Man charged with holding dagger to woman's throat

A Baltic man accused of breaking into the Colchester home of his ex-girlfriend, holding a dagger to her throat and threatening to kill her and four children made his first appearance Monday in the New London court where major crimes are tried.

Michael Manifold, 35, of 230 High St., is charged with home invasion, four counts of risk of injury to a minor, first-degree unlawful restraint, three counts of second-degree threatening, third-degree assault and reckless endangerment. He has been held in lieu of $150,500 bond since he was arrested on Feb. 4.

Manifold allegedly returned to the Lake Hayward home where he had lived with his ex-girlfriend, Billyjoe Zaks, and their three children on Jan. 30 to demand that Zaks hand over the keys to a Ford F-250 pickup truck. Zaks said he came into the house "looking crazy," grabbed her and held a dagger with a 7-inch double-edged blade to her throat. Zaks' brother arrived, and Manifold left after waving the knife at four children and saying he would kill everyone in the house if anyone called police. He allegedly disabled the pickup truck by removing several fuses before driving away.

Zaks did not immediately go to police because she said Manifold suffers from a brain aneurysm and needs medical help. She provided a statement to police after one of the children's friends, who was staying overnight when the incident occurred, told her parents. The parents took the child to Troop K in Colchester, where the information she provided led to an investigation by detectives in the major crime squad.

Judge Susan B. Handy reminded Manifold that he is under a court order to have no contact with the victim. She appointed public defender Kevin Barrs to represent him and continued his case to April 22.

- Karen Florin