Probe of '24 Fatal House Fire in New Fairfield, CT, Suspended

Nov. 4—NEW FAIRFIELD — Four hundred and sixteen days after Gaindawattie "Bindu" Fairchild's remains were found at the scene of a fire at her Wood Creek Road home, Connecticut State Police suspended the investigation into her death, leaving many questions unanswered and loved ones without closure.

Among the more than 600 pages of reports CT Insider obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request was a document dated June 17, 2025, that said police were suspending the case due to a lack of leads and evidence.

"At this point of the investigation, all leads and efforts into locating the person(s) involved in this incident have been exhausted," the report says. "Furthermore, due to a lack of physical evidence, witnesses, suspects, or any further information that will aid in this investigation, this case will be suspended at this time."

While the report says the case would be reopened if "any pertinent information or leads" were to arise, calls for justice from the family and friends of the 60-year-old woman whose remains were found at the scene of the April 2024 house fire remain unanswered.

"I am not happy that they put my sister's case, less than two years, in suspension," Sandra Kasaram said after learning the investigation into her sister's death had been suspended.

Kasaram has repeatedly sought updates on her sister's case, but said police never told her about the investigation being suspended.

"I feel my sister's case was never properly investigated," she said.

The investigation has led to unrelated charges for Bindu Fairchild's husband, John Fairchild. Police said the investigation led to the discovery of child sex abuse materials when they searched John Fairchild's apartment in Danbury where he was living after the fire. Fairchild was arrested in February and has not yet entered a plea to the charges.

Bindu Fairchild's remains found in fire

Bindu Fairchild's remains were found after a fire was reported at her Wood Creek Road around 5:30 a.m. on April 27, 2024.

The left side of the two-story structure was heavily involved and the entire roof ablaze when first responders arrived, according to a Connecticut State Police investigation report.

As firefighters launched a defensive attack at the scene, police spoke to a neighbor who told them he had been walking his dog when he saw the fire. A state police report says the neighbor called 911 and knocked on the door of the burning residence to alert anyone inside, but no one answered.

Police at the scene learned that a couple resided in the home and both worked night hours, according to the report, which says they also were advised at the time that neither was home. That, however, turned out not to be the case.

Bindu Fairchild — whose family said migrated to the U.S. from Guyana in 1992, settled in Connecticut and got married five years later — owned the house with her husband of 26 years.

A search warrant affidavit later filed in connection with the initial case said some of the first responders at the scene of the fire "had personal knowledge" of who resided in the Wood Creek Road home "due to the long generations of John Fairchild's family residing in the Town of New Fairfield."

A state police report said three vehicles were parked outside the Wood Creek Road residence when first responders arrived, one of which — a blue 2021 Mazda CX-5 — belonged to Bindu Fairchild.

After learning John Fairchild worked at the U.S. Post Office in Danbury, the report says authorities contacted Danbury police and asked them to make contact with him there. It later was learned that they were unable to do so because his brother had picked him up at the post office before police arrived.

The report says authorities at the fire scene also were advised that Bindu Fairchild worked as a nurse, but attempts to verify her place of employment at that time were unsuccessful.

Shortly after 7 a.m., an investigation report says New Fairfield's fire marshal advised officers of the discovery of human remains inside the home.

The remains were found on top of a mattress in the first-floor living room of the home, according to a fire origin and cause report filed in November 2024.

The report said the mattress' location on top of fire debris led to the determination that it and the victim — later identified as Bindu Fairchild — had been in a second-floor bedroom when the fire started and wound up on the first floor after the room collapsed.

Bindu Fairchild died before the fire

While the cause and manner of Fairchild's death were classified as undetermined, state police reports note that the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner found no elevated levels of carbon monoxide, nor any illicit drugs or alcohol, in her system.

As the medical examiner's office confirmed to CT Insider in July 2024, state police reports say the low amount of carbon monoxide found in her blood "indicated that (Fairchild) was deceased before the fire."

The results of her toxicology analysis also showed a nonfatal amount of prescription medication in her system, according to state police reports.

With an administrative warrant to enter the premises to determine the cause and origin of the fire, the Connecticut State Police Accelerant Detection Team searched the scene for the possible presence of ignitable liquids on May 1, 2024.

While the search yielded negative results, state police reports said it didn't rule out the possibility that accelerants had been present.

"Ignitable liquids contain volatile compounds that may have evaporated, been totally consumed by the fire, environmentally altered or removed, or otherwise indistinguishable from background materials," according to documents later filed in the case.

