May 2, 2016 at 4:19 p.m.
Suspect in Lynne standoff bound over for trial
Suspect in Lynne standoff bound over for trial
After a 45-minute preliminary hearing in which only a detective from the Oneida County sheriff's department testified, circuit judge Michael Bloom ruled there was probable cause to support the charges against Kenneth S. Welsh.
Welsh was charged April 21 with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, a class B felony, attempted first-degree reckless injury, a class D felony, misdemeanor possession of a firearm while intoxicated and misdemeanor battery (domestic abuse).
According to the testimony of detective sergeant Chad Wanta, he was one of the first law enforcement officers to make contact with Welsh's wife Mary K. Butler, 59, after she called 9-1-1 April 19. He said Butler told him she had shot her husband "through the shoulder" and he was now threatening to blow up the house "if anyone showed up at the residence."
Under questioning from Oneida County district attorney Michael Schiek, Wanta testified that when he arrived at the location where Butler had fled to, he noticed blood on her car and what appeared to be shotgun blast damage to the windshield. Wanta said Butler was being questioned by sheriff's captain Terri Hook in Hook's vehicle.
"Eventually Ms. Butler did come out of the vehicle and I questioned her about what I had noticed on the vehicle," Wanta said. "And she stated that Mr. Welsh had shot at her as she was backing out to leave the residence. There had been a confrontation, there had been a struggle over a gun inside of the residence and that she had shot Mr. Welsh. As she was leaving the residence to back out of the driveway, Mr. Welsh had shot at her."
He said Butler also told him Welsh said "they weren't going to take him without a fight."
Wanta testified that he eventually went to the command post and was told the house where Welsh was hunkered down was surrounded by members of several area law enforcement agencies that had converged on the scene.
A joint special response team was also preparing to move in on Welsh.
Wanta said he saw a drone was deployed to get "video feeds of the residence and the area around it," and later learned Welsh had supposedly pointed a "long gun" at the drone.
"I was informed that Mr. Welsh was observed sitting on the front porch of the residence with what appeared to be a long gun in his possession," Wanta testified. "I was later advised that Mr. Welsh had pointed that gun at the drone."
Eventually, the team moved in with their armored vehicle and ordered Welsh to put down his weapon.
"He did have a shotgun in his possession," Wanta testified. "They eventually deployed non-lethal beanbag rounds, striking Mr. Welsh, and they took him into custody."
He said when officers initially entered the residence, they detected the "strong odor" of propane. After the house was ventilated to dispel the propane, Wanta said he, Hook, another deputy and a evidence technician began collecting evidence.
One of the items recovered was a bullet that allegedly hit Welsh before becoming lodged in a wall.
Under cross-examination by Welsh's attorney, Wanta said Butler had changed her story about shooting her husband from one where she intentionally tried to kill him to she shot him when the gun went off accidentally as they struggled over it.
She also got Wanta to admit he thought Butler was intoxicated when he first contacted her, writing as much in his official report. After initially agreeing to submit to a chemical blood test, she became uncooperative while being taken into custody and at the hospital, he noted, adding that she eventually submitted to the blood test.
Under cross-examination by Burns, Wanta also conceded Welsh never pointed a weapon at law enforcement officers and there is no video of him aiming at the drone.
When asked about what he was told Welsh said to the SRT when it pulled up to the house, Wanta testified 'just kill me, just kill me, just shoot me, just shoot me.'"
Bloom set Welsh's arraignment for May 16.
After the hearing, Burns said she advised Welsh to not waive the preliminary hearing in order to get some elements of what detectives claim happened on the court record.
She added it was too early in the process to decide what defense strategy she plans to employ.
Jamie Taylor may be reached at [email protected].
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