A New Britain man has been ordered to spend decades behind bars for abducting and killing a Massachusetts father whose bound body was found in a Somers field, closing the book on a grim case that has loomed over northern Connecticut since 2021.
On June 3, 2026, a judge in Rockville sentenced 36-year-old Timothy Lange after a jury found him guilty in the death of 38-year-old Jason Comes of Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Comes’s body was discovered in a field off Durkee Road in Somers, and the case quickly grew into a multiagency investigation that stretched across several towns and state lines.
According to Daily Voice, Tolland Judicial District State’s Attorney Craig P. Nowak said Lange received a total sentence of 48 years in prison, suspended after 43 years to serve, followed by five years of probation. During the sentencing hearing, Comes’s relatives spoke about the loss of a husband and father, telling the court that no punishment could truly match the harm done but asking for a sentence that reflected the brutality of the crime.
The sentence followed a March 5, 2026, jury verdict in Rockville that found Lange guilty of second-degree kidnapping, felony murder and tampering with evidence, according to a press release from the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. Prosecutors said jurors heard from investigators who pulled together surveillance video, forensic testing and cellphone data to retrace the movements that led to Comes’s killing.
How prosecutors say the crime unfolded
Investigators said the chain of events began in the early morning hours of Aug. 4, 2021, at Mardi Gras 2, an adult-entertainment bar on North Road in East Windsor. Surveillance footage showed Lange arriving with several other men, and Comes later leaving the bar in his car behind Lange’s motorcycle, according to state police.
From there, authorities said, vehicles linked to the group were tracked through Enfield to a property on Moody Road. Later, two vehicles were seen heading east toward Somers, and a car was found parked in a field on Durkee Road the next morning. Coverage from Patch outlined that string of sightings, which prosecutors leaned on to show the people and cars moving together in the hours before Comes was found dead.
Forensic links and a burning pickup
Investigators said forensic work tightened the case against Lange. DNA that authorities reported recovering from the victim’s clothing, combined with cellphone records, were key pieces tying him to the crime. The Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice also noted that a pickup truck owned by Lange was later identified after firefighters responded to a vehicle fire in Woodbridge the same morning Comes’s body was discovered.
Those digital and physical clues, prosecutors said, became the backbone of the state’s theory: that Lange played a central role in a kidnapping that ended in a killing far from the bar where the night started.
Another arrest and what’s next
In February 2026, state police arrested a second man, 34-year-old Zachary Joseph Apt of Southington. Authorities said Apt faces murder, conspiracy and tampering charges that mirror some of the allegations brought against Lange. Apt remains in custody on a court-set bond, and his case is still working its way through the system as prosecutors continue to build and present evidence.
Victim and community impact
Comes, a married father of three from Wilbraham, was remembered by relatives as a devoted dad and youth coach. Reporting from the Journal Inquirer described emotional testimony from family members in the courtroom, as well as the wider shock and grief in his community after news broke in August 2021 that he had been found dead in Somers.
