The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘Hero’ boyfriend saved woman in alleged attack
MILFORD — A woman is calling her boyfriend a “hero” after being killed trying to protect her when police say Peter Manfredonia barged into their Derby home while on the run.
After Manfredonia, 23, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to killing Nicholas Eisele and kidnapping the man’s girlfriend, the woman spoke out for the first time since the May 24 incident in a statement read by her attorney.
The woman, who has not been identified, said the 23-yearold Eisele “will forever be remembered as a loving, protective boyfriend, but also a hero.”
“If there is a face or name to be remembered, it should be his,” she said in a statement read by her lawyer, Gene Riccio, outside state Superior Court in Milford.
Her statement, which thanked the multitude of law enforcement agencies involved in the case, said, “the healing process cannot begin until we can be assured that justice has been served and Peter Manfredonia is held accountable for his actions that altered and destroyed the lives of Nick, myself and countless others.”
The statement concluded by saying Manfredonia “should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and that justice for all victims be served.”
Manfredonia, a 2015 Newtown High School graduate and University of Connecticut student, was on the run for six days across four states before his May 27 arrest in Hagerstown, Md. in connection with a crime spree that included two homicides, an assault, home invasion, abduction and assorted other charges.
Since being extradited to Connecticut, Manfredonia has been held at the Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown — the town where he, Eisele and the man’s girlfriend grew up.
Manfredonia is being tried separately for the crimes police say occurred in Willington and Derby during a three-day span in late May.
Last week, Manfredonia pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted murder, first-degree assault, home invasion, kidnapping and other offenses related to the Willington crimes. He’s being held on $7 million bond in this case.
Manfredonia was charged Monday with murder, felony murder, firstdegree kidnapping, home invasion, first-degree robbery and carrying a pistol without a permit in connection with the Derby crimes.
Manfredonia appeared Tuesday for his arraignment on the new charges via video conferencing from the courthouse lockup due to COVID-19 restrictions. He stood silent during the hearing as his attorney, Michael Dolan, entered the not guilty pleas on his behalf. The judge upheld Manfredonia’s $5 million bond for these charges.
Manfredonia’s parents were in the courtroom, but left before the arraignment.
Outside the courthouse, Dolan said it was “just a very sad day.”
“The entire Manfredonia family is just heartbroken,” he said. “I know both families have gone through a lot of pain. I think it was just too difficult for them to stay in the courtroom. To see their son in custody was very difficult.”
Dolan declined to comment on his client’s frame of mind or not guilty plea.
Eisele’s family declined to comment as they left the courthouse.
Their lawyer, Gene Zingaro, later said Eisele’s parents and one of his three siblings were in court and were pleased with the judge’s handling of the hearing, which went as expected.
“I was happy, as was the family, with the judge’s decision to put a $5 million bond on the case, which is over and above the $7 million in bonds already on him,” Zingaro said. “From the family’s perspective, we were happy with that decision by the judge.”
According to his arrest warrant, Manfredonia was on the run when he barged into Eisele’s Derby home during the early-morning hours of May 24.
Manfredonia was wanted in the killing of 62-year-old Ted DeMers and critically injuring the man’s neighbor in an attack in Willington on May 22, police said. Manfredonia then held another man captive in his Willington home for more than a day before stealing his truck and guns early on May 24, according to the arrest warrant.
Manfredonia was trying to find a hiding spot in Osbornedale State Park in Derby when he crashed the stolen truck and changed his plans, the warrant stated. He walked to the nearby home of Eisele, a childhood friend who sold him marijuana in the past, according to the arrest warrant.
Eisele’s girlfriend told police she had met Manfredonia once, two or three months before the incident, when he bought marijuana from her boyfriend, the warrant stated. She said they had locked all the doors of the house and Eisele blocked Manfredonia on social media when they heard he was wanted for murder, the warrant stated.
But the woman said she woke up around 6 a.m. May 24 and Manfredonia was inside the Roosevelt Drive home, arguing in the other room with Eisele, the warrant stated.
Eisele told his girlfriend to call 911, but Manfredonia ran into the bedroom and “ripped” the phone out of her hands and started “tussling” with Eisele, the warrant said.
Moments later, the woman heard gunshots and saw Eisele motionless on the floor, the warrant said. After killing Eisele, Manfredonia stole about $2,000 in cash that was on a table and put it into a duffel bag, the woman told police, according to the warrant.
The warrant said Manfredonia, holding the gun he used to shoot Eisele, then ordered the woman to get into her car and drive him toward Newtown.
As she drove, Manfredonia detailed the previous 36 hours, telling the woman that DeMers was not an intended target but “he said something that triggered (Manfredonia) and he snapped,” the warrant stated.
“Manfredonia said he was trying to escape and innocent people got in the way,” the warrant says.
“Manfredonia told her that he killed the people, including Nick, because they said something that triggered him and he snapped, but he did not elaborate.”
The woman drove into New York and then New Jersey as Manfredonia held the handgun between his legs and repeatedly said: “I don’t want to have to kill you,” the warrant stated.
Seven hours later, Manfredonia allowed her to drop him off at a New Jersey truck stop near the Pennsylvania border, where he hailed an Uber with the help of a bystander, the warrant stated. He left her with $200 for “gas money,” the warrant said.
In her statement, the woman thanked the Good Samaritan who helped her at the truck stop, along with the Connecticut State Police, FBI, Derby Police, and New Jersey State Police, for capturing Manfredonia several days later.
“We can never erase the pain, heartache and trauma that occurred as a result of Manfredonia’s actions on May 24,” the woman said in the statement. “But we will insist that Peter Manfredonia is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and that justice for all victims is served.”
Asked how the woman was doing, Riccio said his client has “undergone a terrible situation, which has had a devastating effect on her but she’s also very concerned about Nick’s family and the other families that have been affected by this tragedy.”