New London man accused of stabbing friend due in court
A New London man accused of stabbing a friend while they drank and watched football together last month is due to make his first appearance Tuesday in the New London court where major crimes are tried.
Terry Pipkin, 52, was charged with first-degree assault following the Jan. 15 incident. He is being held in lieu of $175,000 at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Institution.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit prepared by Detective Sgt. Cornelius Rodgers of the New London police, officers who were called to the house found the victim, 49-year-old Leonard Fraiter, bleeding profusely and using towels to apply pressure to his wounds. He had suffered a stab wound to the left side of his neck and abdomen, and his left ear was partially severed, according to the affidavit.
Fraiter was taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, then transported to Yale New Haven Hospital due to the severity of his injuries, according to the affidavit. Inside the home, police said it was apparent from overturned furniture on the floor and blood on the floor, furniture and walls that a struggle had occurred.
A female tenant of the home, an ex-girlfriend of Pipkin who is identified only as Confidential Witness 1 in the affidavit, told police she was watching football with the two men when Fraiter called her an offensive name. She said Pipkin started arguing with Fraiter and she told Pipkin not to worry about it. She said she went to the bathroom, and when she came out, she saw Pipkin assaulting Fraiter with a utility knife. She said Pipkin then ran out of the house and threw the knife in the bushes.
Pipkin was arrested at the scene and in an interview with detectives a day later, said he and Fraiter were drinking beer and vodka heavily and that an argument broke out when Fraiter became abusive to him and the woman. He said they began to push one another, and Fraiter retrieved a butcher knife from the kitchen. Pipkin said he blacked out and the next thing he remembered was being on the front porch when the police arrived.
Police said they recovered the utility knife on the sidewalk near a row of bushes.
According to court records, Pipkin was convicted of third-degree assault in 2012 and sentenced to 60 days in prison. The Department of Correction website indicates he is on special parole.
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