After only about an hour of deliberation, the jury in the attempted murder trial of former Oneida County Sheriff’s Office deputy Aaron Alshaman came back with a guilty verdict on all charges.
As the jury read its verdict, Alshaman remained stoic and didn’t visibly react.
Alshaman stood before Judge Robert Bauer at the Oneida Courthouse in Utica on June 25, the eighth day of trial
He was charged with second-degree arson and four counts of second-degree attempted murder.
The jury found him guilty on all charges and Alshaman now faces up to 25 years in prison, when sentenced on August 27.
Alshaman was found guilty of setting fire to a Utica residence on April 9, 2025 in an attempt to kill four people, one of whom was his infant child.
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 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.
After the trial, Oneida County District Attorney Todd Carville said that cases like this, where most of the evidence is circumstantial, can sometimes be easier than a case with one or two eye witnesses when there is more evidence that points to the defendant.
Carville said the judge can determine if the charges are to run concurrently or consecutively.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Former Oneida County deputy found guilty of attempted murder
Reporting by Casey Pritchard, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
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By Casey Pritchard, Utica Observer Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
