Burlington, VT – A man accused of killing and dismembering his wife in Vermont two years ago was back in court Wednesday morning.

Joseph Ferlazzo, 42, is accused of shooting and killing his wife Emily Ferlazzo, 22, while they were on vacation in Bolton celebrating their first wedding anniversary in October of 2021. Prosecutors allege Joseph used a Glock handgun to shoot Emily in the head twice after the two got into an argument and physical altercation. They say he then used a handsaw to cut her body into pieces, and hid her remains in their camper.

The case is likely headed towards a trial next year or possibly later, as he pleaded not guilty to killing Emily after he was arrested. However, a trial date was not yet the main talking point in court Wednesday morning.

Ferlazzo was brought into the courtroom in handcuffs and chains to listen in as the judge and attorneys discussed firearms that were recovered from the scene two years ago. Attorneys said that investigators found seven firearms in their search, between three or five of which were found in their camper.

The motion put forward in Wednesday’s hearing had to do with testing the firearms and using bullets similar to the ones found on scene, likely to build more evidence in the case. Marc Preston, a private investigator and ballistics expert, was brought in to testify. Preston runs his own private detective agency called MPI Investigations and also owns a firearms education range in South Royalton called “Vermont Firearm Safety”.

Preston told the court he will test the guns recovered from the crime scene at his range.

“We agreed that any weapons in question and identified by your staff, that I will go to the range, I will test each weapon physically with ammunition that’s compatible to what is documented to have been on the scene,” Preston said speaking to an attorney. “If there’s any attachments or anything like that to the weapon, we’ll do firings of both attached and detached, and then [get] video tape and measurements of any of those results.”

The court did officially grant a Motion to Compel for the firearms test, but a date has not yet been picked for the test to take place. Attorneys with the state asked the judge if it could happen within 30 to 60 days, and the judge did set a deadline of September 30. Once the test has happened, there will likely be another hearing, and we’ll see how many steps closer that brings the case towards a trial.