Inset: Julie Minogue (William R. McDonald Funeral Home). Background: Defendant Ewen Dewitt at his sentencing hearing (WVIT).
A Connecticut man had an outburst moments before he was sentenced to decades in prison for murdering his ex-girlfriend with an ax.
Ewen Dewitt pleaded guilty to murder and risk of injury to a child in the 2022 death of Julie Minogue at her Milford home. He appeared before a judge on Thursday to hear his fate. Dewitt, 45, appeared to get agitated as prosecutor Margaret Kelly was addressing the court.
Video of the incident posted by New Haven NBC affiliate WVIT shows court deputies converge on Dewitt as he appeared to stand.
“Sit down,” the deputies.
Dewitt proceeded to go on an expletive-laden rant that was bleeped out by the TV station.
According to the ABC affiliate, WTNH, Dewitt was listening to Kelly describe the murder as “cold, calculated” when he chimed in to say, in part, “rot in hell,” before he was instructed by the court to “watch your mouth.”
“Mr. Dewitt, I understand what you may be going through but I just have to remind you, this is an orderly place,” the judge said. “If outbursts like that continue, I’m left with no other choice but to ask you, to remove you from the court.”
“That’d be great,” Dewitt responded.
However, the judge continued the hearing with Dewitt present after the ax murderer, surrounded by deputies, calmed down. Dewitt addressed the court and apologized for his actions, saying he “snapped,” according to CT Insider.
Minogue’s family was just happy for the criminal case to be over.
“As the victim’s family, we’re very happy that we’re at the end of the criminal proceedings,” her father, Gerald Minogue, told WVIT.
“The pain will not go away, by no stretch,” he added.
As Law&Crime previously reported, in addition to the criminal charges, Minogue’s family filed a lawsuit against police and the City of Milford.
According to the Milford Police Department’s initial statement on the brutal homicide, Minogue’s 17-year-old son was the one who called 911 on the night of Dec. 6, 2022, to report that Ewen Dewitt had attacked and killed his mother with an ax. The mother’s 3-year-old son was in the home at the time and witnessed the attack, the family’s attorney in the civil case, Michael Rosnick, confirmed to Law&Crime.
The slaying occurred five days after Minogue was “granted a full no contact Restraining Order against the suspect following a complaint that the suspect sent her harassing text messages,” the Milford Police Department said. The department later specified that Dewitt sent 200 texts over two days in November 2022.
Dewitt, of Roxbury, was arrested in a trailer in West Haven hours after the murder, cops said. He was charged with murder, home invasion, criminal violation of a standing protective order, criminal violation of a restraining order, and risk of injury to a child, all felonies. Connecticut court records show the defendant also faces a harassment case for his alleged actions in November 2022, and a felony assault and risk of injury to a child case dating back to 2019, in which an allegedly drunken Dewitt is accused of throwing a playpen at Minogue as she held their then-infant son. News 12 reported that Minogue needed five staples to close the resulting wound to the back of her head.
On Dec. 15, 2022, Milford Police Chief Keith L. Mello announced that Officer Scott Knablin was being placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal affairs probe into his handling of a warrant application that was not fully completed until after Minogue’s death.
“On Nov. 14, 2022, Julie Minogue came to the police department to file a complaint against Ewen Dewitt for sending her over 200 text messages from Nov. 12-14, 2022, violating the Protective Order that prohibited him from harassing her. Officer Knablin interviewed Julie, and he collected the evidence from her cellphone records that she later provided,” Mello said. “On Friday, Nov. 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 Jan. 15, 2021. When court reopened on Nov. 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.”
WTNH reported that Julie Minogue wrote that she was “afraid [Dewitt’s] going to kill me” before her death. The plaintiff’s family reportedly intends to argue that Dewitt “had a long history of violent behavior against Ms. Minogue and others, all of which was known or should have been known, to the proposed defendants.”
According to Chief Mello, the “additional information” requested by prosecutors was not added to the warrant application until Dec. 9, after the case was handed off to a different detective.
“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,” Mello added. The top cop concluded his statement by vowing to find ways to “enhance the Judicial GPS Monitoring Program for offenders of domestic violence, including expanding the criteria for their use.”
Knablin later resigned. The lawsuit remains ongoing.
A GoFundMe campaign started by Julie’s sister, Allison, said that her loved one “was a victim of domestic violence and had tried multiple times to keep her and her children safe.”
“Julie spent most of her parenting years as a single parent. She navigated working full-time and caring for her boys with ease and love,” Allison said.
Matt Naham contributed to this report
