A bail hearing in Otsego County Court for accused shooter Anthony Pacherille, scheduled weeks ago for Friday, was canceled Thursday afternoon at the request of the 16-year-old’s attorney, E. Stewart Jones Jr., of Troy.
Hours earlier, the defendant’s father, also Anthony Pacherille, called The Daily Star to talk about the pending ruling by Otsego County Judge Brian Burns.
The senior Pacherille, who lives in Cooperstown, also described what his life has been like since Good Friday, April 2, when he was at Mass in St. Mary’s Church and got the bad news.
``Good Friday, my son woke up and he was acting strangely,’’ he recalled. ``He was very fidgety that day, couldn’t sit still. I asked him if he was going to Mass with us.
``He said no and I thought that was strange, but it’s not a requirement. So we left and went to Mass and it was right before the end that a sheriff’s deputy came in and said `apparently, your son just shot someone and shot himself in the head.’’’
The victim was Cooperstown High School classmate Wesley Lippitt, son of Craig and Tracey Lippitt of Fly Creek. According to police, Pacherille chased him across Cooperstown’s Main Street, down Fair Street to the village police department door, shot him once in the arm, fired a second round in his direction, then turned the .22-caliber rifle on himself when confronted by Officer James Cox.
Weeks later, he was charged with three hate crimes, including second-degree attempted murder, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.
Pacherille said his son left a suicide note, indicating he thought he was on a divine mission, a rambling message that shows he was not in his right mind.
Although his son is white and Lippitt is black, his son is not a racist, he said.
Just after the shooting, a look at his son’s Facebook welcome page indicated he was associated with fringe and hate groups, including HATE OBAMA and il fascismo.
``My son is not a joiner,” said Pacherille. He had not been associated with those groups for long, perhaps just a few days before the shooting, he said.
``I don’t know how Wesley got mixed up in this, and thank God his wound wasn’t serious.”
The Lippitts, who suffered a second tragedy Thursday with the death of their 25-year-old daughter, Tamra Lippitt, could not be reached for comment Thursday. Wesley Lippitt was shot in the arm, but previously, his mother said the wound was far more than just a hole in the arm.
Since the shooting, his life has been unreal, said Pacherille.
``You want to talk about a nightmare; this is a nightmare that hasn’t stopped,” he said. “For the first five or six weeks, I was barely holding onto my own sanity and I felt things were spiraling out of control.
``I still walk into his room and when he’s not in there, I can’t get used to that.”
His boy is sick, he said. He shouldn’t be in jail, but in a medical facility where he can be treated for psychiatric problems.
``Before he left Bassett, they called up my wife and I, and asked if they could make some attempt to treat him psychiatrically, to start him on some medication.
And they did. They gave him Seroquel. They started out at 50 milligrams a day and they went up to 100 a day and that’s when the sheriff took him out (of the hospital).”
At the county jail, where his son is being held without bail, he is not getting the treatment he needs, Pacherille said.
``He needs to go somewhere where they find the right medication. When a 16-year-old who’s never been a problem ... one day to everyone’s amazement leaves the house and shoots himself in the head because he thinks God has sent him as a prophet, it’s kind of a no-brainer for a psychiatrist.
``If you went down to the jail today, he might seem perfectly OK. He might be laughing, seem like a normal 16-year-old kid. But on April 1, he seemed like a perfectly normal kid,” the father said.
``They can pretty much guarantee if it’s not treated properly, it will come back. And it’s probably going to come on quickly and dangerously. As a parent I’m afraid for him. But as a citizen I’d be afraid for the other inmates.”
Wednesday, Otsego County Sheriff Richard Devlin Jr. said Pacherille is under round-theclock watch and has access to a nurse, doctor and mental health professionals from the county’s Mental Health Clinic.
``I don’t know how much more I can say with the HIPPA rules,” said Devlin. “He’s been absolutely no problem.”
Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl said Friday’s hearing was scheduled to allow the defense to make its arguments for bail in court.
Muehl said he has witnesses to support keeping Pacherille in jail until his trial, scheduled for Nov. 1.
Also on the agenda was a defense motion to suppress a statement Pacherille allegedly wrote to police when asked about the shooting: “I drove around and tried to kill n....rs,” according to court records.
The statement was allegedly made before Pacherille had been advised of his Miranda rights.
The suspect’s father said that on that day, his son was not himself, and now he is being treated like a hardened criminal, although he is neither hardened nor an adult.
“He’s a 16-year-old, still a kid. He’s a child and I hope that doesn’t ever get lost,” he said.
``He’s never been in trouble in his life and he’s very close to the church. He still plans on becoming a priest.”
