A former University of Connecticut senior has been sentenced to 55 years in prison for killing two people during a spate of violence that led to a six-day manhunt.
Peter Manfredonia, 26, was convicted Wednesday of the shooting death of Nicholas Eisele, 26, a former high school classmate, and the kidnapping of his girlfriend Shannon Spies in May 2020.
Manfredonia reportedly wrote disturbing messages on the walls of his apartment about “snapping” like Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza.
The former student led authorities on a manhunt in four states – Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut – before his capture. He pleaded guilty to the February crimes.
Two days before the shooting, the crazed student killed another man, Theodore “Ted” DeMers, 62, and seriously injured an 80-year-old man, who lost several fingers and part of his ear in a samurai sword attack.
Spies gave strong testimony and told the court that the plea deal “does nothing” except “close the door on this lawsuit,” and said she hoped her testimony would haunt Manfredonia “for the rest of his life.”
Peter Manfredonia, 26, photographed at Superior Court in Rockville, Connecticut on Feb. 8. Manfredonia, who admitted to wielding a sword in a deadly attack in eastern Connecticut, was sentenced Wednesday to 55 years in prison for killing a former classmate and kidnapping a woman sparking a multi-state manhunt
Shannon Spies, 25, girlfriend of victim Nicholas Eisele, 23, shot dead by Manfredonia will give strong testimony at the sentencing hearing for Peter Manfredonia at Milford Superior Court on Wednesday. She said she hoped her impact statement would haunt Manfredonia “for the rest of his life.”
“The damage can never be undone. None of this will bring Nick back or make me feel whole again,” Spies said.
“I will never again be the person I was before. I will never feel safe even in a room surrounded by only people I know. I will always look at the world differently.’
Eisele’s mother Michele Krawoski and father John Eisele wore t-shirts with a picture of their late son in a heart with the words: ‘As long as I breathe, you will be remembered. Justice for Nick.”
Krasowski had a letter she tried to read, but was overcome with emotion and had someone else read it on her behalf.
“It takes all the strength and will I can muster to get up, put my feet on the ground, and fight to find the courage to face another day, while I drive the Mack truck in grief carry on my shoulders, the sorrow that through every part of me,’ she said, the Hartford Courant reported.
‘And now I can only close him in my heart. They can also always close his father, brother and sisters to their hearts.’
She added: “Parents are not supposed to bury their children. It’s not the natural order of things.’
Nicholas’s distraught father John Eisele told the court, “I honestly can’t remember what it felt like not to worry or fear or what life was like before grief.”
“I will never recover from these wounds,” he said in part, the news outlet reported.
It remains unclear what prompted the violent attacks.
Manfredonia’s attorney, Michael Dolan, said his client’s mental health issues contributed to the outburst, but were not an excuse.
For most of the hearing, Manfredonia was dressed in a tan prison uniform with his hands in cuffs and looking straight ahead, showing little emotion.
In court, Manefredonia apologized to Spies and the Eisele family. “There are no words that can make up for what I did,” he told Eisele’s family.
“My actions were utterly reprehensible. … Nick was a good young man against whom I felt no ill will or malice. My actions were pointless. Please know that you have my deepest apologies.’
Michele Krasowksi, mother of Nicholas Eisele, is pictured at Wednesday’s sentencing hearing for Peter Manfredonia at Milford Superior Court in Milford
John Eisele, father of Nicholas Eisele, speaks at a sentencing hearing for Peter Manfredonia at Milford Superior Court. The family wore T-shirts with a picture of their deceased son and the words, ‘As long as I breathe, you will be remembered. Justice for Nick’
Police said his second victim came two days later when the body of Nicholas J. Eisele (pictured) was found Sunday at his home in Derby Connecticut. Police said Manfredonia kidnapped Eisele’s girlfriend and drove to Paterson, New Jersey, where she was found safe
Manfredonia killed Ted DeMers, 62, (pictured) in Willington, Connecticut, two days before going out to kill his former high school classmate, Nicholae Eisele
Eisele and Manfredonia were classmates who grew up in Newtown, Connecticut, the town where 20 children and six teachers were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.
Eisele’s sister, Jessica, survived the school shooting.
“As a survivor of the Sandy Hook school shooting, I was forced to relive the trauma and pain of 12/14 when Peter used the same source of violence to end my brother’s life,” said Jessica Eisele during the sentencing hearing.
Peter Manfredonia is a monster who must be punished for what he has done. My brother is gone and will be forever. Me and my family can’t recover from that.’
More than 40 family members and friends of Nicholas Eisele filled the courtroom, with his mother and several others testifying. Many wept as they were comforted by others.
After killing Eisele, Manfredonia forced Spies into her car and fled the state. She was physically unharmed and released when they reached Columbia, New Jersey.
Manfredonia was eventually captured by authorities at a truck stop in Hagerstown, Maryland.
On May 22, 2020, two days before shooting Eisele, Manfredonia killed 62-year-old Ted DeMers and seriously injured an 80-year-old man and neighbor of DeMers, who survived but was critically injured.
Before the gruesome murder, both men had tried to help Manfredonia and offered to drive him to his motorcycle parked on a dirt road near their home in Willington, Connecticut.
It’s unclear what prompted Manfedronia to attack the men, but someone Manfredonia has had a relationship with and recently stopped seeing him in the area.
Manfredonia’s lawyer Michael Dolan (pictured) said his client’s mental health issues contributed to the spate of violence but did not excuse it
An undated photograph of Manefredonia
After the killing spree, police said Manfredonia broke into another man’s home in Willington and held him hostage for about 24 hours before leaving with his truck and firearms.
The man later told police that Manfredonia told him ‘he just turned around’.
Ansonia/Milford Attorney Margaret Kelley called Eisele’s murder and Spies’ kidnapping abhorrent and a “senseless tragedy” that seriously damaged the lives of others.
Judge Peter Brown said the 55-year sentence would do nothing to ease the pain of Spies and Eisele’s family.
Spies’ testimony was the first time she had spoken publicly about the ordeal.
While she didn’t give many details about the hours she spent with Manfredonia as his prisoner, she said he tried to hug her at one point while apologizing for killing Eisele.
“The version of myself that went to bed with my boyfriend — my best friend and the sweetest man I’ve ever met — on May 23 was no longer alive when my parents picked me up at a New Jersey state police headquarters on May 24 . ,” she testified.
“I lost absolutely everything I had,” Spies said. “I lost my best friend and my partner. There’s no telling how great our future could have been and I’m bereft of ever knowing that happiness.’
“I’ve been robbed of ever knowing peace again, of feeling safe anywhere, even in my own home.”