Judge lets stand attempted murder charge in Alton shooting

ALTON — A Barnstead man accused of attempted murder is expected to go on trial early next year after a judge rejected the defendant’s move to have the charge dismissed.

The trial of Marcos Pagan, 59, of Old Rochester Road, is scheduled for January in Belknap Superior Court, according to court records. Pagan is accused of attempted second-degree murder stemming from a shooting in April 2020 in Alton. Pagan is also facing charges of first-degree assault, second-degree assault, and reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, in connection with the same incident.

Pagan, through his lawyer Mark Sisti, had sought to have the attempted murder charge thrown out, arguing the prosecution could not prove that the victim was struck by bullets several times as stated in the indictment.

At a hearing on Sept. 17, Belknap County Attorney Andrew Livernois sought to amend the indictment, which reads the victim was struck several times, to read instead he was struck “one or more times,” according to court documents.

According to the motion to dismiss, because the prosecution could not prove exactly how many bullets struck the victim, charging Pagan with attempted murder was a violation of his due process rights.

But Superior Court Judge James D. O’Neill III concluded the attempted murder charge could stand because the prosecution only needs to prove that Pagan fired a weapon in Pagan’s direction to substantiate the charge.

“The court finds that the phrase ‘striking him several times’ is superfluous and therefore does not control the state’s burden of proof,” O’Neill wrote. “The fact that the indictment alleges that the defendant fired at (the victim’s) vehicle several times is sufficient to enable him to prepare a defense for trial. Specifically, said allegation is sufficient to establish a substantial step towards the causation of death.”

Pagan, who has been held in the Belknap County Jail since April 28, 2020, fired at least seven bullets at the victim’s vehicle and that the victim received “five separate bullet wounds in his body,” according to a pleading filed with the court by Belknap County Attorney Andrew Livernois, who is prosecuting the case.

The confrontation between Pagan and the victim began as a domestic dispute between the victim and members of Pagan’s family that allegedly escalated into an argument outside the Pagan residence, according to investigators. The victim drove away from the premises. But a short time later Pagan got into his vehicle and soon afterward caught up with the victim’s vehicle as it was driving through Alton. The shooting occurred near the intersection of Hamwoods and Suncook Valley roads.