UConn student arrested in 2 killings awaiting virtual bond hearing in Maryland
23-year-old Peter Manfredonia is apprehended at a truck stop in Hagerstown; Griff Jenkins reports from Washington County Detention Center.
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Peter Manfredonia, the University of the Connecticut student accused of killing two people before leading authorities on a six-day long manhunt in four states, appeared in a virtual bond hearing Thursday.
Manfredonia, 23, waived extradition, surrendering himself to be taken back to Connecticut, WDVM reported. The suspect, currently at the Washington County Detention Center in Maryland, appeared via link on a screen in the Washington County District courtroom in Hagerstown, Md., adhering to new procedures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Manfredonia represented himself at the bond hearing, but a public defender was on the call, Fox 61 reported. Connecticut authorities are expected to pick up Manfredonia within the next 30 days.
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Peter Manfredonia (Washington County Sheriff's Office)
Prosecutors also joined the hearing via telephone.
Manfredonia was booked into the Washington County Detention Center around 2 a.m. Thursday after he was captured at a Pilot truck stop in Hagerstown around 9 p.m. Wednesday. He surrendered peacefully to authorities and led them to a black duffle bag nearby. Inside was the same gun used to kill a man in Derby, Conn., Sunday, police said.
The suspect was not injured, police said.
“We talked to all the family members of the victims,” state police Lt. Michael Pendleton said at a news conference. “They were very appreciative of our efforts and bringing him to justice. I think they were very relieved that he was finally in custody.”
A lawyer for the family, Michael Dolan, said they were relieved the search ended peacefully. Dolan said Manfredonia, a Newtown native, was an honors engineering student at UConn, who had a history of depression and anxiety, but not violence.
“This came as a total surprise to everybody based on Peter’s past,” he said Wednesday. “He’s been a kind-hearted person who has no history of violence or any trouble with the law.”
Manfredonia was wanted in the machete killing of 62-year-old Ted DeMers and the wounding of another man in Willington, Conn., on Friday. Cyndi DeMers, the victim's wife, said Manfredonia was looking for a female acquaintance when he walked down the road in front of their home wearing a motorcycle helmet. Her husband offered him a ride to his motorcycle.
The college student is accused of committing a home invasion at another Willington residence afterward, holding the 73-year-old owner hostage until Sunday morning. He left with stolen food, guns and the man’s truck. Investigators believe Manfredonia then sped 70 miles southwest to Derby, Conn., before crashing the truck in an embankment near Osbornedale State Park.
He walked one mile down the road to the home of a high school acquaintance, 23-year-old Nicholas Eisele, who he is accused of shooting dead. Police said Manfredonia then forced the man’s girlfriend into their 2016 Black Volkswagen Jetta and drove to New Jersey. He abandoned the unharmed woman and car at a rest stop on Interstate 80 in Knowlton Township, near the Pennsylvania border.
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Police confirmed Manfredonia was dropped off by an Uber driver at a Walmart in East Stroudsburg, Pa., on Sunday, where he was seen on security camera walking behind the store and onto train tracks.
Before his capture, he was last spotted on surveillance video at a Sheetz in Chambersburg, Penn. A Hyundai Santa Fe reported stolen Monday was recovered near the Sheetz. He then hailed an Uber to the Hagerstown, Md., area, police said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
