Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Lawyers have narrowed down the jury to eight women and six men to decide whether Nicholas Gianquitti is guilty of murdering his neighbor, James Pagano, on May 18, 2008.

Two of the original jurors selected to hear the case were dismissed.

Juror No. 95, the only juror who said he had served on a jury before, will serve as the foreman.

The verdict must be unanimous.

Before the jurors retired to discuss the case, Superior Court Judge Robert D. Krause extended the customary warnings to the dismissed jurors: they may be called back in if one of the jurors becomes unavailable; they should avoid reading newspapers and discussing the case; and they should preferably avoid going to work -- as far as their employer is concerned, they are still on active jury duty.

Gianquitti and Pagano had sparred over the way Gianquitti spoke to Pagano's children and nephews after they hit Gianquitti's car with a stray tennis ball while playing baseball on the Cranston cul-de-sac where both men live.

Gianquitti, 40, of 16 Daisy Court, was indicted via a grand jury in August on charges of murder and discharging a firearm during the commission of a violent crime in connection to the May 18, 2008, fatal shooting. He has been held at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston since his arrest.

Pagano, a Cranston fire lieutenant, died from a single gunshot to the torso, according to autopsy results. Dr. Alexander Chirkov, the state's assistant medical examiner, who conducted the autopsy, testified last week that the bullet entered through Pagano's lower back and traveled at a 45-degree angle, tearing through Pagano's aorta, pancreas and liver.

Gianquitti, who briefly served as a Providence police officer before retiring on disability, has said he shot Pagano because he feared for his life as Pagano came into his house.

Get the latest blog posts from the trial.

Extra: Our continuing report on the shooting of James Pagano.

 Tags  Gianquitti James Pagano Nicholas Gianquitti Superior Court

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