East Haven man, James Carangelo, who shot his dog and burned his cat to death sentenced to 6 years

NEW HAMPSHIRE -- James Carangelo, who apparently tried to burn his own home while he was in it, shot his dog and allowed his cat to die, pleaded no contest Wednesday to first-degree arson and will be ordered to serve six years in prison.

Carangelo has been incarcerated since his arrest four days after the Jan. 3, 2011, fire at 220 Warner Road in East Haven, and so will have only about one more year to serve when he is sentenced March 3.

Under the plea arrangement, the state will nolle the animal cruelty charge as well as disorderly conduct and failure to comply with a fingerprint request.

The dog, a bull mastiff named Sasha, survived after being shot in the jaw. 

According to a source, Carangelo didn’t want the dog to be burned alive, so he tried to fatally shoot the animal.

The cat, who was locked in a closet, died of smoke inhalation.

Carangelo was not seriously injured because after his wife alerted police that he had called her to report he had set the house on fire and she noted she heard smoke detectors going off in the background, firefighters got to the house quickly and rescued him.

The firefighters entered the house, which was engulfed in flames, found Carangelo in his bed and pulled him out the window. Two firefighters sustained minor injuries.

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Gary Nicholson told Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Clifford during Wednesday’s hearing that Carangelo and his wife “had been going through a rather heated divorce” at the time of the fire.

According to New Haven Superior Court records, Carangelo had filed for divorce three months earlier. Police said Carengelo was charged with disorderly conduct in a domestic incident between him and his wife on New Year’s Eve, several days before the fire.

Nicholson noted that during the daylight hours of Jan. 3, 2011, Carangelo’s wife, who then was separated from him and living elsewhere with their kids, called police to report a troubling phone conversation she had just had with him.

So she knew he was crazy. She took the kids with her and left, but left the animals behind? Nice.

“She said her husband was not in a right state of mind and had told her he was going to burn the house down,” Nicholson stated. “When police responded to the house, he was present and they found nothing out of the ordinary.”

But several hours later, Nicholson added, she again called police and reported the second phone call from her husband, with the sound of the smoke detector alarms.

As firefighters pulled up to the house, two vehicles in the driveway also were in flames as well as the residence, Nicholson said.

“Accelerant had been poured throughout the house,” Nicholson told Clifford. “He admitted he’d set the fire.”

Carangelo, who has been held in lieu of $500,000 bail, came into the courtroom Wednesday in a wheelchair because he sustained a severe back injury in a work-related fall about 10 years ago. He was not in a wheelchair at the time of the fire.

When the court clerk asked Carangelo to state his age, the defendant first said he was 46, then stammered, “No, 48. I haven’t celebrated a birthday recently.”

Clifford asked Carangelo, as he always does when accepting a plea, if he is taking any medication. Carangelo said he is taking pain medication. But he added, “It’s very minimal. It takes the edge off.” Carangelo also said it helps prevent him from getting “upset.”

He told Clifford the medication does not keep him from understanding the legal proceedings and that he was voluntarily entering the plea.

Clifford told Carangelo first-degree arson is a felony, with a sentencing range of 10-25 years in prison. Clifford also explained the nolo contendere plea: “You’re not pleading guilty. It means you’re not contesting it.”

Clifford also said the agreement calls for a 12-year prison sentence, to be suspended after serving six years, with five years of probation.

Carangelo asked Clifford how a felony conviction would affect his ability to hold onto a license to practice air-conditioning and heating installation. Clifford said he could not offer any information on that.

Clifford then accepted the plea and noted, “A finding of guilty is entered.”

 

 

Under the plea agreement, the firearms seized from the house, which included handguns and assault rifles, will be sold and Carangelo will not be allowed to have such weapons. New Haven Chief Public Defender Thomas Ullmann, who represents Carangelo, previously said they were legally purchased. Carangelo used a handgun to shoot his dog.

During a previous court hearing, Nicholson said, “We got information from the Fire Department that when they went into the house, they discovered a long gun on the defendant’s bed.”

Ullmann noted Carangelo had no previous criminal record.

After the fire, East Haven’s Lesley Simoni Animal Shelter and the Central Hospital for Veterinary Medicine accepted donations to help defray an estimated $8,000 bill for Sasha. The dog, who also suffered smoke inhalation, was placed in a new home.

(NH Register - Dec 30, 2015)