It was also noted in the November 2024 origin and cause report that the accelerant detection K-9 used during the search had not been able to search the second floor of the residence "due to concerns regarding structural stability and collapse conditions." The report said the K-9 only accessed the exterior, first floor and stairwell of the home.

Further investigation into the cause of the fire found that "none of the utilities nor the circuit breaker panels showed any definitive indication of being the cause of the fire," according to state police documents.

In addition to exterior and interior electrical service components, state police said investigators inspected the home's water heater, boiler and baseboard heaters and found no signs of failure, damage or malfunction, and ruled them all out as potential ignition sources of the fire.

The November 2024 fire cause and origin report described the blaze as "heavily concentrated" and said the northeast portion of the home — where Bindu Fairchild's second-floor bedroom was located — sustained the most damage.

Significant smoke, heat and fire damage led to the room's collapse into the first-floor living room, according to the report, which says the fire was determined to have originated inside Bindu Fairchild's bedroom — specifically in the area of the eastern wall, where her bed was located.

"Based on the fire damage, burn patterns, lines of demarcation and physical evidence observed at the scene, the investigative team determined that the fire traveled from the area of origin upwards and outwards, following a path of least resistance," the report says.

From the second-floor bedroom, the report says "the fire and products of combustion spread into the hallway and attic" and proceeded to spread across the structure.

Smoke detectors were located inside the residence, according to the report, but whether they were operating properly at the time of the fire was unknown.

Because investigators were unable to locate a "single potential competent ignition source," the report says the exact cause of the fire could not be determined.

Husband's statements

Around 8:10 a.m. April 27, 2024, state police said John Fairchild arrived at the scene of the fire with his brother, who told authorities he picked Fairchild up at work after hearing about the fire at his home.

The brother stated that he learned about it from his stepmother, who he said had been notified by a relative who serves with the New Fairfield Fire Department around 7 a.m., according to state police reports.

The brother told police he attempted to drive to the scene after receiving the news, but was unable to because the road was closed. After that, he said went home to talk to his wife before heading to Danbury to get his brother.

He said he got to the post office in Danbury around 7:45 a.m. and John Fairchild "turned white when he was told his house was on fire," according to a state police report.

The report says the brother told police Fairchild had been "concerned about his wife," but also said he was initially under the impression that she wasn't home.

Investigators later discovered through cellular data records that Fairchild "did not call his wife after he learned that their house was on fire to check on her wellbeing," according to a state police document.

His first outgoing phone call that day was to his wife's brother at 4:52 p.m., according to a January 2025 report on the cellular data records.

When he and his brother arrived at the scene of the fire, a state police report says Fairchild told them that the presence of his wife's vehicle in the driveway meant she "more than likely" was inside the house.

Attempts to reach Bindu Fairchild at that point had been unsuccessful, according to the report, which says police eventually learned she had called out sick from work at Ridgefield Crossings — something an employee told police was "very unusual" for her to do — around 4:06 a.m. April 27, 2024.

The Ridgefield Crossings employee who spoke to Fairchild over the phone that morning told police she "sounded tired, sick/congested" and claimed to not be feeling well, according to state police.

John Fairchild claimed to have last seen his wife the evening of April 25, 2024, according to state police documents, which say he told investigators he and his wife had different work hours and slept in different bedrooms on the second-floor of the home.

According to a statement he provided to police on April 27, 2024, Fairchild claimed to have been at work from 2 to 11:30 a.m. on April 26, 2024, and said his wife wasn't home when he returned around 2 p.m.

Fairchild told authorities his wife wasn't home, but her car was in the garage, when he left around 1:35 a.m. April 26, 2024, according to state police documents. His statement to police says he claimed the vehicle was gone when he returned home that afternoon.

State police said Fairchild told them his wife went to work at Ridgefield Crossings from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 26, 2024, and messaged him around 5:30 p.m. to let him know she'd be spending the night at the home of a Danbury woman to whom she provided caretaker services as a side job, according to police.

Fairchild told police he stayed home the evening of April 26, 2024, before returning to the post office for a 2 a.m. shift on April 27, 2024. A state police report says investigators learned from the Danbury postmaster that Fairchild clocked into work that morning at 2:02 a.m.

John Fairchild's whereabouts

When investigators initially spoke to Fairchild's supervisor on May 3, 2024, a state police report says he told them Fairchild had gone to a dock in the back of the post office after clocking into work the morning of April 27, 2024.

The supervisor further stated that, to his knowledge, Fairchild remained there until about 7 or 7:30 a.m. when he said Fairchild approached him and said he had to leave due to an emergency.

