Accused Murderer of East Haven Resident Indicted

A statewide Grand Jury has indicted Zachary Joseph Lepelusa, 24, of Milford, on one count of murder, one count of kidnapping and one count of eluding the police in connection with the March 29 stabbing death of , according to a statement released by the Office of Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin.

Lepelusa’s arraignment in Newport County Superior Courthas been scheduled for Sept. 22. He has been held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institution (ACI) in Cranston since his arrest.

Thursday's Grand Jury report stated, "It is alleged that on or about March 29, 2011, Lepelusa kidnapped Antoinette Vendetti Bruce from a hotel parking lot, forcing her into her automobile, where he stabbed and killed her and later dumped her body in another location. It is further alleged that Lepelusa attempted to elude the police by fleeing in her automobile."

The Middletown Police Department conducted the investigation. Bruceof East Haven, was stabbed repeatedly in broad daylight in a parking lot outside Residence Inn hotel on West Main Road, where she was staying while in Rhode Island on company business.

Lepelusa was initially charged by Middletown police with one felony count of murder and one felony count of kidnapping before the case was reviewed by the Rhode Island Statewide Grand Jury, which added the charge of eluding police, according to the report issued Thursday.

Bruce and Lepelusa previously worked together in Connecticut at a Christmas Tree Shops store, according to Middletown police. Lepelusa no longer worked for the company and Bruce was in Middletown for two weeks to assist in a temporary retail reconfiguration project at the local store on East Main Road.

The first-degree murder charge alleges that Lepelusa had intended, or premeditated, the attack on Bruce when he met with her in the hotel parking lot and stabbed her to death.