Ulster Man Convicted Of Shooting, Killing Childhood Friend

ULSTER, NY — A town of Ulster man was convicted of killing a California man who was visiting relatives in Rhinebeck.

The Ulster County District Attorney’s Office said Gregory Thayer, 50, of Ulster, was convicted in a non-jury trial of first-degree manslaughter.

A judge found that Thayer had shot and killed Bruce Swierc, 48, a California resident, who was a childhood friend of Thayer.

The conviction, according to prosecutors, means that Thayer committed second-degree murder as charged by an Ulster County grand jury in 2021, but suffered extreme emotional disturbance at the time. Under the law, that permits conviction only of first-degree manslaughter.

He was also convicted of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony.

The manslaughter conviction carries a sentence of up to 25 years in state prison; the weapon charge, up to 15 years. When sentenced July 21, Thayer is vulnerable for consecutive sentences.

Prosecutors said, on Sept. 29 2021, Thayer was “pissed off” that Swierc was “talking trash” and “making f***ed up comments” and left the kitchen where the two had been hanging out during the evening.

Thayer then went up to his bedroom, got a gun, returned downstairs to the kitchen and shot Swierc in the back of the head while he was sitting at the kitchen table.

After the shooting, Thayer called his sister instead of 911 or the police.

Swierc lived in California with his wife and family. He was visiting the Hudson Valley, where he had grown up, to console his mother, a Rhinebeck resident, who had recently lost her partner after losing her sister.

He had planned to spend a few more days to see relatives and Thayer with whom he had been close since childhood, before returning to his wife and kids in California.

Thayer’s attorney claimed Thayer was “intoxicated” by alcohol and Xanax without any evidence of how much he drank or any evidence that a drug had been taken.

Following Thayer’s conviction, the district attorney’s office requested that he be sent to the Ulster County Jail since there was no longer a presumption of innocence and because he faces consecutive sentences. The judge granted the request, and Thayer was sent to jail without the possibility of bail.