Plea offer made to murder suspect accused of beating ex-mother-in-law with bat in Trumbull
Ylli Shtopaku, 46, appeared in court in Bridgeport Friday where the specifics of the offer weren’t put on the record.
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The state has made a plea offer to the Norwalk man accused of killing his former mother-in-law with a baseball bat in Trumbull nearly eight months ago.
Ylli Shtopaku, 46, appeared in court in Bridgeport Friday, where the specifics of the offer weren’t put on the record.
Shtopaku has been in custody since April 28, when police said he beat Lida Shape, 70, with a bat for over a minute outside the clubhouse at Ten Trumbull, a luxury apartment complex on Oakview Drive, where Shape lived with Shtopaku's ex-wife and the former couple’s two kids.
“The family's position is that the accused should honestly never leave jail,” said attorney Frank Riccio, after court. “He killed their mother, their grandmother, their loved one, and that family was so close-knit, so strong, that such a terrible incident on video in the middle of the day should have severe consequences.”
Riccio, who represents Shape’s family, declined to specify how many years the state's offer is, but said the proposed sentence fits the crime.
“I'll bring the offer to my clients, the family. My belief is they will also agree that it's sufficient,” Riccio said.
Shtopaku’s attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, also said he wouldn’t get into the details of the plea.
“But it is a substantial offer,” Kaloidis stated outside the courthouse. “It's obviously reflective of how the state views the case.”
According to the police report, security cameras captured Shtopaku repeatedly hitting Shape with a baseball bat for 92 seconds. He was still on scene when officers responded that afternoon, and according to their report, he spontaneously said, "She tried to kill me for all my life, so I did it today."
Police said Shtopaku waived his rights and voluntarily spoke with investigators following his arrest. According to the report, he told them he was at the food court in the Trumbull Mall when he spotted his former mother-in-law with an out-of-state relative. He then confessed to following the women back to Shape’s apartment complex, where an Uber dropped them in front of the clubhouse, the report said.
Shtopaku admitted he tried to confront Shape, and when both women kept walking, he grabbed a bat from the trunk of his car and went after his ex-mother-in-law, according to the report. He told police, “he blames his ex-mother-in-law for his divorce, losing his house in Monroe, and the fact that he currently does not have money,” the report stated.
Kaloidis told News 12 that he will meet with Shtopaku to further discuss the offer and weigh whether to plead guilty or go to trial. But the attorney also said that, typically with murder cases, he tries to get an offer that gives clients a potential second chance.
“If the offer guarantees the rest of someone's life in jail, what's the incentive to plea? But every case is different, and ultimately the decision is up to the accused whether to take a deal, and we'll see whether this resolves,” Kaloidis explained.
He also said they are exploring the possibility of a psychiatric defense if the case continues.
Shtopaku is due back in court on Feb. 19. He's being held on a $3 million bond and cannot have contact with the Shape's family, including his two sons.
PRIOR COVERAGE: Man confessed to ‘viciously’ killing ex-mother-in-law with bat, Trumbull police say
