Truitt Murder Trial
Scheduled For Jan. 20
By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
ONEONTA – With a motion to suppress evidence rejected this morning, Gabriel Truitt, charged with the murder of John Heller after he allegedly lit his girlfriend’s Walling Avenue apartment on fire, will stand trial in Otsego County Court Jan. 20. 2020.
During a hearing this morning in front of county Court Judge Brian Burns, Truitt’s lawyer Dennis Laughlin submitted motions to suppress photos and video taken inside of Truitt’s Tru Cuts that allegedly showed him taking the chemicals allegedly used to start the fire at 5 Walling Ave.
Burns denied both motions, but granted District Attorney John Muehl’s request to introduce evidence of Truitt’s arrest earlier that night. According to Muehl, the arrest was for fighting with his girlfriend and a male friend a few hours before Truitt was alleged to have started the fire.
“I got everything I asked for,” the prosecutor said.