Vt. woman's February death, once thought natural, now deemed homicide

The death of a woman at her home Windham, Vermont, in February has been ruled a homicide, Vermont State Police said Monday.

Claudia Voight, 73, died at her home on Feb. 20. Investigators initially believed she died of a medical event, but an autopsy found she had injuries from strangulation, police said.

A medical examiner found the woman's "death was suspicious, and Voight had sustained injuries that were detectable only during autopsy," police said in a statement.

A final autopsy in April confirmed she died of neck compression, by homicide, but police said the findings were not immediately released because investigators did not want to jeopardize the case.

Officials do not think the killing was random and said there was no known threat to the public, police said.

One of Voight's children is NBC Connecticut anchor Heidi Voight, who released a statement on her mother's death on Facebook.

"Claudia Voight was stolen from this world. She was stolen from her family, from her children, and from my precious daughters who now ask me almost every day, "Why did Grandma go to Heaven?" the statement read, in part.

Tracy Davis, NBC Connecticut's vice president of news, issued a statement on Claudia Voight's death: “Our hearts and deepest sympathies are with Heidi and her loved ones during this tremendously difficult time. She has the fullest support of her colleagues at NBC Connecticut.”

NBC Connecticut is owned by NBCUniversal, as is this station.

No one was in custody in the homicide investigation as of Monday's announcement from state police. Its Major Crime Unit, Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Victim Services Unit were investigating, officials said.