Episode 162: Jeffrey & Jeanette Navin

A married couple vanishes, leaving investigators with a trail of clues to follow. What happened to Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin?

Episode Media

Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin *(Easton Police Department)*

Law enforcement at the site where the Navins’ bodies were found *(Hearst Connecticut Media)*

Important locations in the case *(Google Maps)*

Kyle Navin in court *(Hearst Connecticut Media)*

Jennifer Valiante in court *(News 12 Connecticut)*

Episode Sources

Episode Transcript

Welcome back to Bite-Sized Crime. This week I’m bringing you a case from New England, one that is as surprising as it is tragic. This episode discusses sensitive topics, so listener discretion is advised.

Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin met as teenagers in Westport, Connecticut, a wealthy town along the coast of the Long Island Sound. They both attended Staples High School and reconnected after graduation when they began working at the same appliance store. In 1986, Jeffrey and Jeanette got married. Two years later, they welcomed their first son Kyle, later followed by another son they named Taylor. The next two decades were filled with hockey games, ski trips, church activities, and beach vacations.

Jeffrey and his brother William started their own trash and recycling company in the mid-80s and worked hard to build it from the ground up. Before long, they had a solid reputation in the community. Jeffrey was able to bring in a steady stream of income for his family, and they lived well – buying nice homes and fancy cars while sending their sons to excellent schools in the suburbs.

In the fall of 2015, Jeffrey and Jeanette, now in their mid-50s, were living in the quiet town of Easton, about ten miles north of where they had grown up in Westport. Jeffrey was running the business while Jeanette worked for the local school system as a library aide. Their youngest son Taylor had moved down south to Mississippi, and their oldest son Kyle lived in Bridgeport, just a 15-minute drive away from his parents. Kyle had joined the family business a few years back, driving a truck and helping with the finances. Jeffrey and Jeanette were starting to think about retirement and what the future would look like.

But in early August, some of the Navins’ family members realized that they hadn’t heard from Jeffrey and Jeanette in a few days. Jeffrey hadn’t shown up for work since Tuesday, August 4th. The business didn’t do trash pickup on Wednesdays, so it wasn’t unusual for Jeffrey to take the day off, but when he failed to show up on Thursday and didn’t have anyone to cover his route, it set off alarm bells. Neither Jeffrey nor Jeanette was answering the phone or responding to text messages, which was unusual for them. Finally, on Friday, August 7th, Jeffrey’s sister-in-law contacted the Easton Police Department and filed a missing persons report.

Investigators reached out to the Navins’ son Kyle. He told them that he had last seen his parents on the morning of August 4th when they had come to visit him at his home in Bridgeport. They wanted to drive down to New York City for dinner that night and asked Kyle to join them, but he declined. He had recently had surgery on his back and was in too much pain. Kyle told investigators that his parents often went on little trips to the city – maybe that’s what they had done this time.

Investigators’ next stop was the Navins’ home in Easton. In the driveway were Jeffrey’s white work truck and a Mercedes E320; a vintage Ford Model A was in the garage. Notably missing was their blue 2003 Dodge Ram pickup truck. Police put out a bulletin on the vehicle in the hopes that someone would spot it soon.

Inside the stone house, officers found nothing out of the ordinary. The bed was unmade, there was a to-do list on the refrigerator, and a hand-written reminder about a doctor’s appointment was on the nightstand. It looked as though Jeffrey and Jeanette had just stepped out for the day with every intention of returning.

Over the weekend, police searched the area around Easton for Jeffrey and Jeanette with no success. They got access to the couple’s cell phone records, hoping to be able to trace their locations, but both phones had been turned off on August 4th with no further activity.

Shortly after noon on Sunday, August 9th, a state trooper on a routine patrol discovered the Navins’ blue pickup truck in a commuter lot off Merritt Parkway in Westport, eight miles from their home in Easton. The passenger-side window had been broken and shards of glass littered the ground, but there was no sign of Jeffrey or Jeanette. Investigators learned that the commuter lot was just a short distance from a house owned by the Navins – it had been vacant since the beginning of the year. Thinking that this could be a possible lead, an officer went to the house to look around, but other than finding a few business cards for the trash company, there was nothing to indicate that Jeffrey or Jeanette had been there recently.

