The trial for the Oneida County sheriff’s deputy accused of setting a house on fire while on duty in an attempt to kill multiple people continued on June 17 with the more witnesses being called.
Aaron Alshaman stood before Judge Robert Bauer at the Oneida Courthouse in Utica on June 17, with day three continuing 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.
Alshaman, the father of the infant, 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.
Jury selection finished on June 15 and both prosecution and defense gave their opening statements to the jury.
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.
Twelfth witness called
Ben Gudnay, the brother of Jennifer Gudnaya, took the witness stand as the prosecution’s eleventh witness.
Cross-examination of Green
Leonard asked how Green knew the time was accurate and Green said he had recently corrected the internal time of the cameras after he noticed prior that they were incorrect.
Security footage played
The prosecution played the security footage recorded by Green to the jury. Green’s backyard can be seen with his garage and off in the distance, the Gudnay house can be seen off in the distance and to the left.
“You can see a figure walk down from the steps and a giant spark starts,” Green sad. “You can see the top of their head as they walk away.”
Recorded it all
“One is labeled backyard, one is labeled driveway, one is labeled something like front door north, and one is labeled tattoo parlor,” Green said.
On April 9, 2025, Green said he was alerted by Ben Gudnay, the brother of Jennifer Gudnaya, was looking for footage of the Gudnay residence the day of the fire.
“It wasn’t an accident of any sort,” Green said. “I called [Ben Gudnay] and told him that something nefarious had happened.” Green said he had seen someone wearing a winter coat walk to the back porch before the fire started.
Eleventh witness called
Paul Green Jr., a hotel worker who lives on Downer Avenue whose home had four surveillance cameras active the the day of the house fire.
Items gathered analyzed
McCarey said that her lab was given 13 items. Item four, part of a wooden step, was detected to have gasoline on it. Another sample for the soil underneath the step revealed that it too tested positive for gasoline.
Tenth witness called
Jessica McCarey, a forensic investigator at the New York State Police was called called to the stand as the tenth witness called in the Aaron Alshaman case.
Cross-examination of Fairclough
Leonard showed a series of photographs to Fairclough that he took of the inside of Alshaman’s police vehicle after Tyson was let loose.
Fairclough added that he had been shown the security footage of the fire starting.
“The video showed nothing and then showed a bigger and then there was the very first stage of a fire,” Fairclough.
Ninth witness called back
New York State Department of Homeland Security Office of Fire Protection and Control Investigator John Fairclough was called back at the start of the third day to finish his testimony.
Fairclough utilized a scent-detection K9 named Tyson to find lightable liquid.
Court back in session
Day three of the court case against Aaron Alshaman resumed on June 17, with prosecution calling more witnesses to the stand.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Day 3 of the Aaron 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