He later told police there was a one- to two-hour period of time that morning when he did not check on Fairchild and "could not confirm that Fairchild was there the entire time," according to state police documents.

During a second interview on Nov. 23, 2024, a report says the supervisor recalled observing Fairchild "pacing outside the loading dock" the morning of the fire, which he said he found "very odd."

It also was discovered that Fairchild missed about 24 to 25 parcel scans that morning, the report says. When delivery trucks arrive with pallets of parcels, the supervisor explained, post office employees are supposed to scan a barcode on each pallet.

The supervisor told police there were deliveries scheduled for 3, 4:30 and 5 a.m. on April 27, 2024, one of which he said Fairchild failed to scan. Further investigation revealed that the pallets from the 4:30 a.m. truck were not scanned and the scanner assigned to Fairchild that morning wasn't used again until 5:09 a.m., according to a January 2025 state police report.

When they spoke to the supervisor in November 2024, state police said he told them Fairchild had retired from the post office after being "on the verge of getting fired due to disciplinary actions against him for his attendance."

Bindu Fairchild's whereabouts

On the afternoon of April 27, 2024, a state police report says investigators went to the home of the Danbury woman Bindu Fairchild cared for and learned she was one of several at-home aides for the woman.

They also learned about a checkbook the aides filled out at the end of their shifts and saw that the last check had not been made to Fairchild, according to the report, which says it was inconclusive at that time whether Fairchild had gone to the woman's home for a few hours April 26 into April 27, 2024.

One of the aides told investigators someone had given the woman oatmeal and she believed it was Fairchild after consulting with other aides and learning none of them had done so, according to state police.

She also told them that aides shared a mattress at the woman's home and would leave it bare at the end of their shifts so the next caretaker could make the bed up with their own sheets. When she arrived for her shift on April 27, 2024, the aide said the mattress still had Fairchild's sheets on it and did not appear to have been slept on.

The aide further stated that she believed Fairchild had left that morning with the intention of returning, according to a state police report.

Investigators later obtained Ring doorbell camera footage from a neighbor that showed a vehicle that appeared to be Fairchild's Mazda parked in the woman's driveway at 3:24 p.m., 5:38 p.m., 5:53 p.m., 6:13 p.m., 6:15 p.m. and 9:06 p.m., according to a November 2024 report, which lists the time stamps as April 27, but appears to reference April 26, 2024.

Four days after the fatal fire, a report says state police were contacted by a woman who said John Fairchild had been "lurking" behind the elderly woman's home in Danbury. The caller told police her husband confronted Fairchild and he identified himself but wouldn't say why he was there.

At one point, the caller said Fairchild stated that his wife had "committed suicide due to her culture," according to a state police report. The woman told police she did not believe that and said Bindu Fairchild had been "fine the day before the fire."

A January 2025 state police report says screen shots of searches related to drinking antifreeze and methods of hanging were later extracted from an iCloud account associated with Bindu Fairchild.

There are, however, uncertainties surrounding the screen shots — including whether Bindu Fairchild conducted the searches herself, or if the screen shots were of searches someone else made. It's also unclear if the screen shots were further investigated by police.

Kasaram is adamant that her sister did not take her own life.

Financial trouble

State police documents show financial struggles in the Fairchild household were uncovered during the course of the investigation into the fatal fire.

The day of the fire, a report says John Fairchild told investigators there had been "some anxiety and stress with (his wife) filing her taxes late" and she recently had paid $4,000 owed to the IRS.

Another report says the Fairchilds' homeowners insurance company, State Farm, later obtained documentation that showed the couple filed taxes at an H&R Block and sent a $7,065 payment to the IRS on April 24, 2024.

There also was an IRS letter sent in response to an inquiry on April 22, 2024, that said a balance of more than $4,500 was due for the tax period of Dec. 31, 2022, and the IRS had erroneously sent a $2,400 refund on July 31, 2022, according to state police documents.

Through State Farm, the documents say police also obtained Facebook messages between John and Bindu Fairchild from the afternoon of April 26, 2024, that indicated an argument about paying taxes.

In a statement to State Farm in September 2024, a report says John Fairchild denied getting into a fight with his wife and insisted that they had "agreed on her making the payment" at H&R Block.

A state police document says Fairchild also said in his September 2024 statement to State Farm that he had a $25,000 life insurance policy with MetLife on his wife and was in the process of attempting to claim that policy.

