Pittsfield Police Arrest Man Allegedly Involved in Fatal Stabbing

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Update: Josiah Helmer, age 27, was arraigned for murder on Friday in Central Berkshire District Court and held without the right of bail. He is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Oct. 10. 
 
PITTSFILED, Mass. — A 27-year-old city man has been arrested in Tuesday's fatal stabbing. 
 
Multiple law enforcement officers arrested Josiah Helmer on Thursday at a residence on Dalton Avenue on an outstanding warrant charging him with murder. 
 
The charge stemmed from the stabbing that occurred on Melville Street on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 12. Police responded at about 10:45 p.m. to the report of a stabbing on Melville Street, near the intersection with First Street. A 42-year-old man, whose identity was not disclosed, was found at the scene. Officers, firefighters and Action Ambulance Personnel provided the victim with emergency medical care and he was transported to Berkshire Medical Center, where he later died. 
 
Helmer was booked and is expected to be arraigned in Pittsfield District Court later Friday.
 
The collaborative investigation after the homicide led to the suspect's apprehension less than 48 hours after his violent crime. The investigation and arrest were effectuated by the following agencies and departments: 
  • PPD Detective Bureau
  • PPD Drug Unit
  • PPD Anti-Crime Unit
  • PPD Patrol Division
  • Berkshire County Special Response Team
  • Berkshire County Sheriff's Department 
  • Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit Assigned to the Berkshire County District Attorney's Office
Anyone who wishes to provide information on this case is asked to contact Detective Neil Goodrich at 413-448-9700 x554. Information can also be provided anonymously via the Detective Bureau Tip Line at 413-448-9706, or by texting PITTIP and your message to
TIP411 (847411).

Tags: homicide,   murder,   stabbing,   

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Dalton Town Meeting May 6 Preview

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — Voters at the annual town meeting on Monday, May 6, will decide 22 articles, including articles on sidewalks and the authorization of a number of spending articles, including an approximate $22 million budget. 
 
The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at Wahconah Regional High School. Town meeting documents can be found here.
 
A little more than a dozen voters attended the nearly two-hour town meeting information session on Monday. 
 
"That budget is going up about 8 percent from what it was last year. Sounds like a lot, it is a lot, the majority of that is coming from increases in insurance, and schools, and other things the town does not have direct control over," Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson said.
 
"So, the actual town increase is a little under 4 percent. Everything else we're at the mercy of outside forces."
 
Of the $22 million budget, $10,537,044 is the assessment for the Central Berkshire Regional School District and about $10 million is the town operating budget.
 
"Last year, that part of the budget went up 10 percent. So, we're going in the right direction. It's not as low as we'd necessarily like to see, but I think both the Select Board and the Finance Committee did a great job this year of trimming away where they could," Hutcheson said. 
 
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