State police will be making an announcement this morning in the case of Peter Manfredonia, accused of killing two men and assaulting a third, and holding a fourth man hostage in Connecticut and kidnapping a woman who he brought to New Jersey in late May.

Manfredonia has been held without bond in the Washington County Detention Center in Maryland since he surrendered May 27 to police during an extensive manhunt in the state.

State police will discuss the list of charges expected to be filed against the 23-year-old University of Connecticut student who grew up in Newtown at a press conference at 7 a.m. at Troop C in Tolland.

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.

He was living off campus prior to the crime spree that started the morning of May 22 when he allegedly killed 62-year-old Theodore DeMers in Willington and seriously injured a second Willington resident who police said tried to intervene.

Two days later, a third Willington man reported being held captive by Manfredonia, who stole his guns, food, supplies and his truck during a home invasion, according to police.

A few hours after that, police recovered the stolen truck in Derby, setting off an extensive search that led authorities to a Roosevelt Drive home about a mile away. Police said video surveillance showed Manfredonia walking “directly” toward Nicholas Eisele’s home between 5 and 6 a.m. Sunday. Eisele also graduated Newtown High in 2015 and was described by police as an “acquaintance” of Manfredonia.

By the time police arrived, Manfredonia had allegedly shot Eisele in the head and fled and kidnapped Eisele’s girlfriend in her 2016 Volkswagen Jetta. The woman and the car were recovered later Sunday in New Jersey. Police said the woman was unharmed and returned to Connecticut where she was interviewed by investigators.

Investigators tracked his whereabouts to Pennsylvania and then Maryland where he gave up peacefully on May 27. A spokesperson for his family said that Manfredonia has mental health issues but has never been violent.

Manfredonia waived extradition to Connecticut in a Maryland court the day after his capture. He could also be facing federal charges in the kidnapping of Eisele’s girlfriend who police said Manfredonia brought across state lines.

A former Clemson football player has been formally arrested in connection with a double murder that happened in Georgia. Desmond Brown was taken in by authorities on Monday.

The bodies of two women, who are stepsisters, were discovered near Rome, Georgia a few days ago and authorities quickly determined their demise came by way of homicide.

Posted: May 6, 2020 / 02:27 AM CDT
/ Updated: May 6, 2020 / 02:27 AM CDT

Virginia (NBC) (05/06/20)— Minor league baseball player Blake Bivens said he found out through Facebook that his wife, their 14-month-old son, and his mother-in-law had been killed.

Bivens, who pitched last season for the Montgomery, Alabama, Biscuits, a Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, opened up about the deaths in August while speaking with a pastor from The River Church in Danville, Virginia.

Matthew Bernard, his brother-in-law, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Bernard is accused of killing his mother, Joan Bernard, age 62; his sister Emily Bernard Bivens, age 25; and her child, Cullen Bivens, 14 months.

Bivens said he was with his teammates in Chattanooga, Tennessee, finishing up a series of games when he woke up and checked his phone but didn’t have any messages from his family. He logged on to Facebook and immediately saw a headline about a search for Bernard.

“I knew then there’s something going on so immediately called my parents,” Bivens said during a conversation that aired Sunday on Facebook Live. “They were trying to figure out everything that was going on also. I knew I needed to get my stuff together. I needed to probably get an airplane trip home, not knowing the extent of anything going on.”

The Rays arranged a flight for Bivens to head home to Pittsylvania County, Virginia. He said that while he waited at the airport, he checked Facebook again and the first thing that popped up was a headline that said two women and a small child had been killed.

“I immediately knew that was them. I found out my family was gone over a Facebook headline. And I just immediately began to scream in the middle of the airport,” he said.

Bivens said that during the plane ride home, he would just start shaking, and then he would break down and cry.

The Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office was called to a home in southern Virginia after a neighbor reported that someone might have been shot. Bernard was arrested while running around naked after an hours-long manhunt.

A competency review and determination hearing is scheduled for next week to determine whether Bernard is able to stand trial, according to ESPN.  

Bivens said the hardest moment came when he walked into his son’s room for the first time after his death.

“That was the worst moment in my life. Nothing ever will come close to feeling the way I felt at that moment. But then again, I know I will see him again one day, and it won’t be long,” he said.

Bivens said that his faith has been getting him through the more than eight months since the killings and that he has sought comfort in knowing that they are “in the arms of Jesus and they’re waiting for me to be there with them.”

“It’s been amazing how the Lord has helped and gave us peace through everything,” Bivens said.

Stay up to date with the latest news by downloading the KTVE/KARD News App from the App Store or Google Play.