Inset: Joshua Popielarczyk (Farmington Police Department). The Connecticut home where Joshua Popielarczyk allegedly stabbed his dad to death last week (WTNH/YouTube).
Police say a Connecticut man who is accused of stabbing his father to death last week has a dark and violent past, including beating and strangling a woman he “hit it off with” in rehab and dragging her out of bed, feet first, while telling her, “I”m going to kill you.”
“Like looking into the eyes of Satan,” Joshua Popielarczyk’s female victim allegedly told cops about what he looked like before attacking her in 2023, according to CT Insider.
Arrest warrants obtained by the local news outlet describe how Popielarczyk, who is accused of murdering his dad last Friday in Farmington, was known for displaying “weird behavior” while with the female victim, who allegedly spent several days with him after being discharged from a rehabilitation facility they were both at.
Popielarczyk allegedly used drugs while with the woman and was going into trances while the pair was together, while also pacing around his apartment and talking to himself, CT Insider reports. His behavior eventually became violent and he began pushing, hitting, and choking the victim, police say.
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The woman told cops that she wanted to report Popielarczyk, but she was “afraid Joshua would hear her call and kill her,” according to his 2023 arrest warrants. The bed incident saw Popielarczyk allegedly snatch the victim out of bed by her feet, causing her to hit her head on the floor. He threatened to kill her and then forced the woman to ride with him to his parents’ house, according to police.
Popielarczyk was charged with third-degree strangulation or suffocation in December 2023 and was convicted in October 2024, CT Insider reports. He received a suspended jail sentence of 11 months and was placed on probation for two years.
On Friday, Nov. 14, 2025, Popielarczyk allegedly stabbed his father, David Popielarczyk, 62, to death at the dad’s home in Farmington. A motive has not been released yet for the killing.
Police were called to the father’s residence at around 4 p.m. that day for a report of an untimely death under suspicious circumstances, Patch.com reports.
“Upon arrival, officers located a 62-year-old male in the living room who appeared to have sustained multiple areas of trauma,” Farmington Police reportedly said in a statement. “These injuries were later determined to be multiple stab wounds.”
Arrest and court records viewed by Law&Crime show that Popielarczyk was arrested on Saturday and charged with murder. He was being held this week on a $3 million bond and was still behind bars as of Wednesday.
