A statement from Chief Mello:
Our initial review has revealed the following:
On November 14, 2022, Julie Minogue came to the police department to file a complaint against Ewen Dewitt for sending her over 200 text messages from November 12-14, 2022, violating the Protective Order that prohibited him from harassing her. Officer Knablin interviewed Julie, and he collected the evidence from her cell phone records that she later provided.
On Friday November 18, 2022, Officer Knablin completed an arrest warrant application for Ewen Dewitt, charging him with Violation of a Protective Order. Per policy, the arrest warrant application was reviewed by a supervisor, and both the supervisor and the officer believed that the arrest warrant application contained the
requisite Probable Cause to support the charge that the text messages sent by Mr. Dewitt violated the modified Protective Order that was issued on January 15, 2021. When court re-opened on November 21, 2022, the warrant application was submitted to the Ansonia/Milford State’s Attorney’s Office. That same day, the Assistant State’s Attorney denied the warrant and sent it back to Officer Knablin requesting additional
information be provided.
As per policy, Officer Knablin had an obligation to gather that information requested by the Assistant State’s Attorney and resubmit the arrest warrant application as soon as possible. A formal Internal Affairs Investigation has been initiated regarding the timeliness of his response. Officer Knablin has been placed on administrative
leave pending the outcome of the Internal Investigation into his actions.
On Friday, December 9, 2022, after consultation with the State’s Attorney, the arrest warrant application was transferred to a Detective and a new arrest warrant application was initially drafted. The final arrest warrant for Ewen Dewitt was completed and signed by the State’s Attorney’s Office on Thursday December 14th, charging Dewitt with Violation of a Protective Order and Harassment 2nd Degree for sending Julie Minogue over 200 text messages over a period of two days.
Several hours after the homicide occurred on December 6th, our officers located Ewen Dewitt hiding in a trailer in the City of West Haven and took him into custody. The investigation into the death of Julie Minogue is ongoing by our Detective Division and the State’s Attorney’s Office. Our efforts will be exhaustive to determine not just how this crime happened, but also what motivated Ewen Dewitt to commit this crime.
I am meeting with our state legislative delegation on Friday to discuss ways to enhance the Judicial GPS Press Release Monitoring Program for offenders of domestic violence, including expanding the criteria for their use. We are committed to working collaboratively with the State’s Attorney’s Office, the Judicial Department, Victim’s
Services, , and the Mental Health Community to further enhance our ability to protect victims of domestic violence.
This press release was made possible by:
