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A Connecticut man faces charges in the death of his father, marking another episode in a troubling history of violent behavior.
Authorities have charged Joshua Popielarczyk in the murder of his 62-year-old father, David Popielarczyk. Although the arrest warrant remains sealed for two weeks, preventing the release of specific details about the case, CT Insider reported that David was discovered with stab wounds in his living room last Friday afternoon.
The 31-year-old Joshua Popielarczyk has previously been in legal trouble, having been convicted of a misdemeanor strangulation/suffocation charge the previous year. This conviction followed an incident where the victim withdrew her complaint on more severe charges. The 2023 arrest warrant reveals that police were notified of Popielarczyk fleeing a crash scene, after which a woman claimed he had raped her at his apartment the prior night.
Avon police encountered the 60-year-old woman who appeared “visibly shaken.” She recounted meeting Popielarczyk in rehab and forming a connection that led to them spending time together post-rehabilitation.
However, she soon noticed unsettling changes in his behavior, including him entering trances and talking to himself. She also described an incident where he purchased a drug from a visitor at his door, and upon consumption, his demeanor changed so drastically that she likened it to “looking into the eyes of Satan,” as detailed in the arrest warrant.
Popielarczyk became increasingly violent, often pushing and slapping her and wrapping his hands around her neck. She said he punched her and strangled her, including once when she was lying down for a nap.
She told police she wanted to call 911 but feared “Joshua would hear her call and kill her.”
On September 12, 2023, she said, they were listening to music when he started pacing then shoved her over, pulled off her shorts, and raped her. The following morning, he dragged her out of bed feet first and told her to hurry and get ready — he was taking her with him because he wanted to buy marijuana — or “I’m going to kill you.”
When they left the house, the woman said, Popielarcyzk drove so erratically that she persuaded him to let her drive. When he did, however, he began ordering her to drive through stop signs and red lights. When she obeyed traffic laws, he punched her in the head.
He gave her directions to his parents house, where he reportedly banged on the door and confronted the woman who answer the door in violation of an order of protection against him, CT Insider said.
He left the parents’ home, and the 60-year-old victim said he had been “laughing maniacally” while driving and punched her in the face and neck several times. He ran traffic lights and eventually crashed into another car before leaving the scene, the report said.
The woman said she got away from him when an employee at a marijuana dispensary “separated him from her after observing that something might have been wrong,” the affidavit said.
Responding officers saw bruising and marks on her face and ear.
But the woman soon began avoiding police, who didn’t speak with her again until early October that year. At that time she said she didn’t want to pursue charges.