Vittorio Boaselli

Vittorio Boaselli was a well-known local character in Hartford, Connecticut, though he lived a life that defied easy explanation. At 50 years old, he was known to most as “Vic the Dog Man,” a nickname earned from the black wolf-dog that was his constant companion. Boaselli chose to live a drifter's lifestyle, residing in a simple basement apartment on New Britain Avenue, yet he was known to have access to significant sums of money. Some said he had won an underground lottery or received an insurance settlement, while others knew he occasionally received money from relatives in Italy. Despite his means, he preferred a less conventional existence, one that brought him into an unusual and close relationship with at least three Hartford police officers.

The life of Vic the Dog Man came to a violent and mysterious end on Sunday, December 27, 1987. His body was discovered at a remote rest area off Route 57 in the small town of Granville, Massachusetts, just across the state line from Connecticut. He had been shot to death. When investigators entered his Hartford apartment, they were told that as much as $100,000 in cash was missing from the home. His death immediately triggered a complex investigation that would span two states and delve into shadowy connections.

The investigation was handled by the Massachusetts State Police. Detectives soon learned of Boaselli's interest in betting on cockfights, a passion he reportedly shared with at least one of his police officer associates. The location where his body was found was not far from a makeshift cockfighting arena, a detail that deepened the intrigue. Investigators from both the Massachusetts State Police and the Hartford Police Department’s intelligence unit looked into the possibility that current or former Hartford officers were involved in the homicide.

Over the years, the probe into Boaselli's death has been revisited multiple times. In 1998, federal authorities and Massachusetts investigators again shared information about the case, prompted by new intelligence received during a separate corruption probe into the Hartford Police Department. Of the three officers originally scrutinized for their relationship with Boaselli, one was still on the force, one had resigned during an unrelated corruption investigation in 1989, and the third had since passed away. Despite persistent rumors and multiple inquiries, no witnesses ever placed the officers at the scene of the crime, and no member of the department was ever charged or indicted in connection with the murder.

Former Hartford Police Chief Bernard Sullivan, who ran the department at the time of the killing, later recalled giving Massachusetts investigators "carte blanche" to interview his officers but stated that they never found enough evidence to make an arrest. A Massachusetts State Police sergeant described the case as one that detectives periodically pick up and put down, never forgetting the man known as Vic the Dog Man. The questions of how he acquired so much cash and who would have known about it remain central to the mystery.

Decades later, the murder of Vittorio Boaselli remains unsolved. As of July 2022, his case is still featured on the Hampden District Attorney's list of active unresolved homicides. Investigators continue to seek the missing pieces that could finally bring justice and provide answers for a killing that has been shrouded in questions for more than thirty years.

Anyone with information regarding the death of Vittorio Boaselli is urged to contact the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit at 413-505-5941 or the State Police Unresolved Cases Unit at 1-855-MA-SOLVE (1-855-627-6583). Tips can also be texted by sending the word "Solve" to 274637.