Nancy Grace on potential 'mindset' of UConn student, 23, accused of killing 2 people
by Matt LondonFormer prosecutor and Fox Nation host Nancy Grace broke down the latest details in the case of a UConn student who is accused of killing two people before leading authorities on a six-day long manhunt in four states.
"How does a football star, an honor student, a double major in business and engineering, turn out to be the most wanted man, known all across the country, not for his football plays on the field or his straight A's, but for murder?" asked Grace in a new episode of Fox Nation's "Crime Stories."
LIMITED TIME OFFER, GET YOUR FIRST MONTH OF FOX NATION FOR $0.99
According to police, Peter Manfredonia allegedly killed Ted DeMers, 62, with a machete in Willington, Conn., on May 22.
The victim's wife told reporters that Manfredonia was looking for a young woman that lived in their neighborhood.
Manfredonia, 23, is believed to have then gone to the home of a former high school classmate, where he killed him and kidnapped his girlfriend. She was later found uninjured.
Manfredonia was captured Wednesday night in Hagerstown, Md. A motive has not been determined.
Grace said machete murders are extremely rare and might suggest something about Manfredonia.
'Fox Nation In Depth: True Justice'
"You don't see a machete murder every day," she said. "That's not your typical murder, as if any murder is typical."
"What do you make of a mindset where somebody sticks a machete in their rucksack and goes on their way?" Grace asked psychoanalyst Dr. Bethany Marshall.
"What that says to me is that he did not just set out to kill, he set out to destroy, to maim and to disfigure, which is often what we see with stalkers," Marshall said.
5 TRUE CRIME SHOWS ON FOX NATION
"They want to destroy the beauty and the attractiveness of the victim," she continued. "Maybe he wanted to chop her head or her face or her hands so that she would no longer be attractive in society. And then this poor neighbor somehow got caught up in this and got in the way."
Grace also pointed to new reporting from Inside Edition, which obtained photographs of Manfredonia's alleged writings on his former dorm room wall.
The writing is reported to say: "We saw what happened when Adam snapped... now they see what happens when I snap."
THE SHOCKING CELEBRITY MURDER BEHIND ANTI-STALKING LAWS
The Hartford Courant reported that Manfredonia grew up on the same street as the Sandy Hook Elementary School gunman, Adam Lanza.
Lanza killed his mother on Dec. 14, 2012, before opening fire at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, killing 20 first-graders and six educators.
Finally, Grace reported that Manfredonia appeared "confused and tired" when he was taken into custody.
"This is beginning to form a pattern in my mind and one of the things we know about workplace shootings, school shootings, mass murder is usually the homicide is contemplated for some time before the perpetrator actually goes out and kills," Marshall said.
"We know that almost always they write about the crime either online or in a diary, they start emailing and texting people."
"The fact that he did it on his dorm room wall means he could have been in some kind of a manic state," Marshall added. "I don't mean that that's an excuse for homicide. But he was a little less organized in his attempts."
To watch all of this episode of "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace," go to Fox Nation and sign up today.
LIMITED TIME OFFER, GET YOUR FIRST MONTH OF FOX NATION FOR $0.99
Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report.