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New Details Reveal Step-By-Step Look At Fatal Shooting Of College Dad At Hudson Valley Hotel

Newly released documents offer a step-by-step look at what led to the deadly shooting of a father from the region at a Hudson Valley hotel.

The area of the shooting and the victim, Paul Kutz.

The area of the shooting and the victim, Paul Kutz.

Photo Credit: Kayla & Jason Brodbeck and Linkendin

The documents detail how a transient by the name of Roy Johnson allegedly killed Long Island resident Paul Kutz, at the Courtyard by Marriott in the town of Poughkeepsie on Sunday, Oct. 2, while he visiting his youngest son at Marist College.

Here is info included in the documents:

At around 7:30 a.m., Johnson, armed with a loaded Glock which had been outfitted with a fixed pin to make it fully automatic entered the lobby area cursing and yelling.

The documents, released Tuesday, Oct. 11, by the Dutchess County District Attorney's Office, also say that while pacing near the barista bar, Johnson was dressed in an Army-green jacket, green boxer-type shorts, and a black balaclava over his head and face.

Johnson then approached the front desk clerk and attempted to make his way around it. The clerk put his arm out to stop him. He then turned around and walked toward the table seating area near the front door, took out the Glock, and shot Kutz, who was in the area, the documents say. 

Kutz was shot in the right side of his chest under his right armpit. The bullet hit the right top lobe of his liver, the part of both lungs, as well as his aorta, and then fractured a rib before exiting out his back, the documents show.

While Kutz, age 53, of East Northport in Suffolk County, lay dying, Johnson continued to fire the Glock inside the lobby before going outside and firing some 22 rounds in the parking lot and in the entranceway to the hotel. 

Johnson then removed his jacket and head covering and left an electronic detector device in the parking lot and put the magazine from the gun and the Glock on the top of a black BMW SUV in the parking lot and walked back into the lobby where he was taken into custody by responding officers.

At the same time, Devin Taylor was in Room 143 of the hotel with an operable AR-15 style full automatic rifle before heading to the courtyard area with a loaded Walther P22 pistol when he was approached by a police officer who ordered him to get on the ground, according to the indictment.

The indictment said Taylor began to comply, but then ran and went in and out of the hotel through various doors and corridors, with Officer Elisa Vasile chasing him.

The officer lost sight of Taylor for several seconds before he came out from behind a row of bushes and surrendered.  

The pistol was later located up against the wall in the courtyard of the hotel, the indictment said. 

The documents also say the hotel room had been rented for Taylor by a "third party" for two nights beginning on Saturday, Oct. 1.

Found inside the hotel room were:

  • Numerous weapons and ammunition including the AR-15-style rifle with no serial number
  • Three magazines with rounds
  • Three munitions handbooks
  • A guitar case retrofitted to hold the rifle
  • A bag containing two rifle bolts and a rifle rail system
  • Rifle parts
  • A bag of green leafy substance and a white-colored pill
  • A green canvas bag containing two container os TRannerite
  • A canister of "clear out" smoke bomb
  • A firearm scope
  • A knife and sheath
  • Other items

Johnson, age 35, has been indicted for one count of murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.

Taylor, age 26, has been indicted for two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of criminal possession of a weapon.

Both are being held at the Dutchess County Jail.

They are scheduled to be arraigned Friday, Oct. 14. 

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