Stabbing suspect released

Guilford teen allowed to leave hospital, stay home under house arrest

BRIDGEPORT — The Guilford teenager, accused of repeatedly stabbing a woman outside a Westport hair salon in January, was released Wednesday from a state psychiatric hospital.

Superior Court Judge Joan Alexander agreed to release 18-year-old Ellis Tibere on a $1 million bond following a hearing in court.

Tibere will live with his parents in Guilford under house arrest, with GPS monitoring pending his next court date on July 8. Tibere has been found competent to stand trial on charges of attempted murder, first-degree assault and possession of a deadly weapon.

Dr. Lori Hauser, a psychologist at the Whiting Forensic Institute, the state’s maximum security psychiatric hospital in in Middletown where Tibere has been held since February, told the judge via video conferencing that Tibere “does not pose a significant risk requiring him to be further hospitalized.”

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Valdes disagreed, telling the judge he is concerned that Tibere does pose a danger to the public and insisted on the house arrest condition.

“He told police he is obsessed with injuring another human being and this event was his practice run,” the prosecutor said. “He told police, ‘I would live off the property of the person I would kill.’ ”

Tibere attended the hearing by video conferencing from Whiting. His only comment was to agree he understood the conditions of his release. His father and their lawyer, John R. Gulash, stood before the judge during the hearing.

“It was an appropriate result and the matter is proceeding,” Gulash said after the hearing.

Eugene Riccio, the lawyer for the 33-year-old victim, also attended the hearing.

“We appreciate that the court set stringent conditions on the defendant’s release. My client is justifiably concerned about her safety,” Riccio said.

Tibere told police he waited on Jan. 6 for more than three hours in the parking lot of New Beauty Wellness at 1137 Post Road E., before donning a black mask and attacking the unsuspecting Greenwich woman, according to an arrest affidavit.

Police said Tibere walked up to the woman’s car, opened her door and began stabbing her. Tibere told detectives he only stopped stabbing the woman when a man exited the beauty salon, according to the affidavit.

When police arrived, they found two men trying to stanch the victim’s bleeding. Officers applied a tourniquet to the woman’s leg. She was later transferred to Norwalk Hospital.

Police found Tibere driving south on the Sherwood Island Connector shortly after the incident, where he surrendered to police without incident.

According to search warrants, Westport police said Tibere had also planned to ambush victims inside of their homes and kill them. However, a Westport detective said location data from Tibere’s phone did not corroborate his claims and he has not been charged in those alleged incidents.

Tibere