Middletown man pleads not guilty in shooting death of wife

A Middletown man entered a not guilty plea today in the shooting death of his wife just a few days before Christmas.

Gregory Orona Jr., 35, of Wilbraham Road, was indicted last week by a Butler County grand jury on the charge of murder with a gun specification, which if convicted, would add an additional three years to a prison sentence. Murder carries a penalty of 15 years to life in prison.

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Orona was arraigned today on the indictment in Butler County Common Pleas Court. He was arrested by Middletown police after the Dec. 17 shooting death of Cassie Sanders-Orona, 42, in their home.

Butler County Assistant Prosecutor Brad Burress told Judge Michael Oster that evidence from the investigation, including a four- to five-hour interview that Orona gave to police, would soon be turned over to defense attorneys.

Oster continued bond of $500,000 and Orona is scheduled to be back in court March 13 for a pre-trial hearing.

Orona’s family was in the courtroom, but declined comment after the hearing.

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Family members say Cassie Sanders-Orona, 42, was abused by Orona. Since late May, Middletown police have responded to the address in the 2900 block of Wilbraham Road about a dozen times. Several times, police were called to break up altercations between the couple, according to police reports.

During a preliminary hearing in December, police testified that Orona told officers that he heard what he thought was an intruder outside their Wilbraham Road residence and that his 20-gauge shotgun accidentally went off.

Orona’s stories and the crime scene evidence were not consistent, police said.

Gregory Orona Sr. told this news outlet that his son was climbing over Sanders with the 20-gauge single-shot shotgun in his hand when the gun fired. He said his son had a finger on the trigger but did not realize the shotgun had been cocked when it went off.

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