Police: Discrepancies led to 13 year-old's arrest

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Police: Discrepancies led to 13 year-old's arrest

By PAT BAILEY

Story Created: Sep 25, 2008 at 11:07 PM EST

Story Updated: Sep 26, 2008 at 12:38 AM EST

VERNON, N.Y. (WKTV) - Police believe that 13 year-old Joseph Giacona III used a shotgun to kill his father. Authorities say discrepancies in the boy's written statement to police helped lead to his arrest.

Police reports filed by both the Vernon and Sherill police departments and the written statement of Giacona do not match. Discrepancies with the time frame from when the boy called 9-1-1 and also discrepancies of whether or not Giacona III found a weapon when he came home from school January 24th are evident.

According to those police reports, officers who responded to 14 North Sconondoa Street in Vernon asked the 13 year-old whether or not he found a gun inside the home after finding his father shot. Giacona said no to both. 

However, in another police interview later on that night, Giacona told police he did find a gun after finding his father and that he put it away before police arrived. The second discrepancy comes when Giacona tells police he arrived home around 2:35 that day to find his father and immediately called 9-1-1. However, phone records show the call came 40 minutes after Giacona said he arrived home.

"I think I would have to say that by the late afternoon of the 24th, there were certainly some concern about his version of events and the time line involved," said Assistant District Attorney Kurt Hameline. 

For the past eight months, Giacona III was free and attending classes at the Whitesboro Central School District.

Thursday morning's arrest means the 13 year-old will now be the youngest person ever in Oneida County to be tried as an adult for murder. It is a decision that prosecutors felt was necessary.

"It appears from the scene that the father was sleeping on the couch and was shot with a shotgun in the head, and to me that is adult behavior," said Hameline.

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