Rally Planned After Milford Woman's Attacker May Be Set Free

MILFORD, CT — A rally is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 14 on the Milford Green to protest the possible release of Russell Molleur, 57, who may be eligible to get out of prison on Jan. 8, after he has been in prison for less than a year for assaulting a disabled woman, Lori Wierzbicki, the New Haven Register reports.

The rally will be held rain or shine and rain is in the forecast for Saturday. Hundreds of people are expected to attend the rally.

The family told the Register that the prosecutor will seek to have the judge throw out the plea bargain on Jan. 8. Wierzbicki was beaten on March 9 by her neighbor, Molleur, and lost consciousness, the Register reports. Wierzbicki suffers from multiple sclerosis and bipolar disorder.

According to a Milford Police report at the time of the incident, Molleur, of Jepson Drive, was arrested in March for an assault that occurred at a West Town Street apartment. Molleur was accused of punching a woman several times in the face and strangling her, police said at the time. The victim was hospitalized with serious, but stable, injuries, according to police.

Molleur was originally charged with first-degree assault, first-degree strangulation, first-degree unlawful restraint and tampering with evidence. He is being held on a $350,000 bond as he awaits sentencing on Jan. 8. Molleur has pleaded guilty to two charges, second-degree assault and first-degree unlawful restraint, according to state judicial records.

A petition seeking justice for Wierzbicki has 14,000 signatures. The family writes on the Change.org page that, "During my sister’s attack, Russell Molleur strangled my sister to the point of unconsciousness repeatedly and everytime she came to, he would punch her full force in the face. He dragged her around her apartment, slamming her head into her coffee table and walls, and then forced her to undress and shower in an attempt to clean off some of the large amount of blood that was lost.

"Lori luckily survived but now the Connecticut State Attorney’s Office in Milford (led by Margaret E Kelley and her assistant Chuck Stango) have offered her attacker a plea deal. They have reduced the assault charge, dropped three other charges entirely, and chosen not to charge him with assault of a disabled person (a class B felony with a mandatory minimum of five years jail time), despite my sister’s multiple sclerosis. Judge Peter Brown will only sentence her attacker to no more than two years jail MAXIMUM on January 8th, and may even release him.

"This is a miscarriage of justice and I can not sit by idly while my sister, who has little means, is left voiceless and without justice. Please show your support by signing this petition and letting our Connecticut politicians know that we will not be lenient with those who abuse women and the disabled. I’m begging you for your help in my sister’s time of need. Don’t let her be traumatized for a second time by a faulty justice system. This plea deal needs to be thrown out or have the appropriate charges added. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, writes Timothy McLaughlin, who is Lori's brother.

A Facebook page was created on behalf of Lori. That can be viewed here.