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NASHUA — On what should have been the happiest day of their lives, a tragedy has haunted a couple since 2019.
Claire McMullen and Mark Castiglione, the bride and groom whose wedding in Pelham ended in gunfire, took the stand to recall the shooting that, as the prosecution said during opening statements, “turned marriage into mayhem.”
McMullen and Castiglione both testified Thursday against Dale Holloway Jr., who allegedly opened fire on Oct. 12, 2019. Holloway is accused of shooting McMullen in the arm, and shooting the officiant, Bishop Stanley Choate, in the hand and chest.
“I put up my hands, to talk him down, and he shot anyway,” Choate said during his testimony. On the wedding video, which was shown as evidence during the trial, Choate walks toward where, off-screen, someone caught his attention as he announced Castiglione and McMullen man and wife.
In the video, Choate put his hands up as he took a step, and said, “son, you don’t want to do this,” when a gunshot shattered through the church and the film cut to black.
“We were facing each other, and I did notice that the bishop was moving in a direction behind me. I saw him fall away outside of my eye,” Castiglione said. “I thought I heard a muffled shot, possibly.”
Choate had been shot in the chest, near his throat. McMullen was shot in the arm.
“I remember thinking ‘Hmm, I’ve been shot,’” McMullen said. “I didn’t even know it until I saw [the wound].”
After the emotional testimony from the three victims, prosecution had a handful of other witnesses, including the best man, Castiglione’s brother, and Castiglione’s daughter, who acted as a bridesmaid.
Gary Castiglione, the best man, said he saw Holloway approach the altar holding what appeared to be something wrapped in cloth. At first, he said, he didn’t realize that it was a gun, not until he saw Holloway raise the weapon.
Ballistics expert Jill Therriault was one of the final people called to the stand on Friday. She testified that the larger details on one of the bullets recovered from the scene matched the bullets she test fired, but the microscopic grooves weren’t a definitive match. That meant she couldn’t completely say it was the gun used, but also couldn’t deny it.
With prosecution resting their case, the trial will begin again on Monday with Holloway calling his only witness, his mother Patty Garcia. There is no word on whether Holloway will be testifying at this time.
Find Katelyn on Twitter at @KatelynSahagian
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