Naked woman found dead after striking church statue

A young woman who shed her clothes in a tree plunged to her death on Saturday afternoon, police said. Police believe a parish priest saw the same woman 45 minutes earlier hugging a statue at St. Benedict’s Church, Capt. Richard Conklin said. The woman, who police say may have been on drugs at the time, has been identified, but police aren’t releasing her name until her family is notified.

The woman does not appear to be from Stamford, and police have determined she has lived in New Orleans, New York City and Virginia, Conklin said. Police said they are trying to determine what brought her to Stamford. At 12:47 p.m. Saturday, police were called by the priest after he saw a young black woman hugging and striking a statue on the St. Benedict’s property. The priest called 911 when he saw her.



The woman was gone by the time police arrived, Conklin said. At 1:27, police were called by passers-by reporting a black woman was unconscious under a tree near Wardwell and Frederick streets several blocks from the church. When police arrived, the woman was dead and naked, Conklin said. Police found the woman’s clothes in the tree about 25 feet above the ground, Conklin said. Conklin said the woman could have fallen that distance.

Though an autopsy is scheduled for Monday, police believe the woman died of injuries suffered during the fall. While the woman might have fallen due to being electrocuted by high-tension power lines that ran through the tree, police suspect the woman was high on PCP, a powerful hallucinogenic. Conklin said discarding clothes is a “classic” response to PCP use because the drug heats up the body. Conklin said the description of the woman at St. Benedict’s matched the woman police found under the tree.