Cops launch manhunt for UConn student who ‘killed 62-year-old man with a machete, murdered another man and abducted victim’s girlfriend before fleeing in a stolen car’ – Cops say Peter Manfredonia, 23, is ‘armed and dangerous’
Connecticut State Police warned public Manfredonia is ‘armed and dangerous’
Peter Manfredonia, 23, was last seen in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
Cops launched manhunt for UConn senior, 23, after he ‘killed 62-year-old Ted DeMersman with a machete in Willington Ct., on Friday
He invaded a home stole firearms and a truck and fled leaving the homeowner severely injured from a machete attack
Driving to Derby he an acquaintance, 23-year-old Nicholas J. Eisele and abducted a woman before fleeing in a car he stole from Eisele’s driveway
Eisele’s girlfriend was found alive and the car was found abandoned in Knowlton, New Jersey on Sunday
DeMers’ wife, Cynthia DeMers, told the Hartford Courant that the two men had been attacked after they found Manfredonia walking along a road and offered him a ride back to his motorcycle.
‘It could have been anybody who offered him a ride,’ she said.
‘It could have been any of my neighbors´ husbands. It just happened to be mine.’
A GoFundMe page has been started to help the DeMers family.
The search for Manfredonia spans three states and more than 100 miles of territory.
DeMers was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The unnamed third male victim suffered severe wounds described as sword or machete wounds, state police said.
‘We do know a weapon was used,’ Trooper Josue Dorelus told WTNH-TV.
‘We believe it to be an edged weapon, however the exact description I would not be able to provide.’
Random: ‘It could have been anybody who offered him a ride,’ DeMers’ wife, Cynthia [left], told the Hartford Courant that the two men had been attacked after they found Manfredonia walking along a road and offered him a ride back to his motorcycle
In a related development, early on Sunday morning, Connecticut state police were called to a home on Turnpike Drive in Willington, where the homeowner was held against his will just hours before.
Manfredonia is alleged to have taken the homeowner’s food, three shotguns, a pistol, and his truck. The victim was not injured.
State police said Manfredonia drove the stolen truck to Derby, where authorities received a report of a one-vehicle crash near Osbornedale State Park.
Officers arrived on the scene and found an abandoned vehicle at around 6:45am on Sunday. It was the same truck that was stolen from the Willington home, police said.
![Cynthia DeMers [left] said her husband Ted DeMars [right] 2](https://i0.wp.com/konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Cynthia-DeMers-left-said-her-husband-Ted-DeMars-right-2.jpg?resize=620%2C606&ssl=1)
Ted DeMers [right], was pronounced dead at a local hospital, He had been attacked with a machete or a sword. The unnamed third male victim also suffered severe wounds but survived
Investigators then learned that Manfredonia had an acquaintance, 23-year-old Nicholas J. Eisele, who lived in Derby. Both Manfredonia and Eisele are originally from Newtown, according to The Hartford Courant.
Police arrived at Eisele’s home, and found him dead. Cause of death has not been released by the Medical examiner’s office
Manfredonia is then alleged to have abducted Eisele’s girlfriend and stolen a 2016 black Volkswagen Jetta from their home.
Manfredonia is believed to have fled to Pennsylvania on Sunday hours after killing Eisele, according to state police.
A black Volkswagen Jetta Manfredonia is suspected of stealing from Eisele’s driveway was found in New Jersey at the Pennsylvania border on Sunday afternoon, police said. Police also found the Eisele’s girlfriend who Manfredonia allegedly abducted from the Derby home, unharmed. Police have not released her name, but she is reportedly safe and is being interviewed by authorities.
Connecticut State Police on Sunday released a photo of the 2016 black Volkswagen Jetta which bears a Connecticut license plate with the number CT AU78524.
Police in New Jersey recovered the car as well as a woman who was abducted from Eisele’s home in Derby
Police Sunday released this poster of the black 2016 Volkswagen Jetta stolen by the suspect from one of the crime scenes in Connecticut. It was later recovered in New Jersey near the state border with Pennsylvania on Sunday
Local and state police respond to a homicide on Roosevelt Drive in Derby, Ct., on Sunday, May 24, 2020. Another male victim, 23-year-old Nicholas J. Eisele was found dead at the home
The Black VW Jetta stolen by Peter Manfredonia was recovered at the Travel America truck stop in Knowlton Township, NJ, on Sunday
‘Armed and Dangerous’ is how police have described 6′ 3″ Peter Manfredonia who is wanted in connection with the death of an acquaintance, 23-year-old Nicholas J. Eisele in Derby as well as an earlier homicide in Willington, a home invasion robbery and a kidnapping
Manfredonia is a 2015 graduate of Newtown High School and a senior at the University of Connecticut majoring in finance and mechanical engineering, the Connecticut Post reported.
Police describe him as a 6-foot-3 white man who should be considered armed and dangerous.
The University of Connecticut on Sunday released a statement confirming that records show Manfredonia is enrolled as a student in the joint school of engineering/school of business program.
Acknowledging that Manfredonia was enrolled at UConn the school’s spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said the university is in contact with authorities to provide assistance that might help the investigation.
‘The university expresses its deepest, most heartfelt sympathies to the victims and their families in this horrible, incomprehensible tragedy,’ Reitz said.
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