On August 11th, investigators spoke with Kyle again, asking him to try and recall every detail of the day he had last seen his parents. This time, Kyle said that on August 4th, he had met his mother at the commuter lot early in the morning. She had parked the blue pickup and gotten into Kyle’s garbage truck – his back was in a lot of pain that day, so Jeanette had agreed to help him pick up the trash while he drove. According to Kyle, they met up with Jeffrey at a nursery in Westport around 10:30. Jeanette got into her husband’s truck and Kyle drove back to his own house in Bridgeport. A few hours later, he drove to his parents’ house to pick up a check Jeffrey had left for him, then he went back home and stayed there the rest of the day, resting his back.

But later, Kyle told investigators a different story. During an interview on August 12th, Kyle said that he had actually met up with both his parents on the morning of August 4th. He had been running late that morning, so he met Jeffrey and Jeanette at the nursery in Westport around 6:30am. Jeanette got into Kyle’s truck so they could start his route together, but after a few hours, Kyle’s back pain was so bad that he had to stop. He and his mom went back to his house to get his customer list so she could finish his route, then they drove back to Westport where they met up with Jeffrey on Deerwood Lane. Jeanette left with Jeffrey, and Kyle went back home. Kyle told investigators that he didn’t hear anything until Thursday when his uncle called him to say that Jeffrey hadn’t shown up for work.

Investigators were beginning to suspect that Kyle was hiding something from them, but they didn’t want to put all their eggs in one basket. While digging into Jeffrey and Jeanette’s records, they had discovered that the Navins were in severe financial distress. Over the past few years, the couple had racked up over 2 million dollars in debt, and several of their properties had been foreclosed upon. Less than a month before they disappeared, the Navins had sold their 4,000 square foot home in Weston and moved into a much smaller rental property in the neighboring town of Easton.

Investigators had to wonder if Jeffrey and Jeanette had simply decided to run away from their money troubles. However, if that had been their plan, surely they would have cleaned out their bank accounts – but that wasn’t the case. The Navins still had available funds that hadn’t been touched since before their disappearance. Why would they leave that behind?

Easton Police Chief Tim Shaw told NBC Connecticut that they were exploring every avenue of investigation. “The longer this gets… the more nervous the family is — rightfully so — and the more suspicious it gets. At this point, we’re still looking at it as a missing person.”

Meanwhile, investigators were looking even more closely at the Navins’ cell phone data and their communications with their son, Kyle.

According to an affidavit, Jeanette’s last outgoing phone call was made in Easton at 8:45am on August 4th and lasted only 2 seconds. At 9:20am, her phone pinged off a cell tower in Bridgeport not far from Kyle’s home before turning off. Kyle’s cell phone pinged off that same tower at the same time. This didn’t match the timeline he gave during his interviews.

If investigators were suspicious of Kyle, the text messages between him and his father only added to their concerns. At 12:34pm on August 4th, Jeffrey texted Kyle asking where he was. Kyle said that he had left his cleanup location and was headed to Jeffrey and Jeanette’s house in Easton. Then, the father and son had a truly bizarre exchange.

At 12:39, Jeffrey texted, “I’m not going home till I know mom is okay.” Three minutes later, he asked his son, “Did you hurt mom?”

Kyle responded, “No absolutely not. Why would you think[?]”

Jeffrey said, “I go home and get framed for murder[.]” He then told his son that he was going to the police. Kyle tried to change the subject, then at 12:57, Jeffrey said, “U R setting me up[.]”

Kyle responded, “Dad really what are you talking about?” but his father didn’t answer. Fifteen minutes later, Kyle texted, “I’m home, I left a spot on the road for your truck to fit.”

At 1:23pm, Jeffrey made an outgoing call, but it’s unclear who he was trying to contact. His phone pinged off the tower near Kyle’s house in Bridgeport. After that, his phone was turned off.

