The scene of the crime on Roosevelt Drive in 2020.
MILFORD — Peter Manfredonia pleaded guilty in court on Thursday to murdering a Derby resident and kidnapping the victim’s girlfriend, The Connecticut Post reported.
Manfredonia’s crimes started on May 22, 2020 in Willington, when he attacked two men with a samurai sword, killing one. A motive has not been revealed, according to the Post. While cops searched for him, the killer broke into a house near the crime scene, taking a man hostage for 24 hours.
Manfredonia, using a vehicle he stole from his hostage, then drove from Willington to Derby and crashed near the intersection of Hawthorne Avenue and Cullens Hill Road, on the outskirts of Osbornedale State Park.
He then walked to 23-year-old Nicholas Eisele’s apartment on Roosevelt Drive. He shot Eisele, a former classmate at Newtown High School, and took Eisele’s girlfriend hostage, driving away in another stolen vehicle. Click here for a previous story.
The crimes gained national attention and set off a manhunt. Manfredonia eventually let the woman go, physically unharmed, and was caught by police at a rest stop in Maryland on May 27. Click here for a story on his capture.
Manfredonia pleaded guilty to murder and first-degree kidnapping in connection to the Derby case, the Post reported. He is expected to be sentenced to 55 years in prison when he is sentenced April 19, according to the newspaper.
Click here to read the full story from the Post.
