NORTHAMPTON — The attorney for a man charged with murder is trying to persuade a judge that police relied on conflicting statements and unreliable witnesses when they arrested and charged his client.

Joseph Perullo filed the motion in Hampshire Superior Court to suppress evidence and statements on behalf of his client Steven Malloy, who is charged in the death of Joseph Filio in Northampton in December 2021. Judge Jane Mulqueen is presiding.

In a hearing spanning almost four hours over two days so far, several Northampton police officers have been called to testify in minute detail about their recollections of the night Filio was shot at an apartment on Randolph Place.

Officer Michael Cronin testified that he responded to the scene of the shooting quickly around 11 p.m. Dec. 1 because he was already at a nearby address on Randolph Place for an unattended death.

Two other officers were already inside, he said, where Filio was bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to the head. Witnesses there gave him a description of the gunman — wearing a hat with feathers in it — that he recognized as Malloy.

Cronin said he downloaded a photo of Malloy from the Registry of Motor Vehicles database and showed it to a witness, Andee Wadas, who responded, “That’s the a--hole that shot the gun.”

Cronin said he then gave a description of Malloy out to all officers, and police dispatch later issued a “be on the lookout” (BOLO) alert to all departments.

Perullo asked Cronin if he had asked Wadas where he was when the shot was fired.

“You find out later Wadas didn’t witness the shooting?” Perullo asked Cronin. “He’s telling you what someone else told him?”

Cronin acknowledged this, but said he still maintained there was probable cause to arrest Malloy.

Senior Trial Cousel Matthew Thomas, of the Northwestern district attorney’s office, objected to Perullo’s question about Wadas, noting that Wadas has since died.

Aaron Dowd, who was a Smith Campus Security officer at the time, testified he was patrolling in his car on West Street shortly after 1 a.m. when he saw a man walking who fit the description given in the BOLO. After a tense confrontation in which he said the man refused to remove his hand from his waistband, Northampton police arrived and subdued the man, Malloy, when he didn’t comply with their commands.

In questioning Dowd, Perullo zeroed in on the outer garment the man was wearing, a long dark jacket.

“Like what they wear in ‘The Matrix?’” Perullo suggested, to both Cronin and Dowd. “Have you ever seen ‘The Matrix?’”

Neither officer had.

Cruiser soliloquies

Northampton Officer John Sellew said he was working the midnight shift that night when the call from Dowd came in and took part in subduing and arresting Malloy. No gun was found on Malloy when he was arrested, he said.

Perullo raised several questions about the length of time Malloy remained in the cruiser at the arrest scene on West Street. He suggested that Malloy was talking to himself and yelling while in the cruiser, and that this was all recorded.

Sellew said he did not remember how long Malloy was held there before he took him back to the station.

“I was told not to talk to him by my supervisor,” Lt. Brian Letzeisen, Sellew said.

He said Letzeisen read Malloy his Miranda rights, but said he did not know if Malloy was warned that he was being recorded by an interior camera while in the cruiser.

Thomas again objected to Perullo’s line of questioning, saying he was going beyond the bounds of his probable cause motion.

Perullo argued the videotaping was interesting.

“Malloy’s soliloquies in the back of the cruiser shouldn’t be considered as evidence,” he said.

Mulqueen allowed the question, saying Thomas could call further witnesses if he needed to.

Conflicting statements?

Sgt. Brendan McKinney, the street supervisor on the night of Dec. 1, said he took witness statements that night from Wadas and Todd Wilchek.

Perullo’s questioning highlighted a discrepancy between the two men’s accounts of who was in the kitchen at the time Filio was shot. Both drew pictures of the kitchen scene; Wilchek’s showed him at the table, while Wadas’ did not.

“With this contradictory information, were you concerned about probable cause?” he asked.

McKinney said he agreed that was an inconsistency. Asked about the witnesses’ state of mind, he said neither was intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, in his view, though both were emotional.

“Is one witness’ field statement enough for probable cause?” Perullo asked.

McKinney responded that every situation is different.

Perullo again asked about the delay in transporting Malloy to the station, pegging the time he arrived there at 3:05 a.m. McKinney said he did not know why Malloy was held in the cruiser for an hour and a half.

In his questioning, Thomas observed that the witnesses’ statements had to do with more than who was in the room at the time. McKinney confirmed that Wilchek said he knew Malloy, described him as “a bit off” that night, and described him putting a small, black gun to Filio’s head, execution-style.

Wadas, who Thomas said was in love with Filio, said he was in the living room when he heard the shot. Unsure what the noise was, he entered the kitchen and saw Filio on the ground and Malloy standing over him with a gun in his hand, according to Thomas.

“Wadas attacks him, yelling, pushing him out,” Thomas said.

He suggested that Wilchek could have been in the room, unseen by Wadas.

Testimony in the hearing is set to continue Aug. 23.

James Pentland can be reached at jpentland@gazettenet.com. 

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