Former college student pleads guilty to deadly sword attack
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A former University of Connecticut student pleaded guilty to murder and other charges Wednesday for killing a man and severely wounding another with a sword in 2020 — one of two deadly attacks that led to a six-day manhunt in several states that ended with his capture in Maryland.
Peter Manfredonia, 26, from Newtown, Connecticut, agreed to a 55-year prison sentence during a hearing at Rockville Superior Court. Sentencing was set for April 20. He also is expected to plead guilty in connection with the second attack next week in state court in Milford, his lawyer said.
Manfredonia answered questions from the judge about the plea agreement during the hearing, but did not say anything else. He pleaded guilty to murder, assault and home invasion.
State's Attorney Matthew Gedansky said the victims and their families in both cases supported the plea bargain, which was the result of months of discussions.
“It was a global resolution plea agreement between everybody — a lot of discussion between the two state’s attorneys, the families of the victims ... and the two judges," Gedansky said in a phone interview.
Manfredonia's lawyer, Michael Dolan, called the plea agreement “a fair resolution” based on the evidence and seriousness of the charges. He said Manfredonia will plead guilty in the second case on Feb. 16 and receive another 55-year sentence, to run concurrently with the sentence in the other case.
Police and prosecutors said Manfredonia killed Ted DeMers, 62, and seriously wounded an 80-year-old man who lost several fingers and part of his ear in a Samurai sword attack in Willington on May 22, 2020.
It's not clear why Manfredonia attacked the men. But an acquaintance of Manfredonia's lived near DeMers' home and told police she stopped seeing him...