The court has been supervising Stuart's pre-trial conditions of release since he got out of a hospital after recuperating from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his stomach suffered after a daylong standoff at his Ludlow home.
George Stuart
SPRINGFIELD — George W. Stuart, the retired Springfield police officer arrested after an arson and standoff at his Ludlow home in July, will be allowed to live in an apartment on East Street in Ludlow.
Stuart, 71, was in Hampden Superior Court on Wednesday with his lawyer seeking to change the conditions of his probation.
The court has been supervising Stuart’s pre-trial conditions of release since he got out of a hospital after recuperating from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his stomach that he suffered at the end of the standoff.
Stuart is charged with burning a dwelling, and is free on electronic monitoring after posting $250,000 bail.
Earlier this month, Judge Bertha D. Josephson approved defense lawyer Thomas J. Rooke’s request that Stuart live with a friend, Jeffrey Roberts, at 23 Shoreline Drive in Ware.
Judge Cornelius J. Moriarty on Wednesday approved the change in release conditions to allow Stuart to live in an apartment at 811 East St. in Ludlow.
His probation conditions continue to state he can only leave the house for medical and legal appointments and he must attend outpatient counseling.
Rooke, in his request for the change in where Stuart will live, said it is much closer to the outpatient counseling Stuart is getting from Wing Memorial Hospital.
Rooke also wrote that the Ludlow apartment is closer to Stuart’s primary residence at 795 Center St., and that contractors who are renovating the home because of the fire can meet with him in his apartment.
The prosecution did not object to the change in Stuart’s probation conditions.
Stuart shot himself following a 7½-hour standoff with police in Ludlow on July 18.
Stuart, who was apparently distraught over a pending divorce, claimed in a letter he wrote to his wife to have shredded $1.5 million in cash, stocks and bonds and used the material to start the fire that severely damaged their home.
A pre-trial hearing in the arson case will be held March 7.