Ruth Correa, who has pleaded guilty to helping her brother Sergio Correa kill three members of the Lindquist family during a home invasion and robbery, took the witness stand Wednesday in New London Superior Court during an evidentiary hearing in her brother’s case.

Dressed in a gray prison sweatsuit, she appeared in the same courtroom as her brother during the third day of a suppression hearing, as lawyers argued over what evidence will be included in Sergio Correa's upcoming trial.

Both siblings were charged with murder, home invasion, robbery and arson in connection to the 2017 slayings of Janet Lindquist, 61, Kenneth Lindquist, 56, and their 21-year-old son Matthew Lindquist. Investigators allege that a plot to trade heroin for guns led to the family's gruesome murders during a home invasion, followed by the burning of their Griswold home.

Ruth Correa, 27, will testify against her brother during his trial next month as part of a plea deal. She pleaded guilty to three counts of felony murder in May and agreed to testify in exchange for a recommended sentence of 40 years served in prison.

Sergio Correa, 30, is being held at the New Haven Correctional Center in lieu of a $3.3 million bond, according to the Connecticut Department of Correction.

On the stand, Ruth Correa walked her brother's attorney, Public Defender Joseph Lopez, through the events of Dec. 28, 2017, when probation and police officers searched Sergio Correa's apartment on Donald Street in Hartford and seized his car — a Mitsubishi Galant he shared with his then-girlfriend, Tanisha Vicento.

Ruth Correa testified that she received a call on that December day from a nurse's aide who was at the apartment with her grandfather who told her that the police were there. Ruth said she was worried that police were looking for her brother in connection to the Lindquist murders, so she jogged from her nearby apartment to her grandfather's home, where she saw several law enforcement officers searching the apartment, including her brother's bedroom.

She also told Lopez she had been drinking Hennessy cognac that morning, a habit she said she'd developed in the days following the murders.

She testified that her brother and Vicento arrived at the apartment after she did. Officers spoke with her brother and later drove her and Vicento to the police department, where Vicento was questioned, she said.

While at the police department, she said she saw her brother leaving an interview room and followed him to the parking lot. She said she asked him if he was going to wait for her and his girlfriend, but said he was angry and left them at the police station to walk a long way home until they eventually hailed a ride.

Authorities were led to Sergio Correa's Hartford home after a cellphone belonging to Matthew Lindquist, who at the time was considered missing, "pinged" near the apartment. Matthew Lindquist's body was found in the woods near his parents' scorched home months later.

Ruth Correa also told Lopez that she overheard officers asking Vicento for permission to search the car she and Correa shared. She said Vicento sounded nervous, but thought she heard Vicento agree to the search. Investigators say they found a sledgehammer, a gas can and knives in the car.

Vicento is expected to take the stand Thursday, day four of the suppression hearing.

Sergio Correa's trial, which has been delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to begin next month.

t.hartz@theday.com