Update: Henrietta hotel murder suspect arrested 26 times since 1999

Posted at: 09/06/2012 9:35 PM | Updated at: 09/07/2012 3:50 PM
By: Berkeley Brean | WHEC.com

We just learned through police, that the suspect in the 2004 murder of a Henrietta hotel clerk was arrested 26 times since 1999. Some of the arrests, including a stint in prison, happened after the murder.

Investigators have charged 56-year-old Michael Baccari of Rochester with second-degree murder in connection with the death of Paul Pelletier.

Pelletier was working the reception desk at the Comfort Inn Suites on Hylan Drive back on August 2, 2004. Around 3 a.m., a worker from an adjacent building found Pelletier on the floor near the check-in desk. The sheriff's office says he had been stabbed to death.

Officials aren't commenting on a motive, but back then said it appeared to be an attempted robbery.

Police say Baccari is a former Kodak employee.

The court papers

We were able to read the murder complaint against Baccari. It says Baccari "entered the Comfort Inn and Suites... with at least one other person and while inside (Baccari) shot Paul Pelletier with a .380 grain hollow point round."

New Information

Records from the State Department of Corrections show that Baccari served 6 months in prison for a burglary conviction. The prison term start in November of 2006, two years after the murder. Baccari was released in May of 2007.

The sheriff says investigators never give up on cases and says he hopes this arrest will bring a sense of closure to Pelletier's friends and loved ones.

The victim's mother

News10NBC just spoke on the phone with the mother of Paul Pelletier, the RIT student who was shot and killed at the hotel he worked at in 2004. The Sheriff's Office just made an arrest in the case.

"I was shocked, my goodness, it's been a long time since this happened. because that was what? Eight years ago?" Stella Pelletier asked.

"Is there any sense of relief (after the arrest)?" I asked.
"Not really. Not until they find the other person that is supposed to be in this picture or something. That's what we're waiting for mostly.

"Are you still angry about what happened?" I asked.
"No not really. I figure, I just prayed he went to heaven. I'm a Catholic so that's what I think, because he was a good person. He really was." 

The sheriff is not elaborating on what led investigators to the suspect. However, he says he thinks there are other people who know what happened in the early morning hours of that August day, and is asking those people to call 911.

Baccari is being held at the Monroe County Jail on no bail.

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