Peter Manfredonia, fugitive UConn student wanted in 2 killings, caught in Maryland after manhunt

Police announced Wednesday night, Peter Manfredonia, the fugitive from the University of Connecticut wanted in two killings, was caught in Maryland after a search that went on for a couple of days.

Manfredonia was taken into custody at a truck stop in Hagerstown near the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. The six-day, multi-state search involved several law enforcement agencies after he allegedly killed two men and bolted from Connecticut on Sunday.

The University of Connecticut senior was not injured, and no officers were hurt.

The Hagerstown Police Department said an Uber driver dropped off Manfredonia in the city on Tuesday.

Investigators said the rampage begun last Friday when Manfredonia allegedly attacked 62-year-old Ted DeMers with a machete in Willington, CT.

 

U.S. Marshals and Washington County Sheriffs Office on scene at this Pilot Truck Stop in Halfway just outside Hagerstown where they captured 23 year old double murder suspect Peter Manfredonia @fox5dc pic.twitter.com/NKEpHwnsZs

— Shirin Rajaee (@ShirinRajaee) May 28, 2020

Video here of law enforcement taking some bags from the woods and loading them into the back of a vehicle after the capture of Peter Manfredonia @fox5dc #PeterManfredonia pic.twitter.com/NmALxTTHSo

— Nick Petrillo (@nicknewsdc) May 28, 2020

 

Manfredonia allegedly went to another home and held another man hostage before stealing his guns and truck and speeding to Derby, CT.

While in Derby, Manfredonia is believed to have shot and killed Nicholas Eisele, a former high school classmate, and forced Eisele’s girlfriend into her 2016 Black Volkswagen Jetta before leaving the state. She was found uninjured in Columbia, New Jersey. Police found Eisele shot to death on Sunday.

Pennsylvania police said Manfredonia took an Uber to a Walmart in East Stroudsburg, not far from the New Jersey border. Police discovered through interviews with the driver and from security camera footage that Manfredonia walked behind the store and onto railroad tracks, investigators said.

State police also mentioned that Manfredonia had been seen on surveillance video at a Sheetz in Chambersburg, PA. On Monday, a Hyundai Santa Fe was reported and recovered near the Sheetz.

Police later suspected Manfredonia to be in the Hagerstown after a ride-hailing service dropped off someone matching his description Wednesday.

Investigators have not elaborated on a possible motive for the crimes.

A lawyer for the suspect’s family, Michael Dolan, said Wednesday that Manfredonia, an honors engineering student at UConn, had not shown signs of violence. He told the Newtown native had a history of depression and anxiety, but would not say whether he was on any medication for those conditions.

 

“This came as a total surprise to everybody based on Peter’s past,” he said. “He’s been a kind-hearted person who has no history of violence or any trouble with the law.”