An Otsego County jury Thursday found Gabriel Truitt of Oneonta guilty on arson and murder charges related to a December 2018 fire, according to Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl.
Truitt was accused of setting fire to a house on 5 Walling Ave. in Oneonta on Dec. 29, 2018, where former Oneonta firefighter John Heller and Truitt's ex-girlfriend, Heather Engler lived in separate apartments. Heller died of carbon monoxide toxicity from smoke inhalation after saving his fiancée Amber Roe and his four nephews.
The jury on Thursday deliberated for two hours and announced its verdict just before noon, Muehl said. Jurors found Truitt guilty on all four counts he was charged with — first-degree arson, first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder.
Muehl said the two counts of second-degree murder are for the same crime but under different theories. One is causing the death of a person while committing a felony, arson in this case. The other is acting with the intent to cause the death of a person and causing the death of a third party.
Truitt is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, April 3, and was sent to jail without bail until then, Muehl said. The minimum sentence he faces is 15 years to life and the maximum is life without parole, he said.
The trial lasted for seven days, two of which consisted of juror selection. Trial witnesses included 5 Walling Ave. next door neighbors, older brother Terrence Truitt, Roe, Engler, fire investigators, an atmospheric science expert and state and Oneonta police.
“It's been spending months and months preparing for this trial,” Muehl said. “It was a complicated trial because there were so many witnesses to coordinate and it really worked out well.”
The prosecution put forth the case that Truitt was the only one with the means, opportunity and motive to start the fire. That night, he was involved in a fight with a man — Mamady Kourouma — Engler was with. According to Kourouma's friend Oudou Kalla, who was also involved in the fight, Truitt didn't throw the first punch, but according to Engler, he did. Later, Truitt was seen at his formerly owned Tru Cuts Barbershop pocketing bottles of what Muehl said were isopropyl alcohol, the accelerant investigators identified at the scene of the fire.
The defense argued that Truitt couldn't have done it because as evidenced by Center Street Deli surveillance video, he walked past the deli at 4:09 a.m. and once reaching the house, would only have had two minutes to start the fire, leave and be seen near the deli again at 4:20 a.m. In addition, the fire was said to reach full blaze in eight to 10 minutes and the 9-1-1 call was at 4:21 a.m. Defense also questioned Engler's testimony, as she'd admitted to lying to police in the past resulting in charges against Truitt.
Truitt was represented by Fly Creek Lawyer Michael Trosset.
"The jury has most certainly spoken," Trosset said. "It was a different outcome than we had hoped but we respect the process and the entire court system and will move forward."
Trosset said Truitt has indicated to him that he's interested in appealing. If so, an appellate attorney would address any potential issues that could have arisen from the moment Truitt was arrested in April 2019 to the present, Trosset said.
A pre-sentence investigation, which gives the judge backkground about the convicted so he or she can determine a fair and fitting sentence, will occur between now and April 3.
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