Preston murder trial with outlaw motorcycle club connections set to begin. What to know.

Jury selection in the murder trial of a 28-year-old South Glastonbury man accused of carrying out a fatal drive-by shooting in Preston three years ago – a crime the defense says has possible connections with rival outlaw motorcycle gangs - ended this week.

The final slate of 12 jurors and four alternates who will decide the fate of Francis Giannelli was set on Tuesday in New London Superior Court, weeks after the selection process began on Oct. 4.

Giannelli is accused of fatally shooting 35-year-old Preston resident Robert Thompson from a vehicle at the intersection of Routes 12 and 2A on Oct. 26, 2019. The evidence portion of the trial is slated to begin on Nov. 30.

Giannelli in July rejected a plea deal that called for him to serve 35 years in prison. He faces a maximum sentence of 65 years if found guilty on all counts he faces: murder, criminal use of a weapon and carrying a pistol without a permit.

Police said Giannelli confessed to shooting at Thompson after the two argued at Mohegan Sun Casino, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Police said Giannelli, who was in a 2010 Mercedes C300 owned by Hartford resident Michael Soto, used a .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun in the shooting, a weapon he did not possess a pistol permit for.

CT police use social workerA mental health expert is now embedded with some Conn. police departments. Here's why.

Giannelli turned himself in to state police days after the shooting and was arrested after telling Eastern District Major Crime Squad detectives: “I’m the one who shot the truck ... it was self-defense,” according to an arrest warrant.

A Sept. 16 motion for supplemental disclosure filed by public defender Michael Miller requests a state Department of Corrections recording referenced in an affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent James Wines when seeking a search and seizure warrant in the case.

Miller stated the federal investigation “dovetails (with) this pending case as various outlaw motorcycle clubs were being investigated at the time of this homicide.”

Miller wrote the requested recording is “critical” to a third-party culpability defense, or one that could show someone else other than Giannelli was involved in the murder.

Armed guards in CT schoolsKillingly's school board approved armed guards in August. Here's why there aren't any yet.

Miller said Wines describes in detail “at least ten other people affiliated with the ‘Ruthless for Life’ motorcycle club that would be motivated to commit this crime in order to join the ‘Mongols’ motorcycle club by assaulting a member of the ‘Hell’s Angels’ motorcycle club.”

According to statements Giannelli made to police, he went to Mohegan Sun on Oct. 25, 2019 after being picked up at his home in Glastonbury and driven there by Soto. Giannelli told police he saw Thompson taking pictures of him in the Comix Roadhouse bar with a cell phone.

Shortly afterward, Giannelli said he later encountered Thompson in a casino foyer, and again, Giannelli said, he saw Thompson taking photos of him. Giannelli said an argument broke out between himself and Thompson, the warrant states.

“There were some words exchanged, but he couldn’t remember exactly what they were,” the police report said. “Security then asked them to leave.”

Eastern CT economyHow to develop the 'workforce of tomorrow' for Conn. manufacturers? Start in kindergarten.

Giannelli said he and Soto later encountered Thompson and his companion, Randy Deveau, in the casino's Riverview Parking Garage, as the four men were getting into their vehicles, a Mercedes sedan in which Giannelli was the passenger and a pickup truck where Thompson was the passenger.

“Right before they got into the truck (Thompson and another man) both made a gun gesture with their fingers, which they displayed to Giannelli,” police said in the warrant.

Giannelli told police that at the intersection of routes 2A and 12 in Preston, the two vehicles were stopped at the light next to each other, with Giannelli’s car idling in the left lane and Thompson’s in the right.

Giannelli said he saw Deveau appear to reach for a gun, police said, so “he didn’t wait to see what he was reaching for, and shot first." Police said Giannelli confessed firing six times, emptying his semi-automatic handgun.

"(Giannelli said he) never saw the older gentleman display a gun and stated he probably shouldn't have shot at him, but did in self-defense," police said, according to the warrant. "He didn't remember what the bullets hit, or if he hit anybody at that time."

High school footballConnecticut's Trotochaud brothers might have the high school football family tale to beat

Police said Thompson was hit once on the left side of his head below his ear. Deveau drove him to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London, escorted by a Ledyard police officer who saw him speed past him on Route 12, police said. Thompson later died at the hospital.

Soto was charged in November by state police with failure to properly store a loaded firearm and risk of injury to a minor. Police said Soto had kept a fully loaded, .40-caliber pistol within reach of a child at his Hartford home.

Soto’s case is being heard in Hartford Superior Court, but is sealed, according to the state’s judicial website. Miller stated in his motion he sought to obtain Soto’s case file, but was told it was not releasable to the defense until the case is closed.

In separate July court filings by Giannelli’s other public defender, Kevin Barrs, the defense lawyer said state police detectives at one point during an Oct. 31, 2019 interview - also briefly attended by an FBI agent - questioned the truthfulness of his Giannelli’s confession, asking if he was being propped up as “fall guy” for other members of the Mongols, or if was even present at the scene of the fatal shooting.

Norwich shootingA man was gunned down on a Norwich street in 2020. Why hasn't there been a murder trial?

As part of that discussion, detectives asked Giannelli about his involvement with the Mongols and Thompson's reputed ties to the Hell's Angels club. Barrs said video footage taken at the Mohegan Sun Casino "clearly" shows Giannelli in the company of a larger group of Mongols involved in a heated dispute with Thompson and Deveau on the night of the shooting, though his client appears to "hang back" from the group.

Barrs said state police also questioned Giannelli about the prospect of Mongols muscling in on Hell’s Angels’ territory in the state and if the defendant attempted to prove himself by shooting at a Hell’s Angels member.

John Penney can be reached at jpenney@norwichbulletin.com or at (860) 857-6965.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Jury selected for murder trial of accused Preston drive-by shooter