Cynthia Herbert-Bruschi Adams presented “First He Killed the Minuteman,” a program on the killings perpetrated by Peter Manfredonia in May 2020, on April 5 at C.H. Booth Library.

Herbert-Bruschi Adams is a Professor Emerita from the University of Connecticut. She is also a psychologist and studied this case very closely. The program’s title came from the book of the same name Herbert-Bruschi Adams published in January.

Manfredonia’s crime spree started Memorial Day weekend and lasted six days. It started when he killed 62-year-old Ted DeMers of Willington.

DeMers, who posed for the creation of Connecticut’s Minuteman Statue, was a well-known and extremely well-respected individual. He was killed by Manfredonia with a katana, a type of sword traditionally used by the samurai of Japan.

Manfredonia also wounded an 80-year-old neighbor of DeMers with that sword, and then held another Willington homeowner hostage overnight.

Following the events in Tolland County, Manfredonia traveled to the home of childhood friend and former Sandy Hook resident Nicholas Eisele, then living in Derby. Manfredonia killed Eisele with a handgun he had stolen from DeMers. He then kidnapped Eisele’s girlfriend.

Police eventually captured Manfredonia in Maryland. He is currently serving a 55-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the two murders. Family members of Nicholas Eisele were among those to attend the presentation.

As part of her presentation, Herbert-Bruschi Adams shared a series of statements Manfredonia reportedly wrote on his apartment wall prior to his crime spree. Among the statements were references to the perpetrator of 12/14; and to Thanos, the violent character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe film series.