1 dead, man charged in Palenville shooting
Suspect identified as Robert Wilkinson of Pine Plains
The Daily Mail
June 18, 2009

CATSKILL — Neighbors of a husband and wife shot Wednesday morning in Palenville said the couple was quiet and appeared to keep to themselves.

Few neighbors said they even knew who lived in the house at 59 Pennsylvania Ave., where, according to State Police in Kingston, just before 2 a.m., 23-year-old Robert N. Wilkinson of Pine Plains, Dutchess County, allegedly opened fire with a .223-caliber rifle on the man and woman.

State police said Wilkinson apparently shot Lucian Haid, 28, and his wife Taryn, 23, in their driveway following a dispute among the trio earlier in the morning.

Crane Davis, who lives across the street from the couple, said they were quiet and seemed nice. He said his wife had only met Taryn Haid once, when a package was mistakenly delivered to their home.

He said the couple had only moved to the neighborhood of mainly weekend residents six months ago.

It was not uncommon for at least one car to pull into the driveway on any given night but that there did not appear to be many people entering and leaving the house, he said.

“It wasn’t like a constant stream of people,” Davis said.

Davis said he did not hear any altercation before the shooting and at the time he thought the first shot could have come from a hunter in the woods surrounding the neighborhood.

But, he said, the successive shots hinted otherwise.

“The other four sounded like someone was out to get someone,” he said.

Davis said after the gunfire ended, he heard a woman screaming, and he called 911.

Emergency crews responded within 10 minutes, he said.

Lucian Haid was pronounced dead at the scene by Greene County Coroner Richard Vigilo.

An autopsy was scheduled to be performed today by Dr. Michael Sickarica at Albany Medical Center.

In spite of her injuries, Taryn Haid was able to call 911 with a description of Wilkinson’s vehicle, a 2008 Nissan. She was transported by ambulance to Albany Medical Center and was treated for her injuries, police said.

A spokeswoman at Albany Medical Center had no information on Taryn Haid’s condition Wednesday afternoon.

Wilkinson was taken into custody less than two hours after the shooting by the Ulster County Sheriff’s Department after leading a Sheriff’s deputy on a pursuit through the county.

Wilkinson has been charged with second-degree murder, first-degree assault, first-degree criminal use of a weapon, first-degree reckless endangerment and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

He entered a plea of not guilty at his arraignment in Town of Catskill Court Wednesday afternoon.

Wilkinson, represented at the arraignment by Greene County Public Defender Dominic J. Cornelius, stoically looked forward as he was led out of the courtroom by state troopers.

Catskill Town Justice Robert Carl ordered Wilkinson transferred to the Greene County Jail.

Greene County District Attorney Terry Wilhelm said his office will be prosecuting the case.

Wilkinson is expected back in court June 25, Wilhelm said.

According to State Police at Kingston, following the shooting, Wilkinson fled the house, located some 500 feet from the Saugerties town line, and drove south along Route 9W toward Kingston.

He was apprehended Wednesday morning after Ulster County Sheriff’s Deputy Frank Gillespie spotted his vehicle with a defective light. Gillespie called in the license plate number and was told by dispatch that the vehicle belonged to the Palenville shooter, police said.

The deputy attempted to stop the vehicle on Route 32 in the town of Ulster. When the driver did not comply, Gillespie initiated a pursuit.

Gillespie chased Wilkinson through the City of Kingston on Route 9W and into Esopus, where Wilkinson lost control of the vehicle and struck a rock wall along Black Creek Road.

Police from departments in the Town of Lloyd, Kingston, Ulster and the Town of Saugerties converged upon the crash scene, police said.

Officers from the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, the Greene County District Attorney’s Office and the Village of Catskill were involved as well.

Catskill Police set up a roadblock at about 1:45 a.m. at the intersection of Route 23A and Route 9W in Catskill, according to Catskill Police Chief David Darling.

Darling said State Police were on the scene right away.

“They were on it from the get-go,” he said. “And that is a good thing.”