The felony hearing of an accused arsonist Friday in Oneonta City Court coincided with the funeral of the man who died in the weekend blaze on Walling Ave.
Terrence Truitt, 34, of Oneonta was arrested by the Oneonta Police Department on Monday and charged with first-degree arson, a class “A” felony.
John D. Heller, 38, died while rescuing his four young nephews and fiancée, Amber Roe, from his burning third-story apartment early Saturday morning. More than 200 people attended the funeral of the former Oneonta firefighter at Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center.
Prosecutor Michael Getman, the chief assistant district attorney for Otsego County, brought three witnesses before Judge Lucy Bernier. Appointed defense attorney James Hartmann represented Truitt, who did not testify.
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After hearing from the witnesses, Bernier decided to adjourn the hearing until Monday morning at 10 a.m. Hartmann had requested to further question Christopher Lupold, a New York State Homeland Security and Emergency Services fire investigator, asking that he bring the notes his team made on the fire, which may include pending lab results that could reveal whether an accelerant was used.
Lupold said his investigation determined the origin of the fire was the second-floor landing, near apartment C, at the base of the stairs leading to the third floor. The building at 3-5 Walling Ave. comprises six apartments, and the third floor was a single apartment, where Heller lived. The fire burned a hole through the second floor and up the stairs, into the attic before flames were visible from the top floor window.
“The cause was not accidental,” Lupold said in explaining how smoking and spontaneous combustion were ruled out. “There was nothing to indicate to us that an explosion occurred,” and wiring was found intact, he said.
The Oneonta Fire Department was called to the scene at 4:21 a.m., Lupold said.
Michael Syron, a part-time security guard at Hartwick College, testified that he was driving to get a cup of coffee around that time when he saw smoke coming from Walling Avenue. He said he pulled into the parking lot at Friendly's on Main Street, where Truitt tapped on his window.
“He said it's a fire and my brother might be in that house,” Syron said. He said Truitt asked to borrow a cell phone to call 9-1-1. Because Syron does not have one, he drove down the street with Truitt to Speedway and borrowed a cab driver's phone, he said.
“My car smelled like smoke ... and my arm rest was all black,” Syron said. He called the police after seeing Truitt's photo and arrest in the newspaper.
Oneonta Police Department Detective Sergeant Brandon Collison said Truitt did not admit to setting the fire but “he said indirectly that he was involved in an incident,” referring to it as “stuff going on,” and that he “was very deceptive in a lot of his answers,” including when he was in the house and how many times he went in. He said he was in the apartment of Heather Engler, Collison said.
Collison said he was at the scene when Heller's lifeless body was carried out of the house.
Truitt is being held without bail at the Otsego County Correctional Facility.
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