Gowdy Murder Trial

Goes To The Jurors

By Andrew Gorosko

DANBURY — An eight-woman, four-man jury was scheduled to resume its deliberations Thursday morning in Danbury Superior Court in the felony murder trial of two men charged in the July 1999 Sandy Hook shooting death of 15-year-old Jason Gowdy.

On Wednesday afternoon, Judge Gary White gave the jurors instructions on considering the five charges pending against each of the two defendants. The jurors deliberated for just over an hour Wednesday without reaching a verdict.

Ruperto Lugo, 20, of Stratford, and Alejandro Melendez, 21, of Bridgeport, are charged in the Gowdy murder. Public defender Paul Eschuk represents Lugo. Private attorney Gary Mastronardi represents Melendez. Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Devin Stilson is the prosecutor.

Lugo and Melendez each are charged with felony murder, attempted first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, carrying a pistol without a permit, and possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle. Both men were 19 when arrested. Both men have been held on $1 million bonds since being charged three days after the shooting. Both are facing potential life sentences. The state offered plea bargains to the defendants, which they did not accept.

On Tuesday, in emotional testimony about the shooting, Lugo told Stilson, “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

In considering the robbery case, the jury will have to gauge the credibility of testimony from various witnesses in determining whether Lugo was seeking to steal a gold chain which Gowdy wore around his neck, or was seeking to obtain change in an alleged marijuana purchase.

Lugo is charged with firing two bullets from a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol into Gowdy’s face at close range about 8 pm, Saturday, July 10, 1999, at the corner of Riverside Road and Cherry Street.

Under cross-examination, Lugo told Stilson that he was intoxicated on marijuana when he pulled a gun on Gowdy.

Lugo said that after he heard that one of the three boys whom he was approaching to buy drugs was a member of the Latin Kings gang, he got the handgun out of the 1989 Chevrolet Beretta which had brought him to Sandy Hook from Bridgeport. The three boys on the street corner were Gowdy, Brandon Jossick, and Matt Haight.

Lugo testified that he had no intention of robbing Gowdy, but was only seeking to buy marijuana. “I was getting a dime bag of ‘hydro’ for $10,” he said, referring to a potent form of marijuana.

Lugo said he handed a $20 bill to Jossick, but Jossick motioned for Lugo to hand the money to Gowdy. Gowdy took the money and then handed the $20 bill to Haight, according to Lugo.

Lugo said he pulled the concealed pistol out of his waistband because he had not gotten back $10 of change from the $20 bill. “I wanted my change back,” he said. “He’s a big guy,” Lugo said of Gowdy, who had been described in another witness’s testimony as standing 6 feet, 2 inches tall, and weighing 220 pounds.

Lugo said Gowdy had told him that he was a Latin Kings member. Gowdy said that if Lugo shot him, there would be many people pursuing him, Lugo testified.

“I never pointed the gun at anyone,” Lugo said.

“Everything happened so quick,” he added.

Gowdy grabbed Lugo’s left arm and pinned it back onto Lugo’s chest, after which there was a struggle, Lugo testified. Lugo said that when the gun fired, there was a look of surprise on Gowdy’s face.

“When he fell, that’s when I looked to see if there was any blood,” Lugo said.

In an emotional moment, Stilson said, “He’s [Gowdy] the kid you shot.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Lugo said, while choking back tears.

“I looked right at him,” Lugo added.

“But you didn’t see the bullet holes?” asked Stilson.

Confrontation

On Tuesday, Eschuk questioned Lugo. Lugo said that while he was seeking to buy drugs from the three boys on the street corner, Gowdy said, “Boo! What are you staring at?”

“I said, ‘Where’s my change?’” Lugo testified.

“I thought they were going to do something. I was high,” Lugo said.

 “I’m a Latin King. You shoot me and there’ll be a lot of people after you,” Gowdy said, according to Lugo.

“I felt someone grab me. I was pushed up against the car,” after which the gun fired, Lugo said.

Lugo acknowledged that it was possible that he pulled the gun’s trigger.

After Gowdy fell to the ground, Lugo got into the car where Melendez and teenagers Mary Pires, Barbara Carleton, and Alexis Barnett were seated.

“I kept saying ‘Go, go, go, go,’” Lugo testified. “I said, ‘I can’t believe I just shot him,’” he added.

“I’d never been in a situation like that,” Lugo said.

“I said, ‘I can’t believe I killed him. I can’t believe I shot him… Why did he [Gowdy] go for the gun?’” Lugo asked.

On the ride back to Bridgeport, it was very quiet in the car, Lugo said.

“I was… in my own world… I was… in a state of shock,” he said.

“I didn’t think he [Gowdy] was dead. I thought he would live,” Lugo said.

The day after the shooting, Lugo traveled to New Haven and was planning to leave for Pennsylvania. He had dyed his hair and eyebrows a bright orange. Police have said Lugo dyed his hair to disguise himself.

“I knew something had happened and I wanted to get away. My first instinct was to run, to leave. I was basically afraid of the police,” Lugo said.

In testimony April 5, Jossick said there was no marijuana transaction between Lugo and the three boys on the street corner.

In testimony April 4, both Carleton and Barnett said that Lugo was seeking to steal Gowdy’s gold chain just before the shooting occurred.

Melendez

In testimony to Mastronardi, Melendez acknowledged having owned the gun that was used in the shooting. Melendez said he did not obtain the gun to commit a crime, adding he had no intention of committing armed robbery. Melendez is charged as an accessory in the case.

After the shooting occurred, Lugo got into the Chevrolet and said, “Go, go, go,” Melendez said.

Melendez said that as the five sped off in the car, he never saw anyone lying on the ground on the street corner.

Melendez said he did not know that Lugo was carrying the gun when Lugo stepped outside the car to buy marijuana from the three boys.

