The Daily Freeman has dug up a shocking new piece of information about the Sunday arrest of 42-year-old Matthew DiDonna, a social studies teacher at Kingston High School and Hurley resident, on felony drug charges: DiDonna was arrested after a neighbor's sudden death.
Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright told the Freeman that DiDonna was arrested after 38-year-old Mark Conlin, a father of three and a resident of DeWitt Mills Road in Hurley, ingested some hallucinogenic mushrooms and later died in his wife's arms:
Carnright said Mark Conlin died in his wife Julie’s arms during or after a party in their home on DeWitt Mills Road in Hurley. Emergency responders went to the house after a 911 caller at 11:19 p.m. Saturday reported an “unresponsive” male.
State police Maj. Edward Raso said on Monday that investigators were “trying to verify” if Conlin’s death was connected to alleged drug sales by DiDonna, but he did not say a link had been established. Carnright, asked by a reporter on Tuesday if it was Conlin’s death that led police to arrest DiDonna, responded “yes.”
Officials do not yet know whether the mushrooms Conlin allegedly took played any role in his untimely death, and Freeman reporter Ann Gibbons notes that "no determination has been made" by investigators about whether Conlin bought mushrooms from DiDonna.
