A man and woman from Torrington went before a judge on Tuesday for their alleged roles in the death of a 24-year-old Harwinton man who was killed last summer.
Logan Diaz-Lopardo, 21, is facing charges including first-degree manslaughter and Abbigale Whipple, 20, is facing charges including conspiracy to commit manslaughter for the death of 24-year-old Kevin Gangell.
Court documents detail a tumultuous relationship between Whipple and Gangell, who were allegedly dating for around a year, with Lopardo described as Whipple’s best friend.
Just before noon on July 28, 2024, police responded to a home on Clearview Avenue in Harwinton and found Gangell unresponsive on the lawn of his home. His autopsy report said he died of blunt force trauma and the manner of his death was homicide.
Police said Lopardo was behind the wheel of an Audi that struck Gangell and then crashed into a retaining wall on the property. Whipple and Lopardo were injured in the crash.
Gangell’s body was thrown approximately 70 feet. It’s estimated that Lopardo was driving between 32 and 38 mph, according to court documents.
“It became apparent very quickly that this was no accident, and it was actually an intentional act,” Connecticut State Police Sgt. Luke Davis said.
In an interview with police, Whipple told officers that Gangell had ditched her the night before the incident, and it made her angry. Gangell blocked her phone number, and she proceeded to send him 1,600 messages over various platforms, according to court documents.
Gangell eventually told her to come over, and she asked Lopardo to drive her.
While the pair drove over to the home, Gangell and Lopardo spoke over the phone, with Lopardo allegedly saying, ‘Oh you mad cause I got ya girl now?’ and Gangell replied, ‘Pull up…I got something for you.’
Police said Whipple, in her last text to Gangell wrote, ‘I warned u.’
Police said phone records show that Whipple previously texted Lopardo that she wanted to harm Gangell. Court documents also explain that the two alluded to an affair, but Whipple told police he wasn’t her type.
“She wanted to cause harm to [Gangell]. These text messages said ‘I want him hurt’ and that’s definitely concerning and raised a lot of red flags in building this case to show that this was an intentional act,” Davis said.
When the pair arrived at the home, Whipple told police, ‘Kevin ran from behind his garage into the road with something in his hand, and Logan hit him.’
A 2-foot metal pipe was found near Gangell’s body. Lopardo told police Gangell smashed his windshield with the pipe before the crash, but police said there’s no evidence of that.
After the crash, Lopardo called 911, and police said Whipple was heard yelling ‘Logan, what the [expletive] did you do? Why did you do that?’
She later told police, while she believed Lopardo intentionally hit Gangell to hurt him, he didn’t mean to kill him.
“This was more or less a planned event in causing harm to this individual,” Davis said, “and I think it was more than they bargained for, considering that this young man actually ended up losing his life as a result of it.”
Their bonds were each set at $500,000. If they bond out, they both were ordered to be on 24/7 house arrest.
They’re due back in court in February.