District Attorney Hoovler Announces Guilty Plea in Murder Case

Defendant to be Sentenced to Twenty Years in State Prison Sentence

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on Thursday, September 6, 2018, George Bawn, 38, of Blooming Grove, pleaded guilty before Orange County Court Judge Craig Stephen Brown to Murder in the Second Degree, in connection with the shooting death of his brother on February 6, 2018, at Mountain Lodge Park, in the Town of Blooming Grove.

At the time that he pleaded guilty, Bawn admitted that he intentionally killed his brother by shooting him. Prosecutors argued that the victim had been shot four times in the head and torso with a .45 caliber pistol. Under a plea agreement placed on the record at the time that Bawn pleaded guilty, he will be sentenced to twenty years to life in state prison when he is sentenced on October 22, 2018.

District Attorney Hoovler thanked the New York State Police and the Town of Blooming Grove Police Department for their investigation of the case and the defendant’s arrest.

“There is no more serious crime than intentional murder, and the relationship between this defendant and the victim makes this crime even more incomprehencable,” said District Attorney Hoovler. “I thank the New York State Police and the Town of Blooming Gove Police Department for their thorough investigation of this case. Our community will be safer during the two decades that this defendant will be in prison.”

District Attorney Hoovler highly commended Assistant District Attorney Jessica Dovico who is prosecuting the case.

A criminal charge is merely an allegation that a defendant has committed a violation of the criminal law, and it is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the State of New York’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.