Officer on Leave Over Milford Woman's Complaint About Ex-Boyfriend Before Her Murder

A Milford police officer has been placed on administrative leave following the death of a woman allegedly killed by her ex-boyfriend.

Julie Minogue, 40, a mother of three, was found dead in her home Dec. 6 after her 17-year-old son called 911 to report a man was assaulting her.

Police believe her ex-boyfriend, 42-year-old Ewen Dewitt, used an axe to kill her.

According to police, Minogue and Dewitt were in a prior relationship and he was the father of Minogue's 3-year-old child.

On Nov. 14, Minogue went to the Milford Police Department to file a complaint against Dewitt claiming he had sent her more than 200 text messages in a two-day period, police said.

Minogue had a protective order against Dewitt prohibiting him from contacting her.

She spoke with Officer Scot Knablin, who collected evidence of the text messages from her phone, according to police.

Knablin prepared an arrest warrant charging Dewitt with violating the protective order and that application was reviewed by a supervisor, police said.

The warrant application was submitted to the Ansonia/Milford State's Attorney's Office on Nov. 21. That same day, the assistant state's attorney sent the warrant application back to Officer Knablin requesting more information, according to both police and the Ansonia/Milford State's Attorney's Office.

Milford Police Chief Keith Mello said Officer Knablin had an obligation to gather the information requested by the assistant state's attorney and to resubmit the arrest warrant application as soon as possible.

That was not done prior to Minogue's murder on Dec. 6. Police have opened a formal internal affairs investigation into the timeliness of Officer Knablin's response, according to Mello.

The warrant application was transferred to a detective and a new application was drafted. The final arrest warrant charging Dewitt with violating the protective order was completed and signed on Wednesday, more than a week after Minogue's death.

Chief Mello said he will meet Friday with state legislators to discuss ways to enhance the Judicial GPS Monitoring Program for domestic violence offenders.