TRUMANSBURG (AP) -- A 29-year-old man has been acquitted of murder in the shooting of his father during a confrontation at their central New York home.
The Ithaca Journal reportsthat a city court judge ruled Thursday that Matthew Taranto was not guilty of second-degree murder in the November 2010 death of his 59-year-old father, Salvatore. Taranto's defense waived his right to a jury in favor of a bench trial.
Authorities say Taranto, who has Asperger's syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder, shot his father after being threatened by him in the family's home in the Finger Lakes village of Trumansburg.
Matthew Taranto told investigators that on the night of the shooting, his father threatened him with a knife and a handgun while insulting him and calling him obscene names.
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