Peter Manfredonia, [photo], was arraigned on Friday in Vernon, Connecticut on multiple charges, including murder, home invasion, kidnapping, larceny and stealing a firearm. The judge said he was a very dangerous individual as bail was set at $5m for the murders and $2m for the count of home invasion

A Superior Court judge in Connecticut ordered Peter Manfredonia, faced with murder, kidnapping and other charges, held on a $7 million bond Friday and ordered the Newtown man placed on suicide watch.
Manfredonia, suspected of committing two murders in Connecticut last month and who led police on a six-day manhunt across the Northeast, was brought back to the state early Friday morning and charged with the murder of a Willington man that he attacked with a sword on May 22.
Manfredonia, who wore a mask, appeared via a video link to the courtroom. Members of the families of victims from the crimes Manfredonia is accused of were in the courthouse.
“These are both very strong cases for the state,” State’s Attorney Matthew Gedanski told Judge Hope C. Seeley in Superior Court in Rockville, CT.
“The defendant presents a particular danger to the community. He did not turn himself in contrary to some media reports. He was only caught thanks to a wide ranging police investigation. If not for that I’m not sure when we would have found him.”
“The state’s case is very strong,” Judge Seeley observed as she set bail at $5 million for the murder charge and $2 million for a home invasion that occurred afterwards.

VICTIMS: Peter Manfredonia is accused of killing Ted DeMers, [left] in Willington on May 22 before travelling to Derby to kill his high school friend, Nicholas Eisele, [right], two days later  

The UConn student sparked a six day multi-state manhunt after he allegedly killed two men and kidnapped a woman before fleeing the state last month. He was extradited back to Connecticut to face charges of murder and kidnapping after being captured in Maryland.
Peter Manfredonia, 23, was arraigned on Friday in Vernon, Connecticut on multiple charges including murder, home invasion, kidnapping, larceny and stealing a firearm.
Connecticut State Police initially on a bond of $5 million.
Detectives said they extradited him from Maryland overnight after he was captured there last month following a week-long manhunt involving several police agencies and the FBI that spanned three different states.
He was found near a truck stop in Hagerstown, Maryland on May 27. An officer had spotted Manfredonia standing just 20 feet away after only just receiving a description of him.
Police started hunting him late last month after identifying him as a suspect in a crime spree including two murders in Connecticut.
They say Manfredonia, a University of Connecticut senior majoring in finance and mechanical engineering, killed his first victim, 62-year-old Ted DeMers, with a machete in Willington, Connecticut on May 22.
Cyndi DeMers, the wife of the first victim, said Manfredonia was looking for a female acquaintance when he came walking down the road in front of their home wearing a motorcycle helmet.
Manfredonia had said his motorcycle had broken down and DeMers, as well as one of his friends had offered him a ride back to his bike.

Disturbing: Investigators discovered that before he embarked on his murderous spree, Manfredonia had allegedly written disturbing messages on his apt walls about ‘snapping’ like Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza

A day after the killings investigators tracked the fugitive to Pennsylvania having taken an Uber to a Walmart in East Stroudsburg, close to the New Jersey border. Surveillance cameras caught him walking along railway tracks carrying a black duffel bag

The suspect is accused of killing DeMers with a machete and severely injuring the victim’s friend.
Manfredonia police said, then then went to another man’s home, held him hostage, stole his guns and truck and drove about 70 miles southwest to Derby.
In Derby, police found Manfredonia’s high school friend, 23-year-old Nicholas Eisele, shot to death in his home two days later on May 24.
Authorities are accusing Manfredonia of forcing Eisele’s girlfriend into her car and fleeing the state.
The girlfriend was found unharmed with her car at a rest stop near near Columbia, New Jersey.
Investigators say they tracked Manfredonia to Pennsylvania where police said he took an Uber to a Walmart in East Stroudsburg, not far from the New Jersey border. Photos taken in July 2019 that showed the writing allegedly written by Manfredonia were shared on social media during the search for him.
The phrase ‘I’m not angry… I’m upset’ could be seen written over a door.
‘Is this bad? Will I get in trouble? Will they look at me strange?’ were the other message scrawled across parts of the room.
Manfredonia also compared himself to Lanza, who in 2012 shot and killed 20 children and six staff members at the school.
‘We saw what happened when Adam snapped,’ one message read. ‘Now they see what happens when I snap.’
Authorities have not publicly confirmed that the images were taken inside Manfredonia’s apartment.   

A man fitting his description was spotted on May 26 near Scranton, Pennsylvania, prompting another search there.
He was later captured on surveillance cameras in a convenience store in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania close to the Pennsylvania-Maryland border.
They located a stolen Hyundai Santa Fe in the area but authorities were unable to immediately confirm if the vehicle had been stolen by Manfredonia.
Authorities say they learned someone matching his description had ordered an Uber to take him across the border to Hagerstown, Maryland.
An investigator who arrived at a truck stop in Hagerstown on May 27 to begin searching for Manfredonia had just been briefed on his description when the officer spotted the suspect just 20 feet away.
Officers surrounded Manfredonia and he was taken into custody without incident.
Following his arrest, authorities say Manfredonia led them to a wooded area about 200 yards away where he pointed out a black bag with a gun in it.
Investigators believe that gun was used in the slaying of Eisele
Authorities have not yet offered a possible motive for the crimes.
A lawyer for Manfredonia’s family said that the college senior had struggled in the past with mental health issues and ‘sought the help of a number of therapists’.
The disturbing messages that Manfredonia had allegedly written on his apartment walls about ‘snapping’ paint a picture of an individual struggling to stay in touch with reality.

Photos taken in July 2019 that showed the writing allegedly written by Manfredonia in which he compares himself to Lanza [photo], were shared on social media during the search for him