A man charged in a fatal shooting outside a Gloucester County bar last month will remain behind bars for now after a judge ordered his pre-trial release this week and prosecutors appealed the decision.
Walter J. Gilliano, 25, of Franklinville, is charged with murder in the Sept. 24 shooting of Chad Stuart, 31, of Clayton, following an argument outside of Villari’s Sports Bar in Franklin Township.
During a detention hearing on Tuesday, attorneys disputed how the event played out.
A witness told police he remained with the two men in the bar parking lot after the business closed around 2 a.m. and that a verbal altercation began, according to details included in an affidavit of probable cause filed with the charges.
Gilliano then left the area after allegedly telling Stuart and the witness “that they better be gone when he returns.”
The defendant returned armed with a handgun and after a “brief conversation” allegedly shot Stuart in the forehead, according to the witness, who said he ran because he feared he would be shot next.
Gilliano then called 911 to report that he had just shot someone and was “in the process of performing life saving measures (CPR),” police stated in the affidavit. He was still at the scene and performing CPR on Stuart when officers arrived and took him into custody.
Stuart was airlifted to a hospital and later died.
Gilliano was originally charged with attempted murder and his charge was upgraded to murder following Stuart’s death.
Speaking in court, defense attorney Christopher St. John described the incident as an accidental shooting that, based on witness statements, followed aggressive behavior by the victim.
The witness in the parking lot indicated that Gilliano and Stuart were both “extremely intoxicated,” St. John said, and that numerous verbal arguments had occurred that evening at Villari’s, including between Stuart and someone else before Gilliano arrived.
The nature of the arguments was unclear, the attorney said.
The witness indicated that Stuart “began to assault Mr. Gilliano,” prior to Gilliano first leaving the area, St. John said, and that when the defendant returned, the witness “had to get in between Mr. Stuart and pull Mr. Stuart away.
“At that point in time … an unspent round fell out of the handgun,” St. John said. The witness then “took possession” of the handgun, then “handed the gun back to Mr. Gilliano and the firearm went off.”
In challenging the prosecution argument that the shooting was an intentional act, St. John argued that his client tried to help the victim and called 911.
The attorney suggested the shooting was the result of an “accidental discharge” more in line with a reckless manslaughter charge rather than a murder charge.
Assistant Prosecutor Dana Anton suggested St. John to go back and listen to the witnesses statement again, saying the facts the attorney presented were not accurate based on those statements.
“They had a verbal argument. Mr. Stuart did not get physical with the defendant,” Anton said.
She also disputed the idea that the shooting was an accident.
“This could not have been an accidental discharge,” Anton said, citing a witness statement that Gilliano raised his hand, aimed the gun at Stuart’s head and fired. “This is an intentional act. He went home and got a gun. … It is not reckless, judge. It is premeditated.
“I don’t know that there’s much more evidence of intent than going and retrieving a gun from another location and coming back and shooting somebody.”
In arguing for his client’s pre-trial release, St. John said Gilliano could be released with conditions while he awaits trial and presented letters of support from friends, family and acquaintances of Gilliano’s who vouched for his character.
“There is a similar theme in all of these letters, judge. Walter is a well-respected, level-headed, peaceful member of the community,” his attorney said. “As the character letters suggest, this conduct by Mr. Gilliano is not consistent with who Mr. Gilliano is as a person.”
Gilliano is a recent Rutgers University graduate, a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, lives with family and has strong community ties, St. John said, adding that he has no criminal record.
The defendant is a corporal in the Marine Corps Reserve and serves as a helicopter mechanic assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 773, according to a Marine Corps spokesman.
Anton countered that Gilliano should remain jailed because he poses a risk to the public and to the witness in the case.
“With respect to Mr. Gilliano’s history and his references, everybody is law-abiding until they aren’t,” the prosecutor said. “This is what I firmly believe is an intentional taking of another’s life. I think that anyone who takes the life of another over a verbal argument has a clear disregard for life.”
In challenging the notion that Gilliano posed a danger to the witness, St. John argued that his client remained at the scene and didn’t try to chase down the witness.
Superior Court Judge Linda Lawhun was unconvinced by the prosecutor’s arguments, saying the concern about the safety of the witness seemed “generic” and unsupported by any evidence that Gilliano poses a danger to him.
She pointed to the letters of support and the fact that Gilliano has no criminal record as reasons justifying his release.
He remains innocent until proven guilty, the judge said, and pre-trial detention is not intended as a punishment.
“When there are charges as serious as this, a murder charge, on some level there is an interest, a human interest, I suppose, in having the person detained as a way of punishment almost because, when something so horrific has happened, … there’s some interest in having the person begin to suffer immediately, just like everybody who lost Mr. Stuart is suffering,” Lawhun said. “But that’s not how our system is designed.”
Lawhun noted that decisions on release cannot be based on emotion, but must weigh specific factors that evaluate a defendant’s risk of committing new offenses.
She ordered his release with a requirement that he report to court officials weekly while he awaits trial and that he have no contact with the witness or the business where the shooting occurred.
Anton immediately stated that she planned to appeal the judge’s decision, which required Lawhun to place a stay on her ruling until the appeal can be heard.
The state appellate court has agreed to hear the state’s case and set an Oct. 11 deadline for the prosecution to file its motion and an Oct. 17 deadline for the defense to file a response.
In the meantime, Gilliano remains in Salem County Correctional Facility until the appellate court makes a decision.
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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
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