DuBOIS – More details have been released on the murder of a DuBois man by his roommate early Saturday morning.
Police say Christopher T. Euard, 52, was taken into custody and placed in the Clearfield County Jail with no bail shortly after a shooting at his Treasure Lake home. He reportedly called authorities on his own around 3 a.m., admitting he shot and killed his roommate, Timothy Pirraglia.
Euard told police that he and Pirraglia had been fighting regarding their living arrangements. He explained that when Pirraglia got home from work on Friday night at 9:30 p.m., they argued. The encounter turned “physical as Pirraglia knocked him (Euard) to the ground, striking him with his fist and forcefully pushed his head into a corner,” it says in the affidavit of probable cause.
After Pirraglia stood up, they both walked away into their separate bedrooms.
After 35 minutes, Pirraglia informed Euard that he was leaving the house. Euard reportedly admitted that he exited his room with his AR style firearm, walked down the hall and confronted Pirraglia. Another verbal confrontation erupted.
That is when Euard said he fired one round from the firearm striking Pirraglia in the chest, and causing him to fall to the ground. Euard admitted he did not see any weapons in Pirraglia’s possession, police said.
When asked why he waited until after 3 a.m. to report the crime, Euard said he “passed out.” A third resident of the home was questioned about the murder. His story corroborated much of Euard’s version of events including Pirraglia knocking Euard to the ground when they argued earlier in the night.
This witness said after their fight, he decided to leave the house because he didn’t want any “part of the confrontation.”
Before he left, he saw Euard exit his room and walk down the hall toward both him and Pirraglia. They started arguing again. The witness said he heard Pirraglia yell “do it!” and “you’re not going to do it!” He also heard Pirraglia insult Euard.
After this, the witness said he heard a “loud pop” and looked over to see Pirraglia on the ground. He asked “what was that?” and Euard responded “he’s down.” The witness asked “what do you mean he’s down?” Euard said “you know what happened.”
At this point the witness said he stated “I just want to leave. I don’t want any part of this. Why would you put me in this situation? I don’t know what to do. What do I do?”
Euard responded “you can’t say anything” and suggested the witness spend the night in a hotel. The witness immediately left and stayed with friends. His call to them came at 10:36 p.m. on Friday night, according to the report.
Euard, who is charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Friday at 10:30 a.m. during centralized court.