Local News
Pacherille’s father talks about life after shooting
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Students do the catwalk
Cooperstown Central School students were the stars of the show Friday night as they took to the runway. This marked the fifth year of the student-run fashion show, and there were a few added bonuses. Before the lights were turned off in the Sterling Auditorium at the Cooperstown Middle/High School, a behind-thescenes video about each designer was featured. Skinny Guys with Glasses also provided live entertainment during intermission.
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Chamber names executive director
The Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce announced that Patricia A. Szarpa will be its executive director, effective April 1.
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Village trustees want option to exceed property tax cap
Budget time is approaching for the village and trustees want to prepare by making sure they’ll be able, if necessary, to exceed the state-imposed two percent property tax cap designed to slow the growth of property taxes.
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It’s carnival time ... event takes on pre-Lent party theme
Taking a page from the creed of the U.S. Postal Service (that “Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night” stuff ), organizers for the Cooperstown Winter Carnival, the threeday event that begins Friday, might look at recent weather forecasts and come up with their own creed for the event: “Neither sun, nor warmth, nor the desire to wear short-sleeves shall prevent the Winter Carnival from …” _ well, you can guess the rest.
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CCS to offer online food service payments
Cooperstown Central School is launching an online payment option for purchases of school lunches, breakfasts and other food items.
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Arraignments for CCS players postponed until April 11
Two of the five Cooperstown High School football players charged with harassing a teammate by giving him “the tunnel treatment” appeared in town court Wednesday as the father of the boy allegedly accosted sat in the courtroom.
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Third judge to oversee Pacherille Jr.’s shooting case
COOPERSTOWN — A third judge has taken over the case of local teenager Anthony Pacherille Jr., the former Cooperstown High School student serving an 11-year prison term after shooting an African-American classmate in April 2010. Pacherille’s attorney, Frank Policelli of Utica, is pressing to have his client resentenced as a youthful offender.
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Bassett’s new MRI machine features latest technology
Bassett Medical Center doctors now have the most advanced technology in magnetic resonance imaging that will allow doctors to more accurately diagnosis and treat patients, according to Bassett radiologist Dr. Lawrence Barnowsky.
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MCS program brings together job seekers and employers
People need jobs. Companies need workers with skills. Milford Central School is erecting a bridge, of sorts, that can help connect job seekers with employers.
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Wednesday is community art night at The Smithy
The Smithy-Pioneer Gallery is offering a series of free art-making nights every Wednesday through the month of February. Located at the heart of the village, the historic Smithy provides a place for the community to gather together and partake in some fun and easy art projects like small paper sculptures and ornaments, a variety of printmaking and more.
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College to offer continuing education courses this spring
The State University College at Oneonta will offer more than 30 non-credit courses on topics ranging from Argentine tango to kayaking this spring, according to a media release from the college.
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Circus exhibit closing soon
Like the circuses it spotlights, “From Acrobats to Zebras: Circus Art and the Big Top Experience,” a small exhibition at the New York State Historical Association’s Research Library in Cooperstown, will fold its tent and close its doors on Feb. 29, according to a media release from NYSHA.
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Earth Festival to be April 14
Planning has begun for the seventh annual Earth Festival, set for Saturday, April 14, at Milford Central School, according to a media release from the Otsego County Conservation Association. Returning is the traditional information and vendor fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the gymnasium.
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Local cultural program celebrates Chinese New Year
A celebration of the Chinese New Year was held at Milford Central School on Sunday.
Continued ... - Thursday, February 2, 2012
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To Our Readers
In last week’s edition, two front-page stories were printed that did not come up to the high standards you have come to expect from The Cooperstown Crier. The stories concerned the Cherry Valley-Springfield school district and its leadership.
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CV-S: Positive influences abound
Last week, the Crier published an article with several criticisms of the Cherry Valley-Springfield School District, many from anonymous sources.
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Mayor will not seek second term
Barring a challenge from an independent candidate, it appears Village Trustee Jeff Katz will become the next mayor of Cooperstown.
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CCS geo bee winner may get second chance at state competition
The pressure was on. Cooperstown sixth-grader Tom Knight had won his school district’s fifth-and-sixth-grade geography bee last year and said he felt that many were expecting him to pull a repeat. “I was going into the competition confident, but I was feeling much more pressure this time around,” Tom said Friday afternoon after winning in seven rounds.
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Entrepreneurship program receives funding to go green
Cooperstown’s after-school educational program TREP$ has been given an incentive to go green this year. The program, in which students develop their own products or services and then sell them at a “flea market” style marketplace, has been awarded $700 through The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s New York Energy $mart Students Program.
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Sex offender to test Otsego child safety law
When Dennis and Aarona Rockwell rented a home on a side road off Chestnut Street in Cooperstown on Jan. 9, they contacted the Otsego County Sheriff’s Department to let the agency know Dennis had a new address.
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