Attorneys seek probation for Gill man facing armed assault charges

By DOMENIC POLI

Staff Writer

Published: 06-06-2023 6:27 PM

GREENFIELD — Opposing attorneys and a Franklin County Superior Court judge convened Tuesday afternoon to work toward determining the fate of a Gill man who was deemed not competent to stand trial for allegedly shooting at another man and that man’s girlfriend in July 2021.

Wesley Johnson, 66, has dementia and was deemed unfit to answer to two counts of armed assault to murder, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of possession of a firearm without an FID card.

Judge David Hodge heard from defense attorney Alfred P. Chamberland and Assistant District Attorney Matthew Thomas, who is prosecuting this case for the state, and decided it will be continued until June 21 at 2 p.m. Chamberland is asking for two years of probation, but Thomas is requesting 10.

Johnson’s charges stem from an incident shortly before 2 a.m. on July 22, 2021, when he allegedly got into a fight with Rufus Thomas, a man he was allowing to essentially squat on his Main Road property. The fight allegedly started when Thomas refused Johnson’s demands to leave his property due to suspicion of dealing drugs.

State Police Trooper Garrett Hall recounted in a police report that he was dispatched to the Gill property on a report of a man who had fired shots at a house. The 911 caller also stated two people had barricaded themselves in a nearby cabin for safety. Johnson, who declined medical treatment for a bleeding laceration on his nose, was waiting calmly outside when troopers arrived.

According to Hall’s report, once troopers secured the scene and ensured all parties were accounted for, the woman who initially called 911 said everyone there had been socializing and drinking. But Johnson and Thomas had gotten into a physical altercation. The woman said Johnson went into his residence after the altercation and returned with a gun. She reportedly told police she had gone into the house but heard Thomas say, “What, are you going to shoot me?” She then reportedly heard multiple gunshots.

The woman allegedly told police Johnson then reentered the house and she could hear him access a safe he uses to store firearms. The woman said Johnson again went outside and she heard several additional gunshots.

Hall reported there was a blood trail leading from Johnson’s residence to the front door of the cabin where Thomas and his girlfriend had hidden. There was also a shell casing from a .22-caliber bullet at the cabin door as well as a bullet hole, according to Hall.

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In December 2022, Thomas pleaded guilty to trafficking in cocaine (18 to 36 grams), trafficking in fentanyl (18 to 36 grams), a subsequent offense of possession with intent to distribute a Class E substance, unlicensed possession of ammunition, unlicensed possession of a large-capacity feeding device, a subsequent offense of possession with intent to distribute a Class B substance and a subsequent offense of possession with intent to distribute a Class A substance. The first five charges stem from the 2021 incident in Gill.

Thomas was sentenced to seven to nine years at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.

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