Stratford Man Faces 35 Years For Rape

Justin Bonner, the Stratford man accused of kidnapping, raping and beating a woman in Shelton last year, will likely spend the next 35 years in prison for the crime. 

Bonner, 26, pleaded guilty Thursday under the Alford doctrine to first-degree sexual assault and first-degree robbery in connection with the case. 

The plea came under a plea agreement reached Thursday at Superior Court in Milford.

In an Alford doctrine plea, the person does not admit all the facts in the case, but concedes there is enough evidence for a conviction at trial.

State’s Attorney Kevin Lawlor said Bonner will serve the full 35 years under the agreement. 

He’s a dangerous guy,” Lawlor said. He should serve time until he’s an old man.”

Lawlor said he was satisfied with the agreement. 

Bonner will formally be sentenced on Jan. 5, 2011. 

As part of the agreement, two other charges — first-degree kidnapping and first-degree assault — will be dismissed at the time of sentencing. 

Lawlor praised the work of Shelton Police and the state’s forensic lab, for building an iron clad” case against Bonner. 

The Crime

At about 2 a.m. June 1, 2010, Bonner kidnapped a Cumberland Farms clerk from the store on River Road. 

FILEHe put the 46-year-old woman in the trunk of his car, police said. He drove away, but periodically stopped the car to beat the woman with a plastic bag filled with soda cans, Lawlor said in court Thursday. 

Bonner took the woman, who has not been identified, to the Sunnyside boat launch and raped her there, Lawlor said. 

He also stole her cell phone and gold chain at knife point — which is what the first-degree robbery charge is for. 

The woman showed up at a neighbor’s house later that morning, looking for help.

Lawlor said the victim was beaten so badly that a police officer who had bought a cup of coffee from the Cumberland Farms that evening couldn’t recognize immediately after the beating. 

Bonner and the victim had no previous connection to each other, police said. He told police he was high on Angel Dust (PCP) at the time of the assault and couldn’t remember what he did, according to the arrest warrant. 

Enough Is Enough’

Bonner was arrested shortly after the attack, after police spread surveillance images of him in the Cumberland Farms, and acquaintances identified him. 

His case has been working its way through the court system since June 2010. 

The state prosecutors office and Judge Richard Arnold had offered Bonner a plea agreement in July 2011. But Bonner’s attorney, public defender David Egan, kept asking for continuances for Bonner to consider the offer. 

The deadline to accept the offer was Thursday, Oct. 27. 

At first, Egan asked for another continuance. 

But Lawlor objected.

Enough is enough,” Lawlor said. It’s been a year and a half.”

Judge Arnold told him to make a decision Thursday, or the court was withdrawing it’s offer. Bonner would have then been left to negotiate with the state prosecutor’s office, or face a jury trial where the sentence could be much higher.

The court’s offer is well within the bounds of what would be just or fair in this matter, given all the considerations,” Arnold said. 

After a short recess, where Egan met with Bonner in private, Bonner decided to change his plea, and accept the agreement. 

The victim was not in court Thursday, but Lawlor said her attorney has been notified of the agreement. 

The victim has moved out of state and is still being treated after the attack, Lawlor said. 

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