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Photo: David Haugh / AP /
Photo: David Haugh / AP /
Peter Manfredonia — the University of Connecticut student accused of killing two people, kidnapping a woman and other crimes — will be arraigned Friday in state Superior Court in Rockville.
Manfredonia, 23, who was extradited from Maryland where he was captured last month after six days on the run, will be arraigned on charges of murder, criminal attempt to commit murder, first-degree assault, two counts of stealing a firearm, and assault of an elderly person, among others.
Those charges pertain to crimes that occurred in Willington, State Trooper Josue Dorelus said during a morning news briefing. Dorelus said Manfredonia is being held on $5 million bond and the arrest warrant will be sealed for 14 days.
Manfredonia is expected to be charged next week in connection with the Derby homicide of a former high school classmate and kidnapping of the man’s girlfriend, police said.
“Our hope is that the developments that will be provided today will give the families and communities impacted some kind of closure,” Dorelus said.
Defense attorney Michael Dolan, who has been the spokesman for the Manfredonia family, said Friday he plans to represent the college student in the case.
He does not expect Manfredonia to post the $5 million bond, but will argue for a bond reduction during the arraignment. He said his client will not enter a plea on Friday, but said Manfredonia will eventually plead not guilty to the charges.
Dolan declined to comment on whether he has spoken with Manfredonia.
Prior to arriving at the courthouse, Dolan said he had not yet seen the arrest warrant for the Willington crimes that has been sealed for 14 days. Dolan believes that no other arrest warrants, including one stemming from the alleged crimes in Derby, have been signed yet.
Dolan expects the entire case will be handled by the state of Connecticut and no other charges will be filed by other state or federal authorities.
Some of Manfredonia’s family members are expected to be at the arraignment, he said.
“It’s been difficult for the family,” he said.
Manfredonia, an accomplished football player and track athlete at Newtown High School where he graduated in 2015, is a senior at the UConn, where he is a finance and mechanical engineering student.
State police have not released a motive for the series of events that began May 22 when they say Manfredonia attacked two men with a type of machete in upstate Connecticut.
A source close to the investigation said Manfredonia was heading to see his former girlfriend in Willington when his motorcycle broke down.
Theodore DeMers offered Manfredonia a ride on his four-wheeler when police say the 62-year-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. Alice Franco told Hearst Connecticut Media that the condition of her husband, a U.S. Navy vet who grew up in Trumbull, has improved with the most serious injuries to his hands.
Two days later, a Willington man was left unharmed after police say Manfredonia stole his guns, food, supplies and his truck during a home invasion.
A few hours later, police recovered the stolen truck in Derby, 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.
The state’s medical examiner said Eisele was shot several times in the head. police said Manfredonia kidnapped the 23-year-old man’s girlfriend who was found several hours later unharmed in New Jersey.
Investigators tracked Manfredonia to Pennsylvania and then Maryland where he surrendered without incident near a truck stop on May 27.
Manfredonia waived extradition to Connecticut in a Maryland court the day after his capture. He could also be face federal charges in the kidnapping of Eisele’s girlfriend.
A spokesman for his family has said Manfredonia suffers from mental health issues, but has never been violent.
Photos of Manfredonia’s former bedroom were turned over to police that show hand-written messages on the walls, according to an attorney representing a man who is considered a cooperating witness in the case. One of the messages references Adam Lanza, who killed 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 and lived on the same street as Manfredonia’s childhood home.
william.lambert@hearstmediact.com