State police documents show a request for John Fairchild's financial information was made in May 2024, and a request for "any and all records and information pertaining to loss or potential loss due to fire of suspicious or incendiary origin" was made to State Farm in October 2024.

The latter followed a call from an attorney with the insurance company, who told police his firm had taken deposition statements from Fairchild, obtained data from his cellphone and "discovered some suspicious circumstances surrounding (the) incident," according to a state police report.

Records from State Farm showed an insurance claim had been filed for the April 2024 fire, but it's unclear from the documents state police provided what other information they contained.

Two days after the fire, John Fairchild's stepmother told investigators Bindu Fairchild had been stressed about finances and told her that John Fairchild "had drained their savings account and the bills were not being paid," according to a police report.

Kasaram also told police about concerns her sister had about her financial situation with John Fairchild.

"She said that if she brought up finances with John, he would lose his temper," Kasaram said about her sister in a statement to police, dated May 1, 2024.

Kasaram also stated that her sister told her John Fairchild had "maxed out their credit cards" and was involved in a church that required him to give 10% of his income.

During a follow-up interview in August 2024, a state police report says John Fairchild's stepmother stated that in addition to the couple's "income taxes and how much money they owed," Bindu Fairchild "had distrust of John because he spent money on several churches and she did not know where all their money was going."

No churches are named in the state police documents CT Insider obtained and there appears to have been no interviews conducted with anyone associated with the religious organizations.

The couple's financial struggles also came up in statements from Bindu Fairchild's co-workers — one of whom told police in July 2024 that she talked about "leaving her husband on numerous occasions" due to his alleged mishandling of their money, according to a state police report.

Husband retains attorney

John Fairchild informed investigators on May 7, 2024 — 10 days after the fire — that he had retained an attorney, according to a state police report.

When investigators called to arrange a meeting with Fairchild two days later, the report says his attorney at the time told them there was "no reason to meet in person" as Fairchild already had provided a statement.

The report says police told the attorney they needed to get a layout of the Wood Creek Road residence from Fairchild, and the lawyer later emailed a drawing of the layout of a bedroom.

It appears from state police documents that the next time investigators heard from Fairchild was on Dec. 2, 2024, when a report says he left a voicemail message stating that his attorney had asked him to call to obtain police reports.

He also stated in the message that he was staying at the Crown Point Apartments in Danbury, according to the report.

Cellular data records

Documents show a number of search-and-seizure warrants were obtained during the course of the investigation — including those for cellular data records for three phone lines that police believed would contain evidence of third-degree arson, evidence-tampering and hindering prosecution.

It's unclear from the state police documents with whom the phone numbers were associated. No such charges have been brought against Fairchild and there has been no word of them being brought against anyone else in connection with the case.

State police also received data records for Bindu Fairchild's cellphone — which investigators had been unable to locate at the scene of the fire — and learned the line had been active at 6:45 a.m. April 29, 2024, and was "still operational," according to an affidavit.

Police also obtained data records that showed John Fairchild deactivated three phone lines on May 15, 2024, but not his wife's and still actively was making payments on that phone line.

On Dec. 5, 2024, state police served a search warrant for ping information related to Bindu Fairchild's cellphone number. With coordinates received from Verizon that day, police said they determined the phone was being detected by a cell tower near John Fairchild's apartment in Danbury.

Search leads to child abuse imagery charge

On Dec. 20, 2024, state police executed a search warrant at John Fairchild's Danbury apartment in connection with the investigation into his wife's death and seized several electronic devices.

Child sex abuse imagery was discovered on a tablet seized from the apartment, according to police, who obtained a warrant for Fairchild's arrest on third-degree child pornography possession on Jan. 31, 2025.

Fairchild was taken into custody Feb. 4, 2025, and arraigned on the class D felony charge the next day at state Superior Court in Danbury.

The investigation into the fatal April 2024 fire continued for a few more months after Fairchild's arrest, according to state police documents.

On Feb. 27, one report says state police sent an official request to the state Department of Correction for phone monitoring of Fairchild at Garner Correctional Institution, where he was held prior to being bonded out of custody in March.

On April 25, another report says police obtained text message conversations between Fairchild and his brother during the period of Jan. 23 to Sept. 27, 2024, but found "nothing of evidentiary value to (the) investigation."

It's unclear what, if any, other investigative measures were taken between then and June, when the case officially was suspended.

While devastated to learn of the case's suspension, Kasaram said she's not giving up seeking justice for her sister.

"We still need answers," she said.

© 2025 The Register Citizen, Torrington, Conn.. Visit www.registercitizen.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.