VERNON–The verdict has been rendered after a bizarre and tragic incident occurred in Vernon.
On July 13, 2014 at around 6 p.m. Vernon Police received an emergency call that a man had shot himself in his apartment.
John Dybowski, 27, of Vernon, made the call, saying the incident occurred in his apartment.
When police arrived Dybowski was visibly upset and said the victim had shot himself.
Police found Armand Cyr, 39, on the couch with a gun shot wound to the right side of his head, above his ear. Cyr was holding the revolver in his right hand, and his hand had a gray discoloring on it which was possibly gun residue. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to Dybowski, Cyr came over with a 12-pack of Heinekens. He said Cyr had one can and one bottle of beer.
Dybowski says the two were talking with his girlfriend when Cyr mentioned he felt suicidal because his ex-girlfriend was trying to move to Florida with his 10-year-old daughter. Dybowski said that was the only time he ever heard Cyr speak about suicide.
Once Dybowski’s girlfriend left, he went to set up a bed for Cyr, at which point he heard a loud pop. He found Dybowski on the couch, with a gunshot wound to his head.
When police took Dybowski’s girlfriend’s statement, it didn’t match up, and Dybowski admitted he had lied. He provided a new statement saying that he had let Cyr see his revolver, which Cyr knew he had. Dybowski said he and Cyr both checked that it was empty, and Cyr “dry fired” it at the wall.
When Dybowski came out of the room from making the bed he saw Cyr playing with the gun, holding it to his head and “dry firing” it. He put it down on the table after Dybowski said what he was doing was dangerous.
Dybowski left the room again and then heard a loud bang. He ran inside to find Cyr bleeding from his head.
However, a third witness came forward to say Cyr videochatted with him as the incident occurred.
That man said he saw Dybowski spin the cylinder of the gun and put something in it before he put it up to his head and pulled the trigger. The man was shocked, and then saw Cyr take the gun and hold it to his temple. He then fired it, and the witness heard what sounded like a gunshot before he saw Cyr slump back into the couch motionless.
The witness initially thought it was a joke, but when Cyr didn’t respond the next day he realized it wasn’t.
Dybowski was immediately charged for having guns and drugs since he is a convicted felon and not permitted to have the guns.
Eventually, he was convicted for criminal possession of a firearm, making a false statement to police, reckless endangerment and tampering with evidence.
He was not charged in Cyr’s death because prosecutors couldn’t find a way to hold him responsible for it. However, the state’s attorney did tell the judge that Dybowski and Cyr were using heroin when the pair began to play “Russian roulette,” according to the Hartford Courant.
