according to the news - times reports .
 
photo : contributed photo erin cox image 1 of 28 caption close heath pleads not guilty in wife 's death 1 28 back to gallery danbury --twenty - eight years after telling police she had abandoned him and their 4 - year - old daughter in the middle of the night , john heath pleaded not guilty in state superior court on tuesday morning to the crime friends and family members say they have long suspected he committed , the 1984 murder of his wife at their poverty hollow road home in newtown .
the husband of a woman whose body was found inside a well under a barn in newtown pleaded not guilty to a murder charge on tuesday and is being held on $ 1 million bond .
john heath reported his wife missing in april 1984 .
breathing with the aid of an oxygen tank and wearing a gray , hooded sweatshirt , heath was arraigned before judge john blawie , who rejected a request by his interim attorney , public defender miles gerety , to reduce the $ 1 million
elizabeth had been wrapped in bedding and placed head - first into the heath pleads not guilty in wife 's death john heath : charged in 1984 murder of his estranged wife , elizabeth , whose remains were found in newtown barn in 2010 john heath 's mug shot .
prosecutors said officials acted quickly to arrest heath after a moving truck was spotted at his house over the weekend .
john heath , 68 , of bridgewater , was charged with the murder of his wife , elizabeth gough heath , on monday .