Troopers: Son shoots, kills father in Montgomery County; First-degree manslaughter charged

PHOTOGRAPHER: Gazette

Alexander R. Eller is led out of Town of Glen Court Monday afternoon

TOWN OF MOHAWK – A 20-year-old man shot and killed his father at the family’s property near Fonda early Monday, state police said.

The suspect used a rifle to shoot his father once in the chest and then called 911 to report the shooting and surrender, they said.

Killed was Dallas B. Eller Jr., 56, of 571 Route 334, town of Mohawk, state police said. He died at the scene.

His son, Alexander R. Eller, 20, who lived in a camper on the same property, was charged with first-degree manslaughter in his father’s death.

He was arraigned in Glen Town Court just before a Monday afternoon press conference in the case and ordered held on $25,000 bail. He was dressed in a white garment, apparently provided him by the state police, and had light blue covering on his feet.

A state trooper at the scene Monday. (Photo by Marc Schultz/Gazette Photographer)

State police believe Alexander Eller shot his father after a verbal exchange, but not a physical confrontation, state police Capt. Richard O’Brien told reporters Monday. Police did not provide a motive.

No one else was in the home at the time, O’Brien said.

Alexander Eller is formally accused of intending to cause his father serious physical injury and then causing his father’s death, according to the charging document. State police did not outline what led them to file the first-degree manslaughter charge as opposed to a more serious murder charge.

State police were dispatched to the residence at about 5:43 a.m. after Alexander Eller called 911 to report he had shot his father at the 571 State Route 334 residence, state police said. The property is just south Old Trail Road and the Fulton County line.

State police and Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the home and found Dallas Eller suffering from a single gunshot wound to his chest. Paramedics attempted life-saving measures, but he died at the scene, state police said.

Alexander Eller, who remained on the phone with the dispatcher, followed instructions to come out of the house and show his hands as police arrived, O’Brien told reporters.

The state police press conference:

O’Brien commended the dispatcher for being able to talk Alexander Eller through surrendering without further incident.

“The dispatcher did a great job in obtaining the information we needed to successfully have this individual surrender,” he said.

Eller then cooperated investigators, O’Brien said.

Law enforcement had been to the home in the past, but not recently, O’Brien said. He did not have further information on previous calls there.

Dallas Eller’s Facebook page lists him as being from Randall in the town of Root, and currently of Fonda. Little else is publicly available on the page, with the most recent visible updates coming in 2013.

Alexander Eller faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the first-degree manslaughter charge.

Gazette reporter Jeff Wilkin contributed to this article.