Man who shot a man in his sleep on a Christmas in Easton sentenced to prison in Fall River

A 54-year-old East Bridgewater man who shot a man while sleeping in his bed in Easton on Christmas morning of 2017 was convicted at trial this week and sentenced to serve up to 20 years in state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

According to Gregg Miliote of the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, Lee Fruzzetti was convicted Tuesday of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon after a five-day trial in Fall River Superior Court. The trial was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Michael Sheehan and the 15 to 20 year state prison term was imposed by Judge Thomas McGuire.

On December 25, 2017 at around 3 a.m., Easton Police responded to a home on Massapoag Avenue for a report of a male victim who had been shot twice while he slept in bed. The victim was located and rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton, where he was treated for a gunshot wound to his shoulder and hip.

An investigation revealed that the victim had been sleeping in his parents’ pool house when the defendant walked onto the property and shot at him twice while he slept. During the course of the investigation, it was learned that the defendant had been engaged in a previous relationship with the victim’s ex-wife and that an antagonistic relationship had developed between the two men. Surveillance video from the area showed that a vehicle matching the defendant’s vehicle was seen driving to the home. Additionally, cell phone location data proved that the defendant was in the immediate vicinity of the shooting at the time it occurred. The defendant, several weeks after the shooting, also called the victim and told him, “Sleep with one eye open. I’m going to finish you off.”

“Shooting the victim in bed on Christmas Day speaks for itself. Fortunately, the victim was not killed by the defendant, who has a history of breaking the law,” District Attorney Quinn said. “The only alternative is to keep this defendant off the street for a long time to protect the victim and the public.”