There was a major break in the horrific Christmas Eve shooting of four firefighters near Rochester earlier today. Federal prosecutors charged one of William Spengler's former neighbors with buying two of the guns he used to kill two firemen and wound two others.
Federal prosecutors allege Dawn Nguyen, 24, of Alpine Road, bought the Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle and the Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun that Spengler used in his attack, and that Spengler accompanied her during the purchase at a Gander Mountain store in Henrietta in June 2010.
Nguyen had lived next door to Spengler on Lake Road until recently.
The complaint, viewable
here, alleges that Nguyen bought the guns at a Gander Mountain in Henrietta, another Rochester suburb. According to federal prosecutors and ATF agents, Nguyen listed herself as the owner to conceal that Spengler really owned the guns--in other words, a straw purchase. Spengler was a convicted felon, and as such was barred from owning or possessing any guns at all. For those who don't remember, Spengler pleaded guilty in 1981 to beating his grandmother to death with a hammer. He served 17 years of a 25-year sentence, and was on probation until 2006.
William Hochul, the U. S. Attorney for Western New York, said that authorities were led to Nguyen via information in the suicide note they found next to Spengler. The note suggested a daughter or neighbor had bought the guns. Nguyen was arrested earlier this afternoon. She also faces state charges of filing a false business record.
According to the complaint, Nguyen admitted that Spengler had been with her to buy the guns, but claimed they'd been stolen--a claim reiterated by her brother and mother.
Earlier Friday, Nguyen’s brother said the weapons were stolen from Nguyen’s car.
“They think they sold him the guns, but he stole them,” said Steven Nguyen, 18, in the doorway of the family’s Seneca County home.
In the doorway of a home in Greece, Nguyen’s mother, Dawn Welsher said her lawyer advised her not to speak to the media. “All I can say is, I’m being set up,” she said.
Later, Welsher left
a voicemail with a
Democrat and Chronicle reporter and reiterated that Spengler had set Nguyen up.
However, according to the complaint, Nguyen admitted to a friend of hers who is also a Monroe County sheriff's deputy that she bought the guns for Spengler.
If it is in fact true that Nguyen bought the guns for Spengler, she's in a world of trouble. She's currently only charged with lying on the federal form she filled out to make the purchase--a charge that carries a maximum of 10 years in prison. And at the very least, she could potentially face wrongful-death lawsuits from the families of the two firefighters Spengler killed.