Defense Attorney: DNA Report Raises Questions in Hamden Murder Case

The man accused of murdering Hamden’s Larry Dildy last October is due in court next week for a probable cause hearing and his defense attorney says a new lab report that shows only Dildy’s DNA is on the alleged murder weapon means that there are “a lot of hurdles for the state to overcome,” in the case, according to the New Haven Register.

Nicholas Papantoniou, 38, whose last known address was in Stratford and also goes by the stage name of “Nickel P” in the hip-hop music scene, was charged with felony murder, home invasion, related conspiracy charges and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and removing identification marks from a firearm when apprehended by Hamden police last November.

Police also arrested William Coutermash, 33, of East Haven and charged him with felony murder, conspiracy to commit home invasion and other charges.

Police said Papantoniou was the shooter but his attorney Glenn Conway told Randall Beach of the New Haven Register that the new lab report might greatly help his case during the June 25 probable cause hearing.

However, Beach also reports that the Hamden Police Department’s arrest warrant states a DNA lab analysis of the left sleeve of a sweatshirt found at the crime scene matches that of Papantoniou.

Also surveillance video from a nearby resident’s home shows a man removing an item from his waistband and throwing it into a bush, where police recovered a gun, and two witnesses identified Papantoniou as the man seen running in the video from the direction of Dildy’s house, according to Beach.

Read the full story, including more details from the arrest warrant, at the New Haven Register here.