r announced that on Friday, June 4, 2021,
Robert Haskell, 55, and Timothy Smith, 37, both of Goshen, pleaded guilty last Friday, June 3, before Orange County Court Judge Craig Stephen Brown to manslaughter charges in connection with the Dec. 18, 2019, death of a man beaten and bound on Kipp Road in the Town of Goshen.
According to information provided by the office of Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler, Haskell pleaded guilty to first-degree slaughter; Smith pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter.
Two other defendants had previously admitted their involvement in the homicide.
On Sept. 4, 2020, Seth Pelsang, 31, of Goshen, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. On March 24, 2021, Courtney Clemenza, 33, of Chester, pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter.
During prior court appearances prosecutors argued that on Dec. 18, 2019, the deceased man went to the house where Haskell, Pelsang and Smith lived armed with a shotgun.
After the man was disarmed and restrained, Haskell then beat him with a baseball bat. Prosecutors argued that all the defendants helped tie-up the injured man. The man was placed inside Clemenza’s car by Haskell and Pelsang and then she drove with them to another area in the Village of Chester where the victim was left on the side of the road, bound and wounded.
After about 20 minutes a motorist noticed the motionless, bound man. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead.
Pelsang is scheduled to be sentenced on June 14; Clemenza on July 14; and Haskell and Smith on Sept. 1.
The first-degree manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in state prison, second-degree manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in state prison.
Hoovler thanked the New York State Police as well as the Village of Chester Police who aided in the investigation.