NORTHAMPTON — On the second day of testimony in the trial for a former Pelham police chief facing a slew of firearms-related charges, a Massachusetts State Police trooper testified that the defendant was lured away from his home so that investigators could serve a search warrant without the defendant being present.
“We use a ruse to separate someone from weapons that could potentially harm us,” Trooper Michael Baker testified Wednesday morning.
“Is there anything illegal about (police) using a ruse?” Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Matthew Thomas asked. Baker replied that there is not.
Edward Fleury was lured away from his home and asked to report to the Pelham Police Department, where he served as police chief until 2009, while 15-20 officers searched his home with his wife still at the residence. He was arrested when he arrived at the station, Baker said.
Authorities said they uncovered roughly 240 guns, “dozens” of which were unlocked or unsecured. Many were in plain view, in cabinets, on tables or in trash bags, according to court documents, and a loaded, unlocked revolver was found under a cushion in a chair.
Investigators originally planned to serve the warrant the day before, Sept. 10, but Fleury was not able to come to the police department, Baker testified.
Fleury, 58, has pleaded not guilty in Hampshire Superior Court to charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, at least 21 counts of improper storage of a large-capacity firearm, and six counts of improper storage of a firearm. Police served the search warrant on Fleury’s home Sept. 11, 2014 — about five weeks after the defendant aimed his gun at a friend, Peter Terapulsky, while the two stood outside a Belchertown bar.
Terapulsky, a longtime friend, testified earlier in the trial that Fleury trained his handgun, with a Crimson Trace laser aim, on his chest. The two had met for drinks that evening at the Belchertown VFW post to discuss a joint business venture “involving firearm safety.”
The prosecution contends police served the warrant on Fleury’s home in an effort to locate the gun allegedly used in the Aug 2 incident. Upon executing the warrant, police uncovered various large capacity firearms and at least two smaller capacity firearms. Teraspulsky told investigators the gun Fleury allegedly pointed at him that night in August 2014 was a .40-caliber handgun.
After his arrest Sept. 11, Fleury was originally charged in Eastern Hampshire District Court with assault with a dangerous weapon, stemming from the events at the bar. His case, however, was moved to Hampshire Superior Court after a grand jury indicted him Dec. 16, 2014. Fleury is currently being tried for the assault with a dangerous weapon charge as well as five counts of improper storage of a firearm.
Fleury served as Pelham police chief from 1991 to 2009, but resigned his post after an 8-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself with a machine gun during a Westfield firearms exhibition that the former chief organized in 2008. Fleury was acquitted of manslaughter in connection with the boy’s death in 2011.
Another trial, which will address the remaining 21 counts of improper storage of large-capacity firearms, is slated to begin later this year.
Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com.