Intoxicated man burned to death in campfire, police say
The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer
On Tuesday, an American flag waved from the front of 21 Altamont-Voorheesville Road in Voorheesville. The day before, the body of a man had been found in a campfire there. A woman at the house Tuesday said she had no comment and asked for privacy. The property, which includes a deep and verdant backyard, is owned by John and Barbara Jean Fredette, according to the town of New Scotland tax roll. The front door has a plaque saying “The Freddette’s.”
NEW SCOTLAND — Police yesterday identified the man they said burned to death in a campfire as Anthony J. Donato, of 64 Normanskill Road in Voorheesville.
“He was able to be identified by a partial fingerprint,” Chief Deputy Michael Monteleone, with the Albany County Sheriff’s Department, wrote in an email.
Sheriff’s deputies responded Monday, May 25, to a call at a Voorheesville home where they found a 57-year-old man had died and been badly burned in a campfire.
Donato attended a Memorial Day party on Sunday at 21 Altamont Road, according to a sheriff’s office release, and was last seen sleeping by the campfire while heavily intoxicated.
“Multiple people were camping on the property where this incident occurred,” Monteleone told The Enterprise in an email earlier this week.
Others who attended the party awoke on Monday and found Donato dead and badly burned inside the campfire, the release says.
Deputies and Albany County Paramedics responded to the scene Monday morning, Monteleone said in his email.
“Additional EMS providers were not requested, as the individual was obviously deceased,” Monteleone said of emergency medical service providers. “Additional information will released upon the conclusion of DNA testing.”
Updated on May 27, after police confirmed Anthony Donato's identity.
