Jury Selection To Commence For Gowdy Murder Trial

By Andrew Gorosko

Jury selection in the trial of two men charged with the July 1999 Sandy Hook murder of 15-year-old Jason Gowdy is scheduled to start Tuesday, March 27, in Danbury Superior Court.

Assistant State’s Attorney Devin Stilson, the prosecutor in the case, said this week picking a 12-person jury for the trial of the two defendants may take a week or more. Several alternate jurors will be chosen.

The trial, which would start immediately after a jury is chosen, may take two weeks to conduct, Mr Stilson said.

Judge Patrick Carroll in September 1999 ruled that the state had shown there is enough evidence for prosecutors to pursue felony murder charges against the two defendants in connection with Gowdy’s violent death on the night of Saturday, July 10, 1999.

Roberto Lugo of Stratford and Alejandro Melendez of Bridgeport are the defendants in the case. Roberto Lugo has two aliases. They are Ruperto Lugo and Roberto Alvarado.

Lugo, 20, was being held on a $1 million trial bond this week in Cheshire Correctional Institution. Melendez, 21, was being held on a $1 million bond in Walker Special Management and Reception Center in Suffield, a state Department of Correction (DOC) spokeswoman said.

Each man was 19 years old when charged. Lugo and Melendez each are charged with felony murder, first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, carrying a pistol without a permit, possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, and committing a felony with a firearm.

At a September 1999 probable cause hearing, witnesses testified that Lugo shot Gowdy twice in the head after asking him for drugs, weapons, money, and jewelry. Melendez has been accused of supplying Lugo with the murder weapon.

Lugo is represented by public defender Paul Eschuk. Private attorney Gary Mastronardi represents Melendez.

 The state has offered plea bargains to the defendants, which they have not accepted, Mr Stilson said. There is always the prospect that the defendants will accept such plea bargains as the murder trial approaches, he said. He declined to disclose the details of the proposed plea bargains.

If convicted on all pending charges, each of the two defendants could be sentenced by a judge to anywhere from 31 to 95 years in prison, Mr Stilson said. Each man faces a “very, very considerable amount of imprisonment” if convicted, he noted.

Mr Stilson declined to offer his assessment of the state’s case against Lugo and Melendez.

Police filed the charges against the two men three days after the murder, following an intensive investigation.

Gowdy of Sandy Hook and two of his friends had been walking along Riverside Road near Cherry Street about 9 pm July 10, 1999, when they were approached by Lugo, who had traveled there in a Chevrolet Beretta with several friends. Melendez drove the car.

After Lugo got out of the car and approached the three boys, a brief confrontation ensued and Lugo allegedly shot Gowdy twice in the head.

The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps rushed Gowdy to Danbury Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9:28 pm.

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. Jason was a student at Henry Abbott Vocational Technical School in Danbury.