TRR file photo Ronald Caruso

No trial date for Kays murder case

MONTICELLO — Trial for accused murderer Ronald Caruso could be upcoming this month if the preliminary arguments were completed as planned last week, but those arguments have been complicated.

The 18-year-old Town of Delaware man faces first-degree murder charges in the August 28 shooting death of his step-uncle, Gary Kays, 30, of Callicoon.

After another incident, during an apparent flight from that crime in upstate Essex County, Caruso was charged with second-degree murder in the August 30 shooting death of Luke Laborgne, 19, of Quebec.

Fearing pretrial publicity would contaminate a small jury pool, an Essex County judge had sealed Caruso’s statements to police about both crimes, following his subsequent arrest in Delaware County. But earlier this month, Sullivan County Court Judge Frank LaBuda overturned that ruling and released portions of the statement pertinent to the Kays shooting. Portions of the statement, including Caruso’s apparent confession to the shooting of his step-uncle, have since been published.

Most recently, Caruso’s attorneys argued that any confession be thrown out of evidence because an arrest warrant was briefly issued for Caruso in Sullivan County, prior to his capture in Delaware County. Under New York law, after the warrant was in place, Caruso could not be questioned without an attorney present.

Sullivan officials admitted that a warrant was signed by Delaware Town Justice H. John Kramer, but learning that state police wanted to question Caruso, District Attorney Stephen Lungen had Kramer withdraw the warrant before it was entered in the statewide system.

LaBuda has not ruled further on the validity of Caruso’s statements to police and no trial date has been set.