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Connecticut State Police said they do not believe Manfredonia knew the victims in the Willington homicide and assault. Police said in a statement, Manfredonia “was seen leaving the scene of a homicide and serious assault” on Mirtl Road in Willington about 9 a.m. on May 22. One man was killed and another was seriously wounded. According to police, the men were attacked by a sharp object, possibly a knife or machete….
….After the attacks on Mirtl Road in Willington, Manfredonia is believed to have broken into a home on Turnpike Road in Willington Saturday night while at least one person was home, police said. According to police, Manfredonia is believed to have stolen shotguns and a pistol from the house during the home invasion. He also stole a truck, state police said.
“The homeowner was held against his will. The suspect that we know from Willington took supplies to include food and the victim’s truck,” Trooper First Class Christine Jeltema, the state police public information officer, said at a Sunday press conference. “We also learned that firearms were taken from the home. The victim on Turnpike Road was not injured and he refused treatment at the scene. The suspect then took the victim’s truck, drove it down to Derby where it was located near Osbornedale State Park.”
The truck taken from the Willington home was found crashed and abandoned in Derby about 6:45 a.m. Sunday on Hawthorne Avenue at Cullens Hill Road, police said. It is not known when exactly the crash occurred. Police began searching the area of Osbornedale State Park in Seymour and Derby Sunday morning after suspecting he was possibly there. The park was closed down. But by Sunday afternoon, authorities in both towns said he was not located. The search included the area of Great Hill Road and Roosevelt Drive, also known as Route 34, Seymour Police said.
“It is believed that the homicide suspect from earlier today is no longer to be in the area. Thank you for the public’s assistance with this matter,” Seymour Police said on Facebook….
….Manfredonia was a student at Newtown High School in 2012 when 20 students and six educators were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in his hometown. Since then, Manfredonia has been active in raising money and awareness for anti-gun-violence groups, his social media pages show.
On Linkedin, Manfredonia, who played football at Newtown High School, said he was the marketing coordinator for Dream Ride, a Cheshire-based nonprofit. Manfredonia wrote he, “organized, developed and oversaw a marketing campaign over multiple online platforms for the Hometown Foundation. Worked with the Dream Ride charity, raising money to benefit the Special Olympics and CT Law Enforcement.”
In 2019, Manfredonia posted a Facebook fundraiser saying he was participating in the 34th Annual Dave Parcells Madison Triathlon, “to raise awareness for multiple contemporary social/environmental issues. It will also serve as preparation for my iron man next year that will continue the same tradition, except just like an iron man is to a triathlon… it will be bigger and better. Making progress will be a reoccurring theme in my astute little manifesto that ensues, so make sure you please pay attention.”
Manfredonia said money raised during the event would support Sandy Hook Promise and a foundation set up in honor of one of the children killed in the shooting, along with Connecticut Children’s Hospital, the Environmental Defense Fund, Planned Parenthood, the World Wildlife Fund, Students for a Free Tibet, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the American Brain Foundation. …