Two Shelton Suspects To Be Jailed Thursday

Two men arrested for separate, high-profile Shelton crimes are scheduled to be sentenced today (Thursday, Jan. 5). 

Bruce Knapik, who caused a Shelton officer’s death in 2010, and Justin Bonner, who kidnapped, raped and beat a woman working at a Shelton gas station, will both serve time in jail. 

Both reached plea agreements with the state prosecutors, where they pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine. 

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.

Knapik

Knapik, 65, is scheduled to be sentenced at Superior Court in Derby. 

Under his plea agreement, Knapik will serve between two and four years in prison. The exact number will be determined at sentencing Thursday. 

He was charged with second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle and operating a vehicle under the influence after he crashed his truck into Shelton police Sgt. Orville ​“Smitty” Smith. 

Smith died days later from his injuries. 

Under the plea agreement, the driving under the influence charge against Knapik was dropped. 

Bonner

Bonner, 26, is scheduled to be sentenced at Superior Court in Milford. 

Under his plea agreement, Bonner will serve 35 years in prison.

Police said Bonner kidnapped a Cumberland Farms clerk from the store on River Road on June 1, 2010. 

He put the 46-year-old woman in the trunk of his car, and periodically beat her with a plastic bag filled with soda cans. 

He raped the woman, and stole her cell phone and gold chain at knife-point, then left her in the area of the Sunnyside boat launch. 

States Attorney Kevin 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 her 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.

Bonner pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual assault and first-degree robbery. 

Under the plea agreement, two other charges — first-degree kidnapping and first-degree assault — will be dismissed. 

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