The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)

⏩ Disturbing details in warrant.

- By Jim Shay and Ethan Fry Manfredoni­a becomes the suspect

High-pitched screams. Deep slashes to the head and upper body. A severed hand and fingers. A blood-stained Samurai sword.

Chilling new details in the slaying of one of the men Peter Manfredoni­a is accused of killing were released Monday when arrest warrants were unsealed for the crimes that occurred in the upstate town of Willington.

Manfredoni­a — a 2015 Newtown High School graduate — has been charged with murder, criminal attempt to commit murder, first-degree assault, home invasion, first-degree kidnapping with a firearm, first-degree robbery, first-degree larceny, two counts of first-degree stealing a firearm, and third-degree assault of an elderly person.

The charges stem from a killing, assault and home invasion in Willington.

Manfredoni­a, 23, has not yet been charged in the killing of a man and kidnapping of a woman in Derby. State officials have not said when those charges will be filed. The Willington case has been continued to July 10 with a probable cause hearing scheduled for July 30.

The arrest warrant also includes new details of a Willington home invasion where Manfredoni­a spent hours making “small talk” with the homeowner, according to the court document.

The man told state police that he “asked if (Manfredoni­a) wants to talk about what took place with the murder and he told me that he hadn’t slept for five days and he just flipped,” according to the arrest warrant.

“He said he didn’t know why he did it and that he was remorseful for it,” the man told police, according to the warrant.

Manfredoni­a was captured May 27 following a six-day manhunt. The University of Connecticu­t student was found at a truck stop in Hagerstown, Md.

The massive manhunt involved the FBI, law enforcemen­t from four states and local police department­s in Connecticu­t. Police said they were aided in their pursuit by Manfredoni­a using Uber for parts of his time on the run.

A killing and assault

The crime spree began around 9 a.m. May 22, when state police were notified of two men suffering severe laceration­s to their faces and upper bodies. Police said they also found a hand and fingers nearby.

Theodore DeMers had offered Manfredoni­a a ride on his 4wheeler when police say the 62year-old man was fatally attacked with an “edged” weapon.

John Franco, 80, was critically injured in the attack when he came to help his neighbor.

Neighbors described hearing screams before seeing a man wearing dark clothing and a motorcycle helmet attack DeMers at the end of the road, according to the arrest warrant.

“Sometime during their interactio­n, the man in the motorcycle helmet attacked Victim 1 (DeMers) with a long object, and during the attack, Victim 2 (Franco) approached the scene and was attacked by the man with the motorcycle helmet using the same long object,” the warrant said.

The man in the dark clothing and helmet then fled the scene on a red motorcycle, the warrant stated.

Police found a Samurai sword in a wooded area close to the crime scene, the warrant stated.

“The metal blade of the Samurai sword was bent on an angle and had a fresh blood-like substance covering the bent blade,” the warrant stated.

Around 12:30 p.m., the motorcycle was found abandoned nearby.

State troopers determined the red Kawasaki Ninja sport bike was registered to Manfredoni­a, the warrant stated. The motorcycle matched the descriptio­n of the bike given by neighbors.

The investigat­ion confirmed Manfredoni­a owned a red Kawasaki sport bike and had “an obsession with Samurai swords and owns at least two,” a female acquaintan­ce of Manfredoni­a told police, according to the warrant.

Near the motorcycle, troopers found a white bike helmet with a red and green pattern.

“It was observed that the helmet had a blood-like substance on the exterior,” the warrant stated. “Also, a dark-colored shirt with Chinese lettering and ‘world peace,’ was located nearby with a blood-like substance on the exterior.

“The shirt was located in a stream and appeared as though there was an attempt to wash the shirt clean in the water.”

Police later found Manfredoni­a’s cellphone in the area of the abandoned motorcycle.

University of Connecticu­t police provided more informatio­n on Manfredoni­a, including the name and address of a “known female acquaintan­ce” of his who lived near the crime scene, the warrant stated.

The woman told troopers she last saw Manfredoni­a on May 18 when she discovered he hacked into her social media accounts, the warrant stated. She sent Manfredoni­a a screenshot that showed hacking a person’s social media account is a crime. Manfredoni­a did not reply, according to the warrant.

The woman said she had considered getting a restrainin­g order against Manfredoni­a, the warrant stated.

Home invasion with ‘small talk’

On May 24, state troopers received a call from Derby police reporting an abandoned Ford F-150 truck found abandoned near Osbornedal­e State Park. The vehicle was registered to a man who lived about a mile from where the motorcycle was ditched in Willington.

After trying to reach the man by phone and knocking on his door, troopers forced their way into his home where they found the 73-year-old tied to a chair in the basement, according to the warrant.

The man told troopers that around 5:15 a.m. May 23, he “woke up abruptly to a male with a gun to the back of my neck and shouting at me not to turn around or he would blow my (expletive) brains out.”

Manfredoni­a held the man hostage at gunpoint for more than 24 hours before stealing guns, ammo, cash, credit cards, food, and leaving in the man’s truck early May 24, the warrant stated.

While being held captive, the man said he tried to reason with Manfredoni­a, the warrant stated.

“I suggested that we call the authoritie­s and work something out for him,” the homeowner told troopers, according to the warrant. “He was calm and apologetic, but couldn’t explain why he did that. I asked how old was the guy that he got into the confrontat­ion with and he said he wasn’t that old. He said he couldn’t believe that he could do that but then his demeanor switched immediatel­y.”

Manfredoni­a told the homeowner “he was going to have two good weeks and then he figured it would end in a shootout, the death penalty, or life in prison,” the man told police, according to the warrant. “The tone of the conversati­on changed and Peter seemed irritated so I didn’t push things any further so he went back to the couch and we continued to watch movies on TV.”

Search for Manfredoni­a

Soon after Manfredoni­a left the man bound in his basement, police in Derby discovered the stolen pickup truck, setting off an extensive search that led authoritie­s to a Roosevelt Drive home about a mile away.

Inside the home, police said they found the body of Nicholas Eisele, a former Newtown High School classmate of Manfredoni­a.

Police said Manfredoni­a kidnapped the 23-year-old man’s girlfriend, who was found unharmed at a New Jersey rest stop near the Pennsylvan­ia border.

Manfredoni­a was seen in nearby East Stroudsbur­g, Pa., before he was tracked a few days later in northern Maryland. He was apprehende­d without incident on May 27 at a truck stop in Hagerstown.

Police said they found a gun in the area where Manfredoni­a was arrested that appeared to be the same weapon used to kill his former Newtown High School classmate in Derby.

Manfredoni­a has been placed on suicide watch while he’s held on $7 million bond at Garner Correction­al Institutio­n in Newtown.

 ?? Associated Press ?? Peter Manfredoni­a after his capture.
Associated Press Peter Manfredoni­a after his capture.

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