Suspect in 2004 Henrietta hotel murder pleads not guilty

Posted at: 09/21/2012 5:10 PM

 A Rochester man accused of shooting and killing an RIT student, who was working overnight at the front desk of a Henrietta hotel in 2004, faced a judge Friday. 

Michael Baccari pled not guilty Friday morning to murder charges. He was indicted by grand jury just days ago.

Investigators say he is responsible for killing 33-year-old Paul Palletier during an attempted robbery. It happened inside a Comfort Inn Suites lobby on Hylan Drive in August 2004.

The assistant district attorney says Baccari has been a person of interest for quite some time during a very tedious investigation. 

Pat Farrell, Assistant District Attorney, said, “It was just a long thorough investigation by the members of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. Like I said, this case was worked by several different investigators so at times an investigator would work and then another would take over and just as the year went on they kind of put the case together.” 

Investigators believe Baccari was not acting alone in the robbery. They do have another suspect but have not made an arrest yet. The case is still under investigation.

Have a story you want our news team to investigate? Call us at 585-232-1010, click here to send us an e-mail or leave us a Facebook post or tweet.

Print Story