TRUITT TRIAL: Day 3
Girlfriend: Suspect Fought
Before Fatal Arson Fire Set
By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
COOPERSTOWN – When Heather Engler woke up on Dec. 28 after staying with a friend on Rose Avenue, she had two missed calls and a message from her stepmother.
“She texted me to say that Gabriel (Truitt) had messaged her to say my house was on fire,” Engler testified. “I got up and ran to my apartment, and the fire trucks were already there.”
In the third day of testimony, Engler, who had previously been in a “rocky” romantic relationship with Truitt, testified that although she had plans with him that night, he didn’t respond to text messages, and she went out with another friend, who she identified as “Niko.”