.

Devine said he called Thursday's hearing because both sides had said they wanted to get Mickey out of the pound or foster care and into a home quickly.

Williams did not dispute that Jon Chichester bought Mickey. Chichester family members spoke of Lozinski as their daughter.

"Their relationship was really good for 10 years," Carol Chichester said. "Both were feisty young people who partied a lot and drank a lot. They got in each other's face evenly."

The couple lived near the Chichester family in New York at times and vacationed with family over the years, she said.

"Of course she loved that dog. Each of them considered him their baby," Carol Chichester said.

Lozinski helped nurse Chichester after he fell off a roof and could not work, his mother said. Chichester won a settlement of about $800,000 or $900,000 and had not worked full time for years, his mother said.

Chichester was home a lot, and spent more time with Mickey than Lozinski, family and friends said.

"They couldn't be any closer," said Chichester's sister Jamie. "He bathed him. He fed him. He bought him. He named him."

Lozinski paid for Mickey's rabies shots, according to evidence provided by Williams.

Both Lozinski and Chichester called Mickey their "baby" and treated him like a child, everyone said.

Neighbor Keith Simoneau said Mickey would go to Chichester first over Lozinski. "My belief is the dog belonged to Jon," Simoneau said.

Neighbor Sharmon Simoneau said Chichester admitted he was an alcoholic. She said she didn't see signs of abuse against Lozinski.

Keith Simoneau also said that Chichester was having a hard time over Lozinski's decision to move out.

Kvam and other of Lozinski's friends and coworkers said they witnessed Chichester ordering Lozinski around. Kvam said she saw bruises on Lozinski's arm.

Lozinski talked about Chichester getting drunk and shooting his gun, Kvam said. When Kvam said she suggested that Lozinski leave, "she would say, ÔYou don't understand, Jon would kill me.'"

Kvam said after Lozinski moved out, Chichester called Lozinski repeatedly.

At one point, Lozinski hid in Kvam's closet while Chichester drove by several times and pulled into her driveway. Kvam said she took Lozinski to work, with Lozinski scrunched down in the back seat.

Company officials at Microdata, where Lozinski worked, took out a no trespass order against Chichester because he had come to see Lozinski at work, coworker Holly Stone said.

Chichester's father, Robert, said that Lozinski was concerned about being unable to pay for her car when they spoke after she moved out and did not talk about Mickey.

Devine told the family and friends of the dead couple that he would issue a written ruling about the fate of Mickey sometime today.