A retired Poughkeepsie firefighter fatally shot his wife multiple times and then killed himself Friday, Aug. 21, at their Milton Turnpike home, the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office said Monday, updating an earlier account of the deaths that had been under investigation since the weekend.

James “Jimmy” Brugger, 66, shot and killed his wife, Melinda “Mindy” Brugger, 54, then tampered with and removed evidence from the scene in an apparent attempt to conceal what happened before fatally shooting himself, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Investigators said the killing appears to stem from unresolved domestic issues.

The couple was found unconscious and unresponsive inside their home at approximately 11:42 p.m. Friday by a family member and the family member’s friend, who called 911, the Sheriff’s Office said. Deputies, New York State Police troopers and Plattekill Police Department officers responded, along with the New Paltz Rescue Squad and Clintondale Fire Department. Police and EMS personnel determined both were dead at the scene.

The case was turned over to Sheriff’s Office detectives for a death investigation. During the preliminary investigation, detectives found evidence that an attempt had been made to tamper with and conceal evidence at the scene, prompting the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation — including its Forensic Identification Unit and Major Crimes Unit — to assist. Investigators searched the residence and surrounding property to establish the sequence of events.

The investigation also drew assistance from the Ulster County Medical Examiner’s Office, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit and the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office.

Citing the family’s privacy, the Sheriff’s Office said it would not provide further comment, take questions or respond to additional requests for information about the investigation.

A Decades-Long Career in Fire Service
Jimmy Brugger’s fire service career began in 1987, when he joined the Plattekill Fire Department as a volunteer. He served there for 20 years, including as chief. Two months after joining as a volunteer, he was hired as a professional firefighter with the Poughkeepsie Fire Department and later graduated from the Westchester Career Chiefs Academy. He retired from Poughkeepsie in 2025 after 27 1/2 years of service. He continued volunteering with the Milton Fire Department starting in 2007 and was still serving there at the time of his death.

He became an Ulster County fire instructor in 2005 and a certified New York state fire instructor in 2010. He was also known for playing bagpipes and belonged to several pipe and drum organizations.

Marlborough Town Board Hears Tribute to Mindy Brugger

Three days after the couple was found dead, the impact of Mindy Brugger’s life and service was felt at the Marlborough Town Board meeting Monday, Aug. 24, where a representative of the Sarah Hull Hallock Free Library remembered her contributions to the Milton community and asked that they be memorialized.
Speaking during public comment, Milton resident Maribeth King, trustee president of the library, said the organization was mourning Brugger’s sudden death and recalled a side of her community service that extended beyond her professional emergency-management work.

Brugger was a certified EMT and CPR instructor with ties to the Milton Fire Department. Professionally, she held a senior safety and emergency-management role with Westchester Medical Center, overseeing emergency preparedness and life-safety operations at hospital sites across the region. King described her work as centered on protecting people, strengthening emergency systems and helping communities prepare for crises.

It was Brugger’s personal assistance to the small Milton library, however, that became the focus of the tribute. After the Milton Fire Department purchased a new automated external defibrillator, Brugger and another community member helped arrange for the department’s previous unit to be donated to the library. Brugger met with library trustees and staff to demonstrate how the AED worked and answer questions about using it in an emergency, King said.

King told the Town Board that Brugger’s death had left a void in the community and asked town and fire officials to consider placing a memorial brick at the library in her honor. She then asked those in attendance to close their eyes as she read a remembrance for Mindy and her husband, a tribute that repeated the refrain “we remember them.”

Statements From First-Responder and County Officials
The Plattekill Fire Department, where Jimmy Brugger previously served as chief and Mindy Brugger served as past EMS captain, issued a statement saying members “continue to be heartbroken by the tragic loss” of Mindy Brugger, calling her “a compassionate friend, trusted colleague, respected leader.” The department said the actions of the person responsible “were his own and do not represent the values of the Plattekill Fire Department, the fire service, or the members who continue to serve this community with honor, compassion, and respect for human life,” adding that “there is no title, position, length of service, accomplishment, or personal history that can excuse or diminish such an act of violence.”

Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger also issued a statement, saying the findings of the investigation had “shaken all of us” and that domestic violence “crosses every line of profession, income, and community.” Metzger said no amount of public service excuses violence that takes another person’s life and urged anyone experiencing or concerned about domestic violence to seek help.

Resources cited by the county include Family of Woodstock’s 24-hour domestic violence hotline, (845) 679-2485, with a Spanish-language line available from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at (845) 679-5460; the Ulster County Crime Victims Assistance Crisis Hotline, (845) 340-3443 on weekdays and (845) 340-3442 on nights, weekends and holidays; the National Domestic Violence Hotline, (800) 799-7233 or text “START” to 88788; and a hotline for deaf survivors of domestic violence, (855) 812-1001 or text LOVEIS to 22522. The New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence can be reached at (800) 942-6906 or by texting 844-997-2121. First responders seeking support can contact the Ulster County Officer Wellness Unit at wellness@ulstercountyny.gov or (845) 475-7536.