An arrest warrant describes messages about Mark Morgan’s presence before police say Joshua Freitag entered the house and shot him upstairs.
SOMERS, Conn. — Hours before sunrise on Aug. 18, a series of messages about a car in a driveway became part of the evidence in a Connecticut murder case after police say an estranged husband entered a South Road home and fatally shot the man staying there.
The arrest warrant for Joshua Freitag, 33, places the communications at the center of the events immediately preceding the death of Mark Anthony Morgan, 34, of Enfield. Freitag’s estranged wife told investigators that Freitag noticed Morgan’s vehicle outside the residence and asked whether Morgan was inside. She denied that he was there, according to police, even though Morgan was staying at the house. The woman told investigators she knew Freitag and Morgan had a history of conflict and that the two men had fought before.
After the exchange, the woman told police, she went to sleep on a couch while Morgan slept in an upstairs bedroom. The two children in the home were also asleep. The warrant says she later woke to the sound of breaking glass and saw Freitag come through a damaged rear sliding door. She followed him toward the second floor and tried to warn Morgan, according to accounts of the warrant published by local news outlets. Police allege that Freitag entered the bedroom and fired repeatedly at Morgan.
The woman’s statement gave investigators an early chronology, but it is an allegation contained in a criminal case, not a judicial finding. Freitag has been charged with murder, home invasion and two counts of risk of injury to a child. He has not been convicted. Prosecutors will have to establish what happened inside the residence and prove the elements of each offense in court. The warrant, scene evidence and the communications described by investigators form part of that case.
State police arrived at the property shortly after 4 a.m. and encountered Freitag near the front of the home. Police said he complied with their commands and was detained without incident. Near the entrance, troopers found a handgun, an empty magazine and a holster, according to the arrest warrant. Upstairs, responders found Morgan unresponsive. Police said emergency personnel attempted to save him before he was pronounced dead at about 4:20 a.m. The woman and both children were brought out of the house unharmed.
Prosecutors added another detail during Freitag’s first court appearance a day later. Tolland State’s Attorney Craig Nowak said Freitag parked his vehicle about an eighth of a mile from the house before approaching the property and breaking a sliding glass door with a sledgehammer. The state contends that he then went upstairs to the room where Morgan was located. The prosecutor’s account was offered during a bond hearing and remains an allegation that can be challenged by the defense as the case proceeds.
The early-morning entry occurred against the backdrop of a marriage that was ending. Public records reviewed by local news organizations showed that divorce proceedings had begun days before the shooting. Freitag’s estranged wife told investigators that he was not living at the South Road residence and that she had changed the front-door access after he moved out. The defense, however, stressed that Freitag still owned the home. That dispute over ownership and access became significant because prosecutors charged him with home invasion in addition to murder.
At the Aug. 19 arraignment, defense attorney Anthony Spinella asked the court to reduce Freitag’s $1.5 million bond to $250,000. He told the judge that Freitag had no criminal history, had surrendered to police and was financially supporting the children. The defense also argued that the alleged events were personal rather than an indication that Freitag posed a broad danger to the public. Prosecutors opposed a reduction, emphasizing the circumstances described in the arrest warrant. Judge Alyce L. Alfano left the $1.5 million bond in place.
The hearing was emotional for Morgan’s family. Relatives filled the courtroom, and his mother reacted as the prosecution described the shooting allegations. Later reports about Morgan said he was a father of two and worked in commercial flooring. A fundraiser established after his death described him as someone devoted to people close to him and sought help with funeral and memorial expenses, with additional money intended for his children. Those accounts are separate from the evidence the state must present in the criminal case.
The presence of Freitag’s two children in the house also became an important part of the prosecution. Neither child was injured, and police have not said either was directly targeted. Still, investigators said both were present during the shooting, leading to two risk-of-injury charges. The court issued protective orders for the children and the woman following Freitag’s first appearance. State child-welfare officials were also reported to be reviewing the circumstances after the shooting.
The investigation did not end with the homicide arrest. On Aug. 25, officers executing another search warrant recovered firearms and ammunition as part of a weapons compliance inquiry. Police later alleged that two Glock .40-caliber magazines found during that search each held more rounds than permitted under the applicable state restriction. The discovery led to two additional counts of illegal possession of a large-capacity magazine filed against Freitag on Sept. 18. Those charges are being handled as a separate criminal case.
Police said several other firearms recovered during the post-shooting investigation were legally registered to Freitag. The distinction is important: authorities have not alleged that ownership of every recovered weapon was unlawful. Instead, the later case focuses specifically on two magazines. Reports citing the weapons warrant said each had a 22-round capacity and contained 21 rounds when investigators found them. Freitag was appointed a public defender in that case, and a separate bond was set for those allegations.
By Sept. 18, Freitag remained held on the $1.5 million bond tied to the murder, home-invasion and child-risk charges. The smaller bond in the magazine case did not change his custody status. Court records cited in subsequent reporting say the separate magazine matter was continued to Oct. 23. No trial date for the homicide prosecution has been publicly established in the sources reviewed for this report.
The messages about Morgan’s vehicle remain one of the clearest documented links between the hours before the shooting and the confrontation police say followed. Investigators have described what the woman said she saw and what officers found upon arrival, but a court has not yet decided whether those allegations amount to the crimes charged. Freitag is presumed innocent while both cases remain pending.
Author note: Last updated September 28, 2026.