Gabriel Truitt Trial Investigator Testimony: Accelerant Under Door By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special To ALLOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Just before the noon break, District Attorney John Muehl brought Bill Haynes, an origin and cause investigator with Sotera Investigative Group, to the witness stand in the case against Gabriel Truitt, the Oneonta man accused of setting the fire that killed John Heller at his 5 Walling Avenue apartment in December 2018. “The way the burn and char pattern on the inside of…
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John Heller - Page 2
Proceedings Underway In Truitt Court Case District Attorney John Muehl, above, makes his opening remarks to the jury during the opening day of the People Vs. Gabriel Truitt, now underway at the Otsego County Courthouse in Cooperstown. Truitt, seen at right, is charged with arson in the first degree and murder in the first and second degree for his alleged involvement in the fire that claimed the life of John Heller at 5 Walling Ave. in Oneonta on Dec 29,…
Christmas Bulbs On Beards Recall Heller’s Happy Life By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com Last Christmas, Mike and Erika Heller bought a set of “beard ornaments” for John, Mike’s brother. “We thought they were hilarious,” said Erika. “He just started putting them on, and my kids” – Donovan, Maddox, Macall and Rawley – “were showing him where else on his beard he could hang them!” They found those beard ornaments, boxed up with the rest of his Christmas gifts,…
FALLEN FIREMAN MEMORIALIZED Heller Family Seeks Fire Extinguishers For Oneonta Families By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – As the one year anniversary of former firefighter John Heller’s death approaches, his sister-in-law, Erika, is making sure he’ll continue to save lives. “Fire safety is a conversation no one wants to have,” said Erika. “But John got that started, and we see this as a way of him continuing to help people.” In Heller’s memory, Erika has partnered with…
HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for SATURDAY, JUNE 29 Duck Derby For The Leo Club DUCK DERBY – 10 a.m. Help launch a flock of rubber duckies at the headwaters of the Susquehanna. Support Cooperstown Leo Club on day trip to the United Nations in NYC. Cost, $5/duck or $20/5-ducks at Otesaga, Mel’s @ 22, others. Finish line just South of Main St. Bridge, Cooperstown. 607-282-2956 or visit www.facebook.com/CooperstownLionsClub/…
Job Corps Honors Fallen Hero Heller Chris Kuhn, Director of the Oneonta Job Corps Academy, addresses family, friends and firefighters gathered in ‘the octagon,’ a hallway interchange on the third floor of Oneonta Job Corps named in honor of the late John D. Heller, who lost his life in December rescuing his fiancee and their nephews from the Walling Street arson. “We love him and we miss him.” said Kuhn. “It is our hope that when people walk through this space…
Job Corps Host Blood Drive To Honor Fatal-Fire Victim ONEONTA – A community blood drive will be held in honor of John Heller, the former firefighter and Life Skill Supervisor who was killed in the Walling Street arson last December. The community drive will be held 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 21 in the gym at the Oneonta Job Corps, 21 Homer Folks Ave, with the dedication of the John Heller memorial on the third floor octagon at…
FACES CHARGES IN FATAL FIRE TRUITT CAUGHT NEXT TO OPD He Was Visiting His Kids, Their Mom By LIBBY CUDMORE • Hometown Oneonta & The Freeman’s Journal ONEONTA – After 17 weeks on the run, Gabriel Truitt, 33, is in custody. “Our detectives developed information that he was in the area and served a search warrant at 95 Main St.” – that gray, two-story apartment house right next to Oneonta Police headquarters, said Chief Doug Brenner. There police found Truitt…
Assistant DA: We Have Truitt On Video Green: It Shows Suspect Carrying Accelerant By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Video evidence shows accused arsonist Gabriel Truitt, 33, with the accelerant found in front of Heather Engler’s apartment door in the Walling Avenue fire that killed former Oneonta firefighter John Heller, Assistant District Attorney Will Green said during this morning’s arraignment in Otsego County Court. “Video evidence shows the defendant with isopropyl alcohol going to and from the crime…
Truitt In Basement Of House Next Door To OPD Headquarters Suspect Spirited To Otsego County Jail By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – Less than a week since a grand jury indicted Gabriel Truitt, 33, on first-degree murder, one count of first-degree arson, and two counts of second-degree murder in the Dec. 29 death of John Heller, 38, Oneonta Police have arrested him at 95 Main St. The two-story apartment house is right next door to the Public…
