Ewen Dewitt is a man from Connecticut who allegedly murdered his ex girlfriend Julie Minogue with an ax in front of her children. According to police reports Julie Minogue had obtained a restraining order against Ewen DeWitt just days before she was murdered with an ax in front of her three year old and seventeen year old children. Now Ewen DeWitt has been charged with murder. It amazes me the number of murders that I cover on My Crime Library where a restraining order was issued yet failed to protect the victim
Ewen Dewitt More News
40-year-old Milford mother Julie Minogue was found dead in her home on Salem Walk Tuesday night. The Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said her cause of death was ‘Chop Wounds and Blunt Impact Injuries of Head, Torso, and Extremities (homicide).’
According to a GoFundMe created by her sister, Minogue was a mother to three boys.
Her ex-boyfriend 42-year-old Ewen DeWitt, Roxbury, is accused of killing her with an axe. In court documents obtained by FOX61, it details what happened that day and the relationship between the two.
Police said Minogue’s 17-year-old son called 9-1-1 around 9 p.m. after being woken up by screams. He told police he didn’t wake up to the first noise but continued to hear a man screaming. He then heard his mother scream. The teen went downstairs and thought he heard DeWitt yelling, “You didn’t believe me.” The child said DeWitt was holding an axe and his mother was on the floor, covered in blood.
The teen then ran upstairs and locked the door. He opened his window and punched a hole in the screen. He called 9-1-1 to report his mother was being assaulted with an axe and put a chair behind the locked door. Officers responded within minutes, but the teen jumped out the window out of fear the “Milford PD” screams he heard were Ewen DeWitt imitating police. Police eventually picked up the teen.
Police found Minogue in a large pool of blood on the kitchen floor with “multiple critical lacerations to her face and skull.” A large axe was found on the stove near the victim with evidence on it.
Minogue’s 3-year-old son was on the living room couch in shock, police said, not crying nor responding to police presence. Police stayed with the child until additional officers arrived on the scene.
A ring camera provided by a neighbor shows a man walking with an axe in his hand, matching the description police detailed in the video in the probable cause statement.
The mother of Ewen DeWitt called the police to report a phone call she received from her son. According to the probable cause statement, the mother said, “My son just called us and he said he killed his girlfriend.” She continues to say her son was looking to kill himself. Police made contact with DeWitt over the phone, but he did not want to talk and hung up.
The statement said police started canvassing and went to Dive Bar on Ocean Avenue in West Haven, about a mile away from the Milford home, to inform people to notify police if they spotted DeWitt. Two men later flagged down police after seeing a person matching the description. FOX61 made contact with one of those men who did not want to be interviewed. He said he saw a person matching the suspect’s description wandering around the parking lot for a couple of minutes. The suspect later went into a food truck in the parking lot. The witness told police he went in there. That’s where Ewen DeWitt was taken into custody without incident.
Minogue had protective orders again Ewen DeWitt for previous domestic violence incidents. One was entered in November 2019 and issued in January 2021. It also protected children present at the time of the incident. The victim’s teen told police, in 2019, DeWitt was drunk and got into a fight with his mother. According to the probable cause statement, the child told police Ewen DeWitt threw a playpen at her head and she began bleeding. His mom filed a restraining order while he was in rehab, the teen said. He continued to say DeWitt got visitation for a sibling, who was redacted in the statement.
In November of this year, Minogue provided an affidavit regarding Ewen DeWitt contacting her, regardless of her restraining order. The mother wrote she brought her phone to the police for “harassing” texts. Police counted 220 texts, she wrote.
“I don’t feel I should be subjected to this abuse any longer. I am scared for the safety of my children and I. Ewen has got himself into a lot of trouble with drugs and alcohol, and I’m scared he’s going to kill me,” she wrote.
Another full no-contact protective order was entered on Dec. 1.
The two children home at the time of the murder are under the care of family members.
DeWitt is being held on a $5 million bond. He’s charged with murder, reckless endangerment, risk of injury to a child, violation of a restraining order, and violation of a protective order. Attorneys on both sides in court Wednesday cited mental health concerns with DeWitt. He’s been placed on suicide watch. His next hearing date is Dec. 14