Indictment in fatal shooting

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A Baldwin man has been indicted for first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death last month of his former business partner, the Nassau district attorney’s office said.

Acting Supreme Court Justice William O’Brien on Oct. 2 set bail at $600,000 or $300,000 cash for Nathan Barnwell, 46, who also faces two weapons charges and a charge of tampering with evidence, the office said. Barnwell is accused of fatally shooting his former business associate, Winfield Gillespie, 39, in front of a house on Woodoak Drive in Baldwin. “The defendant and the victim had a working relationship, but that turned sour,” Acting District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement.

Singas said that Gillespie, 39, and Barnwell had had numerous business dealings together involving cars and real estate. She said the pair had stopped talking months before the shooting and accidentally crossed paths on the night of Sept. 4 at a local restaurant. Gillespie then went to Barnwell’s house to talk with him about business.

Singas said that at 12:50 a.m. on Sept. 5, Barnwell and Gillespie argued, and Barnwell shot Gillespie in the upper leg. Gillespie suffered from excessive bleeding and died at South Nassau Communities Hospital at 5:25 a.m.

Gillespie, a father of three from Stroudsburg, Pa., was buried on what would have been his 40th birthday, Singas said.

If convicted of the manslaughter charge, Barnwell faces up to 25 years in prison, the statement said. Barnwell is due to return to court Dec. 9.