Prosecutors and Defense attorneys gave opening statements on Monday in the trial of the Greece woman accused of providing the weapons used in the 2012 Christmas Eve ambush of West Webster firefighters.
Prosecutors allege Dawn Nguyen purchased the guns for money. They say Nguyen bought a shot gun and rifle from the Gander Mountain store in Henrietta for convicted felon William Spengler in 2010, two years before the Christmas Eve shooting. Spengler killed two West Webster firefighters and injured two others before turning the gun on himself, after setting his house on fire early that Christmas Eve morning.
The defense argues that Nguyen purchased the weapons for personal protection, and the firearms were stolen from her car.
Nguyen is charged with falsifying business records in the first degree.
Several emergency responders and West Webster fire fighters came to court to support their fallen friends, their families and the public safety community. The two injured fire fighters, Ted Scardino and Joseph Hofstetter, were also there.
"It's opening arguments,” says Rochester 911 Center director, John Merklinger. “It's not the facts of the case yet, and I’m sure as the trial progresses the facts of the actual case will come out. I have faith in the criminal justice system that everything will work as appropriate. And so we came to support them and hopefully help them through this trying time for them."
The former Gander Mountain clerk, who handled Nguyen's transaction, testified in court on Monday. He says he remembers Nguyen and Spengler perusing the hunting department, and Nguyen filling out paperwork.
He says the weapons were bought in cash for $1,425.58.
Text messages between Nguyen and a police deputy, who was a friend, will be used as evidence during the trial.
The trial doesn’t hold anyone responsible for the slaying of two firefighters during the West Webster shooting.