Emotions run high in court as state continues case against former UConn student Peter Manfredonia, charged in 2020 murders, robberies and kidnapping
The family of slain 23-year-old Nichols Eisele gripped each other tightly in a Milford courthouse Thursday as Peter Manfredonia, the 25-year-old former UConn student accused of killing him during a violent 2020 crime spree, appeared before a judge.
Eisele’s mother, surrounded on either side by other emotional family members and victim’s advocates, let out a sob as Manfredonia was led into the courtroom in handcuffs and a tan prison-issue outfit on Thursday morning.
Throughout the brief court proceeding, in which Manfredonia’s case was continued to next month, Eisele’s mother sobbed heavily. Her entire body shaking as she took deep breaths with the guidance of a family member who switched seats to comfort her.
Manfredonia faced the judge for the duration of his appearance and did not speak. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder during the commission of a felony, murder, first-degree kidnapping with a firearm, home invasion, first-degree robbery with a deadly weapon, carrying a pistol without a permit in connection to Eiesel’s death and the kidnapping of Eisele’s girlfriend that took place during a six-day, multi-state manhunt in 2020.
An advocate from the office of victim services said Thursday’s appearance in Milford Superior Court was one of the first times Eisele’s family was in the same room with Manfredonia, who is being held in custody in lieu of a $5 million bond, according to court records. He is being held at the Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown, the same town where he once attended high school with Eisele, according to police and Department of Correction records.
Police allege that on May 24, 2020, Manfredonia broke into Eisele’s home in Derby at about 5:45 a.m. and shot Eisele as he urged Manfredonia to calm down, according to a warrant for Manfredonia’s arrest.
Manfredonia then allegedly told Eisele’s girlfriend, who wasn’t named in police records, that he shot her boyfriend in the head. Armed with a gun, he demanded their car keys after stealing several thousand dollars and forced her to drive to New Jersey while he sat armed in the backseat, stopping once to change his clothes, police allege in the warrant.
He eventually convinced someone at a New Jersey truck stop to order him an Uber and left the woman there, according to the warrant.
Investigators from Connecticut used Uber records, car theft reports and surveillance videos from New Jersey to Pennsylvania to eventually locate Manfredonia at a truck stop in Hagerstown, Maryland, police said.
Investigators also learned that two days earlier, Manfredonia had allegedly killed 62-year-old Ted DeMers. DeMers, an artisan furniture maker, husband and father, was on Mirtl Road in Willington when he encountered Manfredonia.
Manfredonia attacked DeMers with a samurai sword, killing him, and attacked an 80-year-old man nearby, police allege.
He allegedly told Eisele’s girlfriend that something had “triggered him and he snapped” ahead of the attacks, according to the warrants.
Manfredonia is also charged with murder, attempt to commit murder and assault of an elderly victim in connection to DeMers’ slaying in the Tolland judicial district and faces a slew of charges from the other alleged attack in Willington in the same court, including home invasion, robbery and assault, records show.
Manfredonia’s attorney Michael Dolan said in the courthouse Thursday that he is working with both Milford and Tolland jurisdictions and that the “pieces are in place to have a substantive discussion” about his client’s cases.
“In the coming months we’ll see if we can come to a resolution on this,” Dolan said Thursday.
After speaking with the family at length following the court appearance, Margaret E. Kelly, State’s Attorney for the Ansonia and Milford judicial district, said she had no comment on the case.
Judge Brown ruled on Thursday that Manfredonia will appear in court twice in October — once in person and once virtually. He is scheduled to appear for a virtual hearing on Oct. 12 at 2:30 p.m., then will appear in person in Milford Superior Court on Oct. 21.
He is scheduled to appear in Rockville Superior Court on the Willington cases on Nov. 4 at 3 p.m. for a pretrial hearing, according to court records.