Melendez acknowledged that he had made a series of “dumb” remarks about the shooting incident to the others in the auto as it returned to Bridgeport.

The comments were just “jokes,” he said, adding that he did not believe that anyone had been shot or killed on the street corner. Melendez said he made the remarks to relieve tension during a tense situation. The people in the Chevrolet were “overreacting” to the situation, Melendez said.

Melendez said that when the group returned to Bridgeport, he took back his gun.

When the police showed up looking for Melendez at his home on the night after the shooting, Melendez was found hiding in a closet.

Melendez testified he thought police might be seeking him in connection with a past domestic dispute.

“I was shocked. I almost fainted. I didn’t known what they [police] were talking about,” Melendez said of the Sandy Hook incident.

 

Medical Examiner

In court testimony April 5, Dr Melka Shah, the associate state medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on Gowdy, said her examination indicated the pistol was fired at very close range to Gowdy’s head, somewhere between two and ten inches away.

One bullet entered Gowdy’s left forehead, and the other entered his head near his left eye, she said.

One bullet traveled through his skull, exiting at the rear of his head, she said. The other bullet lodged in his brain and was removed during the autopsy, she said. That bullet is a piece of physical evidence in the state’s case.

Either of the two bullet wounds would have been fatal wounds, Dr Shah said, adding it is unclear which of the two bullet wounds occurred first.

Edward Jachimowicz, a firearms expert employed by the state police, testified April 6 that the pistol had an altered mechanism which allowed the weapon to discharge two bullets rapidly after the trigger had been pulled only once.

Jachimowicz said that after the trigger is pulled once, two rounds leave the gun so quickly that it sounds as if it one round were fired. “It sounds like one shot,” he said.

“Basically, this is a miniature machine gun [in] the condition it’s in now,” he said. After two rounds are discharged from the pistol, the pistol jams, he added. Jachimowicz said he based his observations on two test firings that he had made with the handgun.

The test firings produced evidence that led Jachimowicz to conclude that two shell casings which were found lying on Riverside Road near Jason Gowdy were ejected from that pistol after it had been fired.

Closing Statements

In a closing statement to the jury Wednesday, Stilson, the prosecutor, provided his interpretation of testimony presented at the trial.

Stilson said the “intent” of Lugo and Melendez is the linchpin of the murder case. Lugo had asked Melendez whether he was prepared to rob people, after which Melendez said he had a gun, Stilson told the jurors. Melendez gave the gun to Lugo while the group of five was traveling from Bridgeport to Sandy Hook, the prosecutor said. Pires had urged the group to travel to Sandy Hook, where they could trick people out of drugs, Stilson said. On arriving in Sandy Hook, Pires pointed out Gowdy, Jossick, and Haight to Lugo and Melendez, Stilson said. Pires engaged the three boys in conversation and then Lugo approached the boys, the prosecutor said.

In the course of the confrontation, Lugo said he wanted Gowdy to hand over a gold chain he was wearing around his neck, Stilson said. At that point, Gowdy made a martial arts move in attempting to disarm Lugo, who was then pointing a gun at him, Stilson said. Shots were fired and Gowdy was killed, Stilson said.

Lugo got back into the Chevrolet where Melendez, Pires, Carleton, and Barnett were seated and they drove off, the prosecutor added.

Melendez asked Lugo if he was sure that Gowdy was dead, and told Lugo that if Gowdy was still alive, Lugo should go back and kill him, Stilson said. Melendez asked why Lugo had not shot all three boys, Stilson said. Melendez told the group that he loves to see people die, the prosecutor said, adding that Melendez expressed pride that his handgun had been used to kill someone.

Melendez later put his gun away at his Bridgeport home, where police found it the night after the shooting, keeping the murder weapon as a trophy, Stilson said.

In his closing statement, Eschuk, who represents Lugo, told the jurors, “It will be your duty to decide whether this case was proven beyond a reasonable doubt.” There are many discrepancies in the testimony, he said.

Eschuk questioned the truthfulness of testimony provided by Carleton and Barnett concerning a conspiracy between Lugo and Melendez to commit robbery. Both women were fearful of being charged in the case, Eschuk said. Eschuk urged the jurors to eliminate the conspiracy charge.

“What happened outside that car was a tragedy,” Eschuk said. “There’s plenty of blame to pass round,” he said.

Eschuk said if the jurors have a reasonable doubt about Lugo’s guilt, they should acquit him.

Eschuk told jurors that Lugo is obviously guilty of carrying a pistol without a permit and possession of weapon in a motor vehicle, saying that they could easily convict him on those charges.

Mastronardi, representing Melendez, said there are others to blame for the crimes besides Melendez, such as Pires, Carleton, and Barnett.

 Mastronardi acknowledged that Melendez had made some stupid remarks after the shooting. The attorney asked, however, whether making stupid remarks constitutes the intent to commit crimes.

Mastronardi acknowledged that Melendez is guilty of carrying a pistol without a permit and possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle.

But, he added, “The state’s case is woefully deficient against Alex Melendez.” Melendez had no intent to commit robbery, Mastronardi said.

The lawyer said the jury should not decide the case based on sympathy, but on the evidence and facts.

“They [state] know they’ve got a case as thin as tissue paper when it comes to him [Melendez],” Mastronardi said.

In providing a closing rebuttal, Stilson displayed the pistol used to kill Gowdy and the gold chain which Gowdy had worn on the night he was killed.

“This gold chain is the value of Jason Gowdy’s life to Alejandro Melendez and Ruperto Lugo,” Stilson said.

Jason Gowdy had lived with his father, David Gowdy, with Mr Gowdy’s wife, and with his two stepsisters on Pine Street in Sandy Hook. Gowdy was a student at Henry Abbott Vocational Technical School in Danbury..