Manfredonia Returned to CT, Charged With Murder And Other Crimes

TOLLAND, CT — More than two weeks after being taken into custody in Maryland following a six-day manhunt, University of Connecticut student Peter Manfredonia has been extradited back to his home state and charged with a litany of crimes, including murder, attempted murder and home invasion.

Manfredonia, 23, has thus far been charged in connection with the slaying of Willington resident Theodore DeMers, 62, and the serious wounding of another man on Mirtl Road in Willington on May 22, plus a home invasion that same weekend. State police charged him with murder, criminal attempt to commit murder, home invasion, first-degree assault, first-degree kidnapping with a firearm, first-degree robbery, first-degree larceny, third-degree assault on an elderly victim and two counts of stealing a firearm, according to state police spokesman Josue Dorelus.

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He was returned to Connecticut during the overnight hours Thursday into Friday and originally held in lieu of $5 million bond. At an arraignment Friday in Rockville Superior Court, Judge Hope Seeley set bail at $5 million in the murder case and $2 million in the home invasion case.

"These are both very strong cases for the state," Tolland State’s Attorney Matthew C. Gedansky told Seeley in requesting a higher bond. "The defendant presents a particular danger to the community."

More charges are expected to be filed in connection with the shooting death of Nicholas Eisele, 23, who was gunned down in his Derby home May 24.

According to police, DeMers was killed with "an edged weapon" and a neighbor was seriously wounded on the morning of May 22 after encountering Manfredonia and giving him a ride on an all-terrain vehicle. A motorcycle used by the suspect was later found abandoned at the end of a dead end road in Willington.

At some point over Memorial Day weekend, a homeowner in the Turnpike Road area of Willington reported a man fitting Manfredonia's description had broken into his house and held him against his will. On the morning of May 24, the invader stole the man's truck and some firearms, according to police.

Several hours later, Eisele, a classmate of Manfredonia at Newtown High School, was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head in his Derby home. Eisele's girlfriend told authorities she was taken from the house by Manfredonia, who left in a Volkswagen Jetta. The car and woman were later found at a highway rest area in northern New Jersey, near the Pennsylvania border, police said.

Various sightings of a man matching Manfredonia's description were reported over the next few days in Pennsylvania and Maryland. On May 27, police took Manfredonia into custody without incident when he emerged from a wooded area at a travel center in Hagerstown, Maryland.

Following his arraignment, Manfredonia "will be transferred over to the custody of the Connecticut Department of Correction during the pendency of his case," state police said in a statement.

Manfredonia did not appear in the courtroom, but appeared on video from the courthouse lockup. He wore a face mask and white shirt, said nothing and showed no emotion.

Attorney Michael Dolan, representing Manfredonia, asked for a suicide watch and mental health watch for his client while in the custody of the Department of Correction.

The case was continued to July 10, and a probable cause hearing has been preliminarily scheduled for July 30.

Patch editor Chris Dehnel contributed to this story.