NL

Paul Connolly, a known criminal, was Paradise stabbing victim, sources say

A man who is very well known to police and the justice system, Paul Connolly, has been confirmed through sources as the victim of a vicious attack on Trails End Drive in Paradise early Saturday morning.

Police not ruling out possibility that stabbing was related to Steven Miller homicide

Sources say Paul Connolly, 35, was the man viciously attacked on Trails End Drive in Paradise early Saturday morning. He is pictured here in this CBC News file photo. (Ryan Cooke/CBC)

A man who is very well known to police and the justice system, Paul Connolly, has been confirmed through sources as the victim of a vicious attack on Trails End Drive in Paradise early Saturday morning.

Police have not confirmed his identity, but people close to Connolly say the 35-year-old is the man investigators say was found unconscious with multiple stab wounds just after 5 a.m. Saturday morning.

"He's doing good. He's getting better," said a source close to the situation.

What remains unclear, however, is whether the attack is related to the brutal abduction and murder of 25-year-old Steven Lorne Miller in Conception Bay South around the same timeframe.

RNC investigators have not ruled that out.

Police are looking for three men who abducted Steven Miller, 25, from his home in Seal Cove in the early morning hours of Saturday. Miller's death has been deemed a homicide. (CBC)

Connolly is no stranger to the media spotlight, a courtroom or a prison cell at Her Majesty's Penitentiary.

He was the first person to be charged following a graphic prison riot at HMP in February 2014.

Surveillance video of the riot shows Connolly using a pew to attack an accused murderer in the chapel during the riot.