U.S. Marshals, Waterbury, Hartford Police Capture Waterbury Murder Suspect in Hartford

New Haven, CT - The Connecticut U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force (CVFTF), working with Waterbury and Hartford police officers, this morning arrested a Waterbury murder suspect in Hartford.

Joshua Morales, 29, is a suspect in a July 16 murder at a Waterbury social club, where a 40-year-old man from Fredericksburg, Virginia, was shot to death. 

The Waterbury Police Department obtained an arrest warrant for Morales July 16, charging him with murder, possession of a large capacity magazine, illegal alteration to a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm and use of a machine gun in a violent crime. 

Today, the U.S. Marshals CVFTF, Waterbury police and Hartford police located Morales at an apartment on Washington Street and took him into custody. 

Morales was transported to the Waterbury Police Department for processing and has a court set bond of $3 million. 

Since the inception of the U.S. Marshals – Connecticut Violent Fugitive Task Force in 1999, these partnerships have resulted in over 11,046 arrests (as of 9/08/2022). The task force’s objective is to seek out and arrest violent fugitives and sexual predators. Membership agencies include Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Norwalk, Waterbury Police Departments and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These arrests have ranged in seriousness from murder, assault, unregistered sex offenders, probation and parole violations and numerous other serious offenses. Nationally the U.S. Marshals Service fugitive programs are carried out with local law enforcement in 94 district offices, 85 local fugitive task forces, eight regional task forces, as well as a growing network of offices in foreign countries.