The second week of the attempted murder trial of a former Oneida County Sheriff’s Office deputy has seen 25 witnesses testify with more still left to testify for the prosecution as the trial continues into its second week.
Aaron Alshaman stood before Judge Robert Bauer at the Oneida Courthouse in Utica on June 23, the sixth day of witness testimony. Alshaman, 29, of Lee Center, is accused of setting fire to a Utica residence on April 9, 2025.
Jennifer Gudnaya called 911 when they became overwhelmed with smoke in the interior of the residence, and fled outside with her infant child and two parents. Investigators ruled the fire was intentionally set and when asked if she knew who could have done it or if there had been any major changes in her life, Gudnaya said she had recently served Alshaman custody papers for their child.
Alshaman is charged with second-degree arson and four counts of second-degree attempted murder. Alshaman pleaded not guilty to all charges and bail was set at $250,000 or $500,000 cash bond.
He had been a member of the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office for around five years, serving from Sept. 2020 to March 2023 before serving shortly with the Rome Police Department and returning to the sheriff’s office on August 2024.
If convicted of his top charge alone, second-degree arson, Alshaman faces up to 25 years in state prison.
Oneida County District Attorney Todd Carville said that money and his financial future was the motivation for Aaron Alshaman’s alleged attempted murder and arson.
“What makes this case so disturbing is that Aaron Alshaman, who took an oath to protect, started a fire to the residence of his own son while knowing they were there and with intent to cause the death of his own son,” Carville said. “And he did it while on duty as a sheriff’s duty.”
Defense Attorney John Leonard said that the prosecution was “planting the seed” that Alshaman was a “bad guy” and that it was “crazy” that Alshaman would kill people over paying more child support and that the prosecution’s entire case was circumstantial.
Suspicious bicyclist
When asked if Alshaman ever notified dispatch on the radio that he was in pursuit of someone suspicious on a bicycle in the city of Utica, Dorr said no.
During cross-examination, Leonard clarified that Alshaman said he was searching for the suspicious person on a bicycle he had seen earlier, and that he wasn’t in active pursuit. However Dorr said it was usual policy to alert someone related to the nearby police agency of what you were doing.
DWI patrol car
Dorr testified that he was once the supervising officer of squad four, which included Alshaman.
When asked, Dorr said the recommendation when driving the DWI patrol car was to avoid town, villages, and cities with their own police force due to some police agencies “…being territorial.”
“They’re free to go anywhere, but we prefer they go places without police departments,” Dorr said, adding that Alshaman mostly covered the Rome, Verona, Sylvan Beach area. In his entire time knowing Alshaman and his time on the DWI patrol, Dorr said he only knew of two traffic stops that Alshaman had made.
29th witness called
Oneida County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Christopher Dorr was called to the stand to testify as the 29th witness in the Alshaman trial.
Keeping it secret
When asked, Cadwell said he was a good friend of Alshaman and had learned that Alshaman was in a relationship with his girlfriend and Jennifer Gudnaya. Cadwell said he wasn’t told about the relationship with Jennifer Gudnaya and that he only learned about it when Alshaman mentioned the paternity test.
28th witness called
Oneida County Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew Cadwell was called to testify as the 28th witness in the Alshaman case.
Friend of Alshaman testifies
When asked, Dixon said he met Alshaman during the academy and that he would have gone on to be an evidence technician with Alshaman, but contracted COVID-19 and missed the classes.
The two of them would be assigned to squad four at the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office and would be assigned portions of western Oneida County. When asked, Dixon said it’s not common to leave your assigned zone.
Dixon admitted that it was hard to testify against Alshaman as they had been close friends for five years. Dixon said he had no idea that Alshaman had a kid and nor did he tell Dixon that he was in a relationship with Jennifer Gudnaya.
27th witness called
Back from lunch and with more than a dozen witnesses still left to take the stand, the prosecution called its 27th witness to testify; Oneida County Sheriff’s Deputy Bailey Dixon.
Alshaman’s personal vehicle
Scaramuzzino said at around 5:08 a.m., Alshaman removed a “red object” from the back of his patrol vehicle and puts it into his truck.
Scaramuzzino said he took a screenshot of a close-up of Alshaman putting the red object into his truck and said he did it because he had assumed that the red item was a gas can.
26th witness called
City of Utica Police Department Investigator John Scaramuzzino, who reviewed the AVL logs of Alshaman’s vehicle and pull video from city of Utica pole cameras and Flock cameras in the area.
Gudnaya traffic accident
Leonard questioned Gudnaya about something she said during a deposition in which she was asked by an officer about who she thought could be responsible for the fire or if anything major had happened in her life. Besides the custody papers being served to Alshaman, Gudnaya said she mentioned she was in a crash in Dec. 2024.
Jennifer Gudnaya recalled by defense
Jennifer Gudnaya was recalled to testify at the start of day six by the defense to clarify statements made during the investigation.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Prosecution calls more witnesses in Alshaman attempted murder trial
Reporting by Casey Pritchard, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Casey Pritchard, Utica Observer Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
