A man from Connecticut has been charged with the murder of his father, marking yet another instance where he has faced allegations of violent behavior.
Authorities have sealed the arrest warrant for Joshua Popielarczyk for two weeks, leaving the specifics surrounding the death of 62-year-old David Popielarczyk under wraps, according to a report by CT Insider. However, police confirmed that the elder Popielarczyk was discovered with stab wounds in his living room on Friday afternoon.
In a previous case, Joshua Popielarczyk, 31, was found guilty of a misdemeanor charge related to strangulation and suffocation last year. This conviction came after a victim withdrew her complaint concerning more severe allegations. The arrest warrant from 2023 detailed an incident where police were informed that Popielarczyk fled the scene of a crash, and a woman with him accused him of raping her the previous night at his residence.
The Avon police interviewed the 60-year-old woman, who appeared visibly distressed. She recounted meeting Popielarczyk in a rehabilitation center, where they bonded and decided to spend time together post-discharge.
However, the woman noted that Popielarczyk soon started displaying what she described as “weird behavior.” This included entering trances and speaking to himself repeatedly. She reported that after he purchased a drug from a visitor at his door, his demeanor changed drastically, saying it felt like “looking into the eyes of Satan,” according to the arrest warrant.
The situation escalated as Popielarczyk’s behavior turned violent, with frequent instances of pushing, slapping, and choking her. She described being punched and strangled by him, including during an incident when she was trying to nap.
She told police she wanted to call 911 but feared “Joshua would hear her call and kill her.”
On September 12, 2023, she said, they were listening to music when he started pacing then shoved her over, pulled off her shorts, and raped her. The following morning, he dragged her out of bed feet first and told her to hurry and get ready — he was taking her with him because he wanted to buy marijuana — or “I’m going to kill you.”
When they left the house, the woman said, Popielarcyzk drove so erratically that she persuaded him to let her drive. When he did, however, he began ordering her to drive through stop signs and red lights. When she obeyed traffic laws, he punched her in the head.
He gave her directions to his parents house, where he reportedly banged on the door and confronted the woman who answer the door in violation of an order of protection against him, CT Insider said.
He left the parents’ home, and the 60-year-old victim said he had been “laughing maniacally” while driving and punched her in the face and neck several times. He ran traffic lights and eventually crashed into another car before leaving the scene, the report said.
The woman said she got away from him when an employee at a marijuana dispensary “separated him from her after observing that something might have been wrong,” the affidavit said.
Responding officers saw bruising and marks on her face and ear.
But the woman soon began avoiding police, who didn’t speak with her again until early October that year. At that time she said she didn’t want to pursue charges.