Investigators knew something was up with Kyle Navin. His timeline didn’t make sense, and when confronted with the cell phone data and strange text messages, he became nervous and offered confusing explanations. Kyle claimed that Jeffrey had just been overreacting when he couldn’t get in touch with his wife. He said his dad’s phone hadn’t been working properly and he was freaking out over small things.

But it wasn’t just the cell data that had investigators looking at Kyle. Security cameras in the area showed Jeffrey’s garbage truck driving near the Navins’ house around 3pm on August 4th, well after his cell phone had been turned off. The cameras also captured Kyle’s girlfriend’s car following closely behind the truck, something Kyle had never mentioned during his interviews. Thirty minutes later, the girlfriend’s car was seen driving away from the Navins’ home. The truck had been left behind.

When investigators questioned Kyle’s girlfriend Jennifer, she told them that she had been at home all day on August 4th. But when they confronted her with the video footage, she admitted that Kyle had asked her to follow him to his parents’ house in Easton so he could drop off Jeffrey’s truck. Jennifer couldn’t say why Kyle had his father’s truck or why he needed to take it back; she just did what he said and gave him a ride home.

On August 13th, the Bridgeport Police Department executed a search warrant on Kyle’ property. They seized multiple firearms and dozens of rounds of ammunition. They also discovered a receipt from Home Depot showing that on August 5th, someone had purchased germicidal bleach, stain remover, drain opener solution, duct tape, and heavy-duty trash bags. Store surveillance footage confirmed that Kyle and Jennifer had arrived at Home Depot around 7:45pm, purchased those exact items in cash, then left in Jennifer’s vehicle at 8:30.

Police also searched Kyle’s 2000 Chevy Silverado pickup truck as a part of the search warrant. Inside, they discovered two bullet holes in the passenger seat. One had passed through the seat belt in a spot that indicated a person had been wearing it when the bullet struck. Dark stains on the back of the seat were tested and determined to be blood. The DNA was a match to Jeanette Navin.

On August 18th, police executed a second search warrant on Kyle’s home in Bridgeport. A search of the basement revealed a large portion of carpet had been removed. Using Luminol testing on the rest of the carpet, investigators could see large spots consistent with bloodstains, several of which appeared to be shaped like footprints. Other stains were found near the foot of the stairs. Forensic analysis indicated that the DNA found in the bloodstains was a mixture of both Kyle and Jeffrey Navin.

After these discoveries, the Bridgeport State’s Attorney’s Office requested assistance from the Connecticut State Police. The case was turned over to the Major Crime Squad, who performed another search of Kyle’s home. This time, they uncovered dozens of empty prescription bottles for controlled substances as well as hypodermic needles and other drug paraphernalia, including bags of heroin residue. A hand-written note said, “No alarms, no panic buttons, no phones. BE SMART.”

By this point, investigators were sure that Kyle had something to do with his parents’ disappearance, but they needed more proof – they needed to paint the full picture. Why would Kyle hurt his parents?

Over the next few weeks, investigators dug into Kyle’s life. They spoke with family members who said that Kyle’s relationship with his parents had always been strained. In 2006, the Navins had been subjected to an investigation by the Department of Children and Families, which looked into claims that Jeffrey was emotionally and verbally abusive to his oldest son. Kyle’s brother Taylor told investigators that the relationship had been tumultuous for as long as he could remember, and that Kyle held a lot of resentment towards his parents. When investigators told Taylor that Kyle was a person of interest, he said, “When I heard my parents were missing I thought to myself… they either went on vacation, or my brother did something to them.”

