Trial starts for man charged with attempted murder in wedding shootings

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — A man accused of shooting and wounding a New Hampshire bishop and the bride at a church wedding ceremony in 2019 fired at the couple just as they were being pronounced husband and wife, a prosecutor told a jury Tuesday.

“With just a few shots, the defendant turned marriage into mayhem,” prosecutor Seth Dobieski said of Dale Holloway, who’s accused of two counts of attempted murder and assault charges.

Dobieski said the October 2019 shootings happened nearly two weeks after Holloway’s stepfather, a pastor at the church, was killed by the son of the groom. The son was later sentenced to prison. A separate celebration of life ceremony for the pastor had been planned at the church for later that day.

Holloway, 41, is already serving 7 1/2 to 15 years in state prison for assaulting his lawyer. He’s acting as his own attorney in the wedding shooting trial in Nashua. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, and has told a judge that he plans to use an insanity defense.

“You have heard both the judge and state say that I don’t have to prove my innocence,” Holloway said. “That I am innocent until proven guilty of these charges. But I can and I will present the actual, factual truth just because I am not guilty of these charges.”

Stanley Choate, the bishop, was shot in the chest at the New England Pentecostal Ministries in Pelham. The bride, Claire McMullen, was shot in the arm.

Authorities said the groom, Mark Castiglione, is the father of a man who was charged with killing Holloway’s stepfather.

Brandon Castiglione was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 42 years in prison earlier this year for fatally shooting Holloway’s stepfather, Luis Garcia, inside his home. Garcia was a pastor at New England Pentecostal Ministries. There was no clear motive for the shooting.