A Milford man was acquitted Wednesday of making bomb threats and criminal mischief by a six-person jury.

Nathan J. Weldy, 27, was accused of calling bomb threats to Parker-Goshen, Syracuse, his employer, on Halloween night 2000.

Weldy was suspected of the calls when the receptionist used the *-69 feature on the telephone to identify the last caller. The number returned to Weldy's brother-in-law's telephone, which was listed as Weldy's contact number. Weldy had no home telephone at the time.

Police arrested Weldy the same night and obtained a confession. Weldy and his lawyer, David Kolbe, say the confession was coerced.

According to testimony, Weldy was interrogated by an officer who used vulagarity. The officer was "very intimidating," Weldy said. Weldy also was denied a lawyer or pastor's counsel, though he says he requested it up to five times.

During questioning, Weldy said he was led to believe that if he confessed, he could post a $100 bond and go home to his family. At about 1 a.m. Nov. 1, Weldy confessed to the crimes, saying he did it as a Halloween prank.

He was arrested and formerly charged Nov. 8, 2003, with false informing of a bomb threat and criminal mischief.

According to court documents, compelling evidence against Weldy was primarily composed of the telephone trace and confession.

Testimony given in court said the telephone trace was faulty because Parker-Goshen operates a multi-line telephone system. Incoming calls cannot be traced back to particular lines using *-69, and Weldy had legitimate reasons to call the business that day. The *-69 trace could have picked up his calls to other lines in the business on Halloween.

The four-man, two-woman jury deliberated from 9:46 a.m. to 1:36 p.m. before returning with a verdict of not guilty on all charges. [[In-content Ad]]