Wethersfield

‘It Was Shock Enough to Find Out He's Dead': New Details Prompt Investigation of Man's Death

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Family and friends are mourning a Wethersfield man who died during the recent Nor’easter.

They thought he had just collapsed while helping out his neighbors with shoveling. But now new details about his death have been released and it’s prompted police to launch a serious investigation.

“He would take off the shirt off his back for somebody. He really would. He was a very, very nice guy,” said Dorothy Reddick, a neighbor.

In the midst of the big snowstorm 11 days ago, police say Paul Bonfiglio died after being found in the snow on Longvue Drive.

His family says he had been shoveling a neighbor’s driveway.

“He helped out many of his neighbors, shoveled, helped with anything else they needed. He was that type of person in the neighborhood,” said Lt. Donald Crabtree of the Wethersfield Police Department.

With no apparent sign of a serious injury, police initially thought the 57-year-old had collapsed because of some medical condition.

But then later there was a major twist in the case.

“It was definitely different than what we initially anticipated the call being,” said Lt. Crabtree.

Crabtree said Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined Bonfiglio actually had injuries caused by being hit by a car.

The news stunned his neighbors.

“It was shock enough to find out he’s dead. But then find out somebody hit him and kept going. He didn’t deserve to go out like that,” said Reddick.

Now almost two weeks later with the snow gone and few clues, police are turning to the public for help.

They’re hoping somebody might know something about what happened around two in the morning back on the 17.

“Anything they would have that would help this investigation, help the family and get some closure here,” said Crabtree.

Police urge people to contact them if you saw or heard something or if you have surveillance video.

The family says it’s offering a reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.

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