TOWN OF NIAGARA — A Niagara Falls couple waived their right to a preliminary hearing in Town of Niagara Court Monday morning and their case, charging them in what law enforcement sources have described as a “vicious and violent” attack on a Town of Niagara man, will now go to a Niagara County grand jury.
Gregory Perry, 31, and Ashley McMillen, 35, both of the Falls, remain jailed. Perry is being held without bail, while McMillen is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
The pair were taken into custody late Tuesday night after Town of Niagara police and Niagara County Sheriff’s Office investigators forced their way into a Cayuga Village trailer and discovered a man in his 70s, bound and beaten in his bathroom. Sources who have reviewed law enforcement body camera video of the discovery of the victim characterized the footage as “disturbing.”
Perry has been charged with second-degree assault, first-degree criminal contempt, second-degree kidnapping and second-degree robbery. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
McMillen was charged with single counts of second-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping and second-degree robbery. She has also pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Town of Niagara Police Chief Craig Guillani said the victim’s son reported him missing on Tuesday afternoon. The chief said he went to the victim’s home, a trailer in the Cayuga Village park, where he encountered Perry.
Perry had been described to law enforcement as a “stepson” of the victim or a “caregiver.” Law enforcement sources said they later learned that Perry had no family ties to the victim and that a court-issued order of protection barred him from contact with the man.
After locating the victim’s car, parked and locked, a block from the victim’s home,” Guillani said he reached out to sheriff’s office investigators for assistance.
While declining to go into detail about what additional evidence was discovered by the investigators, Guillani said the law enforcement agents became concerned for the victim’s safety and “forced entry” back into the trailer.
Once inside the trailer, town police and the sheriff’s investigators searched the residence and discovered the victim, suffering from serious injuries and “restrained” in the bathroom.
“It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Guillani said.
The victim was taken to the Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo for treatment of his injuries. Sources said the injuries were considered life-threatening.
Guillani praised the assistance from the sheriff’s investigators and said the investigation of the kidnapping and attack remains “active.”