Ex-trooper gets 1 year for theft from dying motorist 18-year veteran pleads guilty to taking cash, crucifix from dying accident victim

Marguerite Scalesse, mother of John Scalesse who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2012, came to Superior Court in Bridgeport, Conn., Friday, Oct. 10, 2014, to see Aaron Huntsman sentenced for the theft of her son's belongings. The former state trooper earlier pleaded guilty to third-degree larceny and tampering with evidence for stealing cash and a necklace from the scene of the accident. He was sentenced to one year in prison. less Marguerite Scalesse, mother of John Scalesse who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2012, came to Superior Court in Bridgeport, Conn., Friday, Oct. 10, 2014, to see Aaron Huntsman sentenced for the theft of ... more Photo: Autumn Driscoll Buy photo Photo: Autumn Driscoll Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Ex-trooper gets 1 year for theft from dying motorist 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT -- Former State Trooper Aaron Huntsman, his voice cracking with emotion, told a judge Friday he isn't the same man who stole a dying motorist's cash and gold crucifix two years ago.

"I'm truly sorry for everything, I never realized a simple gold crucifix could cause so much hurt," Huntsman told Judge Robert Devlin during his sentencing hearing at state Superior Court in Bridgeport.

But the victim's mother, Marguerite Scalesse, wasn't buying it.

"He's still the same person who lied to me three times that night as my son lay in the morgue. And he's lying now," she said later.

Devlin pointed out that as a police officer Huntsman was the only one at the crash scene to be trusted with money.

"You threw that trust out the window," he said.

The judge then sentenced the 18-year police veteran to a year in prison.

During the hearing Huntsman's lawyer, Ryan McGuigan, argued that alcoholism was to blame for his client's lapse in judgment.

"Every state trooper knows there is a dash camera in their car, so who in their right mind would steal property knowing it would be recorded?" he asked. "My answer is that he is not in his right mind."

But Assistant State's Attorney Tiffany Lockshier retorted that Huntsman was certainly in his right mind when he concealed the fact he had taken John Scalesse's money and chain.

"He remembers everything about that night except for the action that has led to two felony convictions," she said, urging the judge to impose a 16-month prison term. "He had the crucifix and chain in a cup holder in his police cruiser with John Scalesse's blood still on it."

Shaking with emotion Marguerite Scalesse stood before the judge.

"I cry constantly and I agonize over the thought of someone treating my son in the last moments of his beautiful life so disrespectfully," she said. "Stealing from anyone is shameful, but stealing a crucifix from a dying person is sacrilegious."

John Scalesse, a former executive of JAS Masonry in Milford, was killed Sept. 22, 2012, after his motorcycle crashed into a construction company truck on the northbound section of Exit 44 on the Merritt Parkway in Fairfield.

Huntsman, the first trooper at the crash scene, walked over to where Scalesse lay, bent down and picked up Scalesse's gold chain from a pool of blood, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. He then took a roll of bills totaling $3,700 that had been in Scalesse's pocket.

Later, Huntsman told Scalesse's grieving father that he didn't see any money on the victim, the affidavit states.

The cash was later found held with a rubber band under the front seat of Huntsman's cruiser.

State Police said Huntsman maintained his innocence even after he was shown a video of himself taking the money that was captured on the dash camera of his own police car.

Huntsman, who has resigned from the state police, later pleaded guilty to third-degree larceny and tampering with evidence.

The judge sentenced the 45-year-old Huntsman to five years, suspended after he serves one year and followed by three years' probation. Then Huntsman, who used to guard the door of the Golden Hill Street courthouse, was taken out of the courthouse in handcuffs.

"My son was a beautiful person, everyone who he came in contact with loved him," Marguerite Scalesse said later as she watched TV cameras being set up to tape her coming out of the courthouse. "I just wish this wasn't the only thing he is going to be remembered for."

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