UConn Murder Suspect Peter Manfredonia Arrested In Maryland
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (CBSNewYork) -- Peter Manfredonia, the University of Connecticut student accused of killing two people and kidnapping a third, is now in custody.
Maryland State Police say Manfredonia was arrested just after 9 p.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of a travel center in Hagerstown, Maryland, after he was spotted coming out of a wooded area.
**UPDATE**Suspect, Peter Manfredonia has been found & is in custody. CSP Eastern District Major Crime are on scene in Hagerstown, MD. No injuries to any law enforcement personnel or Manfredonia. More info will be provided on Thurs, May 28 @PAStatePolice @FBINewHaven @FBI @MDSP pic.twitter.com/QFnUDuOqn0
— CT State Police (@CT_STATE_POLICE) May 28, 2020
Manfredonia had been on the run since Friday.
He is suspected of killing 62-year-old Theodore DeMers and 23-year-old Nicholas Eisele.
Authorities say DeMers spotted Manfredonia walking along a road in Willington, Connecticut, on Friday morning and offered him a ride. The suspect allegedly killed him with a machete or sword.
Eisele was later found dead in his Derby, Connecticut, home.
Thank you to law enforcement members from the @CT_STATE_POLICE and local PD, as well as those from each of our neighboring states, for their dedicated commitment regarding this matter. We are appreciative of their unified approach to this disturbing situation. https://t.co/hYr3EhsuVz
— Governor Ned Lamont (@GovNedLamont) May 28, 2020
Manfredonia is also accused of kidnapping Eisele's girlfriend, stealing his car and taking her to New Jersey, where she was later found at a rest stop, uninjured.
Photos obtained by Inside Edition appear to show ominous scribblings on the wall of Manfredonia's former dorm room, reading, "We saw what happened when Adam snapped. Now they see what happens when I snap."
Adam seemingly refers to Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook school shooter.
Manfredonia is also from Newtown, Connecticut.
A lawyer for the suspect's family said Tuesday that Manfredonia has a history of mental illness.
UConn released a statement Monday, saying Manfredonia is a senior in the joint School of Engineering / School of Business MEM. The school said he is not attending summer classes or living on campus.
"The university expresses its deepest, most heartfelt sympathies to the victims and their families in this horrible, incomprehensible tragedy. They are all in our thoughts," the statement read in part. "With respect to the student in question, while the University can't discuss specific individuals or cases, UConn strives to do everything possible to identify and engage with students of concern and to provide them with all the assistance and resources we can both for their own well-being and that of the wider community."