Wareham man acted in self-defense when he killed two men, attorney says

Donatelle said Walling and his girlfriend were in his motel room when someone knocked on the door and claimed to be a man with whom Walling has been feuding. Donatelle said Walling and his girlfriend knew it was not that man and refused to open the door.

“The door was kicked in and there were two masked males, and according to Walling, one was armed with a black handgun,’’ Donatelle said.

According to both Donatelle and Walling’s attorney, Jack Atwood, Walling bull rushed one of the men and pushed him back into the hallway. Walling then went into another other motel room, chased by the man who tried to push open the door as Walling repeatedly slammed it on the man’s leg.

At the same time, Walling’s girlfriend was screaming for help, according to both the prosecution and Atwood. The man broke off the attack and Walling went to help his girlfriend. One of the men had his girlfriend pressed up against the wall and was demanding money.

At that point, Atwood said, Walling pulled out a folding knife for the first time and began swinging it wildly at the two men.

“She is screaming her head off for help…He’s pushing and pulling at anything he can get a knife into,’’ Atwood said of Walling. He said one of the deceased had a defensive wound on one hand, while the other had no defensive wounds. “And, obviously, he is connecting.’’

Now bleeding from stab wounds, Bolia broke away and ran out the front door, Atwood said. Aponte continued to fight with Walling and was on top of him when another resident of the motel slammed Aponte in the head with a fire extinguisher.

Aponte then ran out the back door and into the woods. When his body was found there was a pellet gun lying near him. He had a red bandana around his neck, Donatelle said. The prosecutor said only a pellet gun was found.

Bolia was rushed to Tobey Hospital in Wareham where he was later pronounced dead.
According to Atwood, Bolia learned from an acquaintance that Walling had inherited some cash, and that the 5 foot, 6 inch Walling would be an “easy target’’ for Bolia and Aponte, both of whom were at least 6 feet tall.

Atwood said Walling had inherited a total of $10,000 cash late last year. Police found $2,500 cash in Walling’s room this weekend, $500 of which belonged to his girlfriend, Atwood said.

“My guy told a straight story throughout,’’ Atwood said of Walling. He said his client attended UMass-Dartmouth for one year, but has most recently worked as the handyman for the White Pines which is owned by his girlfriend’s family.

Bail was set at $50,000 cash for Walling. He is already facing prosecution in Barnstable County for allegedly stabbing another person last year, and was accused today of attacking a fellow Wareham motel resident with a knife Jan. 2.

Atwood said the earlier incident is based on false allegations made by a friend of the Bolia’s and was only acted on by police after the weekend’s fatal and violent events.