By Dan Hust
MONTICELLO — September 28, 2001 – Jailed Callicoon resident Ronald Caruso, the alleged murderer of his step-uncle Gary Kays of Callicoon and Luke Leborgne of Quebec, was indicted and then charged this week with 14 felonies regarding the August 28 and 30 killings.
A grand jury handed down the indictments on Wednesday, and then Sullivan County Court Judge Frank LaBuda formally charged Caruso, 18, with them yesterday.
The top two charges, first-degree murder, could carry the death penalty for Caruso, if Sullivan County District Attorney Steve Lungen decides to pursue it.
Caruso is also charged with three counts of second-degree murder; two counts of first-degree burglary; one count of first-degree criminal trespass; one count of first-degree criminal use of a firearm; one count of second-degree burglary; one count of third-degree burglary; and three counts of fourth-degree grand larceny.
The burglary, larceny and firearms charges stem from Caruso’s alleged use of a .308-caliber rifle stolen from a hunting camp in the Beechwoods section of Callicoon and the theft of two cars after the murders.
According to police, Caruso shot and killed Kays, 30, on August 28 for as-yet-unnamed motives. He then fled north in his step-grandfather’s car, eventually stopping at a rest area off Interstate 87 near Plattsburgh and then killing Leborgne, 19, who was sleeping in his own car at the time.
Caruso allegedly took Leborgne’s car and headed south to a family’s residence in the northern Delaware County hamlet of Franklin, where he was apprehended by the State Police.
Caruso was briefly jailed in Essex County, where he allegedly killed Leborgne, and is still facing a second-degree murder charge there.
Another hearing on the case is scheduled for Monday morning at Sullivan County Court.