Manhunt underway in Poconos for UConn student suspected in two slayings
"It could have been any of my neighbors’ husbands. It just happened to be mine," Cynthia DeMers, the wife of one of the victims, told the Hartford Courant.
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A manhunt is on in the Poconos for a University of Connecticut senior suspected of two slayings who fled into Pennsylvania Sunday afternoon.
Connecticut State Police say Peter Manfredonia, 23, was last seen in East Stroudsburg, Pa., shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday and is believed to be armed with pistols and shotguns stolen during a home invasion.
Pennsylvania State Police said Monday morning they were assisting in the search for Manfredonia, who is suspected of killing 62-year-old Ted DeMers in Willington, Conn., on Friday and 23-year-old Nicholas J. Eisele in Derby, Conn., on Sunday morning.
A surveillance photo released Monday afternoon shows Manfredonia wearing dark-colored shorts, a white T-shirt, and carrying a large duffel bag.
Cynthia DeMers told the Hartford Courant her husband saw Manfredonia walking on the road and offered him a ride on his four-wheel all-terrain vehicle.
“They reached the end of that road, and then, something happened,” DeMers told the Courant. “It could have been anybody who offered him a ride. It could have been any of my neighbors’ husbands. It just happened to be mine.”
Connecticut Trooper Christine Jeltema said police were then called to a home in Willington early Sunday morning. A man reported he had been held against his will by Manfredonia, who then left with food, several guns, and the man’s truck, which was found abandoned at 6:45 a.m. in a park near New Haven, Conn.
Police then found Eisele, an acquaintance of Manfredonia, dead in his home in Derby.
Manfredonia allegedly abducted Eisele’s girlfriend in her 2016 black Volkswagen Jetta and fled the scene. The woman, 23, was located Sunday at a rest stop near Paterson, N.J., along with her car, police said. She was not physically hurt.
Manfredonia is a 2015 graduate of Newtown High School and a senior at the University of Connecticut majoring in finance and mechanical engineering, the Connecticut Post reported.
Police describe Manfredonia as a 6-foot-3 white man who should be considered armed and dangerous.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.