Jury selection for an upcoming a murder trial was paused briefly on Tuesday while a New London Superior Court judge heard grievances from Christopher Petteway, the New London man accused of fatally stabbing his former partner in 2018.

The grievances ranged from complaints of a jury tainted by news reports about his case to his uncomfortable ride to court to court from Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown.

Petteway, 45, aired the complaints to Judge Hillary Strackbein, who informed Petteway that the state had offered him a chance to forgo a trial in exchange for a guilty plea and 35 years in prison. Petteway faces up to 70 years in prison if convicted at trial of murder in the stabbing death of 63-year-old Robert Parise. Prior to the killing, Petteway was sentenced to 30 days in prison on domestic-violence-related charges and allegedly had threatened to kill Parise when he was released from prison.

Parise was stabbed multiple times in the legs and torso in the kitchen of his home on Brainard Street in New London. He was a client of Safe Futures, which provides services for domestic violence victims and whose members described him as a “sweet man” and “gentle soul.”

Petteway faces up to 60 years in prison on the murder charge and up to 10 years for violating terms of a standing protective order. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

“I do think the offer was quite fair based on the severity of the charges,” Strackbein said.

“I can’t plead to something I didn’t intend to do,” Petteway told Strackbein. “I’m not a murderer.”

Petteway was dressed in formal clothes and a tie, but shackled at the ankles, and appeared with his defense attorneys Kevin Barrs and Michael Miller.

Jury selection started last week and three of 12 jurors had been chosen as of Tuesday afternoon. Petteway claims a jury could be tainted by an unspecified story in The Day that he said “damaged my reputation.”

In one such story, Petteway’s ex-wife came forward to claim Petteway, who has a documented history of criminal domestic abuse arrests, had abused her during their marriage. Petteway said one story inaccurately described him mouthing the words “I’m sorry” to his ex-wife when he was in reality directing his comment to the family of the victim.

“I can’t allow the court to make me out to be someone I’m not,” Petteway said on Tuesday.

Petteway also complained that although he is getting a special transport from prison to the court, he is in pain from previous injuries that included a work-related accident and being struck by a New London police cruiser in 2017.

Barrs asked Strackbein that Petteway be held at Corrigan Correctional Center in Montville during the trial.

g.smith@theday.com