Investigators also discovered that Kyle was deep in the throes of addiction, spending hundreds of dollars a day on heroin and painkillers. After his back surgery, he had been kicked out of a pain treatment program because of his heroin use, and his addiction had only gotten worse after that. Kyle also owed his parents a lot of money, something that had caused a lot of tension in their relationship. According to an affidavit, the Navins had bought Kyle’s house for him in 2012 and expected him to pay the loan back in installments. But Kyle hadn’t paid, and he was delinquent on the property taxes. He was also causing problems with the business, something his father took very seriously. Frustrated and disappointed by their son’s behavior and ongoing drug use, Jeffrey and Jeanette had talked about selling the business to pay off their debts and cutting Kyle off financially. They were going to write him out of their wills, leaving him with no inheritance.

Looking through Kyle’s text messages, it was clear to investigators that Kyle was very angry at his parents, especially his father. He and Jeffrey fought often, and Kyle always turned to Jennifer for support. In May of 2015, Kyle texted Jennifer about an argument he’d had with Jeffrey, saying that he had to hold himself back from punching his dad in the face. “If I do punch him I won’t be able to stop[.]” In that same conversation, Kyle told Jennifer that they needed to find a way to “take them down[.]”

A few weeks later, Kyle and Jennifer talked about what they could do with all the money they would get if Jeffrey and Jeanette “went away[.]” Kyle said he had a perfect plan to get money for life. “It would solve every single problem and give us a wealthy amazing life[.]”

Perhaps the most chilling exchange was the one that took place on the day Jeffrey and Jeanette disappeared. Just after 6pm on August 4th, Kyle asked Jennifer what she was doing, and she replied that she was inside the house getting a drink. Kyle then asked, “You hadn’t gone to [the] basement have you[?]” When Jennifer replied that she hadn’t, Kyle seemed relieved. Investigators wondered if Kyle didn’t want his girlfriend to see the bloodstains in the basement – or perhaps something even worse.

On September 10, 2015, Kyle Navin was indicted on federal weapons charges, charged with one count of possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance. While prosecutors didn’t feel that they had enough to arrest Kyle for the disappearance and possible death of his parents, they could at least detain him while they searched for more evidence.

They wouldn’t have to wait much longer.

On October 29th, police were called to a property on Norfield Road in Weston. The homeowner had been clearing brush when he discovered what he believed to be decomposed human remains. The medical examiner would later confirm that the remains belonged to Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin. Jeanette had been shot once in the chest, her body wrapped in a blue tarp and sealed with silver duct tape. Jeffrey’s body had been wrapped in heavy trash bags and held together with painter’s tape. He had also been shot.

Investigators soon learned that the owner of the property was an acquaintance of Kyle Navin. Kyle likely would have known that the house on the property had been vacant for a while; he may have thought it would make a good hiding place, having no idea that the owner would be returning soon. The owner was cleared of any involvement in the case, but Kyle was not.

On October 30th, Kyle Navin was arrested and charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his parents, Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin. Jennifer Valiante was also arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and hindering apprehension.

Investigators believe that on the morning of August 4th, Kyle killed his mother while she sat in the passenger seat of his work truck. Jeffrey had likely been killed at Kyle’s house later that day. With his severe back injury, Kyle would have needed help to cover his tracks, which is where Jennifer came in. Over the next two days, the couple had worked together to dispose of the bodies, clean up the crime scenes, and move the trucks to their correct locations.

Jennifer Valiante pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension but entered an Alford plea for the conspiracy charge. She was sentenced to 8 years in prison. She was released in February of 2023.

Kyle Navin pleaded not guilty to both murder charges, but in April of 2018, the day before his trial was set to begin, he took a plea deal and was sentenced to 55 years in prison without the possibility of parole. At his sentencing, the judge called Kyle’s actions “disgraceful and disgusting.” He said, “This idea of a killing by a child of his parents is exceedingly rare, it cuts against the fundamentals of our human condition. You don’t kill the people who gave life to you. One can only imagine the horror of Jeannette Navin when her son pulled a gun on her and shot her as she sat next to him.”

Kyle Navin is currently serving out his sentence at Cheshire Correctional Institution. He is scheduled to be released in 2070.

Jeffrey and Jeanette Navin did not deserve their tragic end, did not deserve to be brutally murdered by their own son. May their family find comfort in knowing justice has been served.