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Police: body found in burned-out house

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Eyewitness News

(Margaretville, NY - WABC, April 25, 2007) (WABC) -- New York State Police say they have recovered a badly charred body in an Upstate New York house where a man suspected of shooting three state troopers, one fatally, had been hiding all day.

Police could not immediately confirm the body was that of Travis Trim, a 23-year-old from northern New York whom police had been looking for since a trooper was shot during a routine traffic stop on Tuesday in upstate New York.

"The body was slumped in a doorway holding a rifle," Preston Felton, acting superintendent of the New York State Police, said at a news conference on Wednesday night.

Earlier in the night, Preston had said there was a "reasonable degree of certainty" that Trim was hiding in the unoccupied house in Delaware County when the fire broke out. The body was found in second floor doorway, Felton said.

"I can't tell you whether he was dead or alive when the fire started," he said. Felton said it could take a day or two to identify the body.

It all happened as police stormed a home looking for Trim, the man suspected of shooting state trooper Matthew Gombosi in the chest outside a store on Main Street in Margaretville on Tuesday. Two more troopers investigating that crime were shot today, and one died. Authorities believe Trim shot all three troopers.

The trooper killed on Wednesday is David Brinkerhoff, an 8 1/2 year veteran of the state police who was currently a member of the elite Mobile Response Team. He is survived by his wife, Barbara, and a 7-month-old daughter.

Trooper Richard Mattson was wounded in the left arm. He was in serious but stable condition after surgery at Albany Medical Center, where he was taken by helicopter.

The fire erupted soon after an armored vehicle rolled up close and police fired tear gas into the building. SWAT teams tried to enter the house at about 5:50 p.m., but were driven back by the flames. Half the house was burning by 6:15 p.m.

Felton said police fired a "non-incendiary type" device containing tear gas into the home at about 6 p.m. as troopers stormed in to search room-by-room for Trim. A robot and cameras mounted on poles had been used to check every room but one where Trim was believed holed up during the day, he said.

He said the cause of the fire that thwarted the search isn't known. It's possible Trim set the fire, Felton said, or a tear gas round could have ignited something. "We are looking closer at the type of round that was fired into the residence, the type of tear gas round," he said.

Despite witnesses' accounts of gunfire directed at the house, Felton said police did not fire bullets into the structure, just the tear gas rounds.

Police said the owner of the house is Rommel Aujero and that he has a "connection to law enforcement." Felton added that "He is aware his house has burned. He appears to be a very understanding man and we thank him for that."

Trim's relatives expressed anxiety as the day unfolded.

"I don't think there's anyway for this to turn out good now. Not after shooting a trooper," said Ruth Trim, the suspect's grandmother.

As you would imagine, New York state police had been doing everything they can to catch the suspect.

"It's crazy, I grew up here and I'm just coming back on spring break yesterday, and I was stopped by some road blocks and found out there was a shooting at the country store right next to the high school I went to," said one resident.

State and local police blocked roads during the day, and searched cars looking for Trim before focusing on the vacant home.

The stolen Dodge Caravan police think Trim had been driving earlier was found abandoned in Middletown, New York. That discovery led to a lockdown of some area schools, and residents were asked to lock their doors and keep the keys out of their cars.

Last summer, Ralph "Bucky" Phillips led police on a five-month manhunt throughout heavily wooded western New York after breaking out of a county jail. During his time on the run, he shot one trooper during a traffic stop and two others who were searching for him, both members of a special tactics unit that was called in to hunt for the fugitive. One of those troopers later died.

Phillips was captured in September and is currently serving two life sentences.

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