“The Dr. Gilberto Nunez murder trial”
I will share what I heard and saw on some of the days that I attended the trial. I will share what I heard and saw while spending time on the streets near the courthouse. I will share things I observed while frequenting a popular coffee shop located directly across the street from the courthouse that was housing this trial.
My eyes and ears were open and I sat back and watched it all unfold.
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This all started a few years ago. I heard rumblings of a possible investigation into a local dentist who was being investigated for murdering his best friend. At this time, it was only a rumor. I am not going to lie. This was intriguing. At the time, I didn’t even know WHO the accused dentist was. Eventually it was told to me it was Dr. Nunez. I have never met him. I knew where his office was located, but I never even knew what he looked like.
Here’s what I heard back then…
The alleged crime took place in November of 2011,
A man 44 years old never showed up to work.
His wife began searching for him. Where could he be? She eventually found him dead in his car outside the gym that he goes to most mornings. (Planet Fitness, Town of Ulster, NY.)
Wife calls 911.
Investigators quickly learn wife was having an affair with a local dentist. Investigators become suspicious.
Autopsy happens.
Funeral happens. Deceased man laid to rest.
Toxicology results come back a few months later. The medical examiner instantly contacts local authorities due to the suspicious drug found in deceased body. The toxicology results show that this man had levels of Midazolam in his system. Midazolam is a commonly used drug in dental practices.
There was video evidence from a surveillance camera located on the roof of Kohl’s Department Store (The business located next door to Planet Fitness)
Body was exhumed twice.
I found out the deceased name was Tom Kolman.
I recall reading his obituary in the local newspaper and took interest because of his young age. Then, once I learned of this case, I googled his obituary and read it in better detail.
This is all I really heard or read at the time.
As time went on, the news media started reporting arrests of this dentist for offenses that seemed to be unrelated to what all the rumors were about. They were unrelated to any murder. These random arrests of the dentist were making me wonder what the heck is up.
He was accused of insurance fraud in regards to a fire that occurred in a building that he owned.
He was accused of lying on a gun permit application. The gun permit application asked if he was ever in the military and honorably discharged. He marked said “yes”. Investigators discovered Dr. Nunez was in the military, The US Marines, but he actually went AWOL. He was not honorably discharged.
THEN….Eventually, the BIG headlines came out on October 2, 2015
“Local dentist charged with murder in 2011 death”…
Big headlines for sure.
The defendant, Dr. Gilberto Nunez, spent some time in Ulster County Jail as a result. He eventually was able to be released on bail, but had to wear an ankle monitor. He had limited travel ability (work, home, lawyer’s office).
Then, in April of this year (2016)… My phone beeped. I had a text. My friend said “The Daily Freeman (our local newspaper) is live tweeting the pretrial hearing for the upcoming Nunez murder trial.”
I started reading the live tweets. I learned that this trial will begin the end of May. I quickly realized that this trial will be quite a learning experience if I followed it closely.
The pretrial hearing gave me the heads up regarding some expert witnesses who will be testifying.
One witness: An oral surgeon from Troy, NY. He will speak about what he knows about the drug found in the victim’s system (Midazolam) and how it’s normally administered.
Another witness: A surveillance video expert from Spokane, Washington who analyzed the car headlights shown in video obtained from Kohl’s Department Store. Kohl’s surveillance camera recorded the vehicle activity related to this alleged crime on the day of the crime.
Once you start reading my story these two experts witnesses testimony will help you make better sense of the case.
After reading about the information in the pretrial hearing, I decided I was going to find the time to attend this upcoming trial as much as possible
Stay tuned. I will continue my story….
