Killer Show: The Station Nightclub Fire (60 page)

150
Two days later
Witness statement of Kevin Beese, February 22, 2003, p. 43, Q. 321.

150
On the other hand
Ibid., p. 42, Q. 319.

150
And, as for pyrotechnics
Ibid., p. 61, Qs. 433, 434.

150
Whatever Beese had learned
Witness statement of Frank Davidson, February 22, 2003; grand jury testimony of Frank Davidson, April 22, 2003.

150
So, Davidson told his whole history
Ibid.

150–51
In his second statement
Witness statement of Kevin Beese, February 25, 2003, pp. 109, 110, 139.

151
Asked if he ever tried
Ibid., pp. 139–40, Qs. 232–35.

151
In his statements to investigators
Witness statement of Frank Davidson, February 22, 2003; grand jury testimony of Frank Davidson, April, 22, 2003.

151
In a statement given four days
Witness statement of Paul Vanner, February 22, 2003, p. 14–15, Qs. 29–30, p. 15, Qs. 35–38; controlled call from Frank Davidson to Paul Vanner, February 28, 2003, pp. 58–59 (as to saying he didn’t know Frank Davidson).

151
One woman gave police
ATF interview of Mary Ellen Grelle, February 26, 2003.

151
On the day after the fire
Zachary R. Mider, “The Station Nightclub Disaster—Inspections: Rare, Informal—Records Differ on Capacity of The Station,”
Providence Journal
, March 15, 2003.

151
He “strongly denied”
Laurel J. Wett and Doug Hanchett, “Nightclub Blaze Kills at Least 96,”
Boston Herald
, February 22, 2003.

151
Confirmatory interviews and body counts
Paul Edward Parker, “462 Were in The Station on Night of Fire,”
Providence Journal
, December 3, 2007.

152
In a taped police interview
Witness statement of Denis Larocque, February 25, 2003, p. 8, Q. 42.

152
Perhaps Larocque forgot
Memorandum from West Warwick Police Department chief Peter Brousseau to West Warwick Fire Department acting chief Gerald Tellier, November 15, 1999 (“Subject: Filling Station”).

152
It probably also
Letter from West Warwick Fire Department battalion chief Denis Larocque to Triton Realty Limited Partnership, December 13, 1999.

152
Perhaps Larocque had also forgotten
Letter from West Warwick Fire Department chief Richard J. Rita to West Warwick Town Council, February 18, 2000; witness statement of Denis Larocque, February 25, 2003, p. 28.

152
Given the post-fire confusion
Memorandum from Timothy A. Williamson “To Whom It May Concern,” March 14, 2003, regarding Public Records Request—The Station.

152
A true “change in use or type of occupancy”
Rhode Island General Laws, Title 23, chap. 28.1, sec. 6.

153
Pool tables take up the same amount
Ibid., pp. 52–53.

153
Larocque used just five square feet
Ibid., pp. 23–24.

153
Hiring a firefighter does not
Ibid., p. 28.

153
The town manager pronounced that
Tom Mooney and Zachary R. Mider, “The Fire Marshal,”
Providence Journal
, December 18, 2003.

153
The response of Fire Chief Hall
Douglas Belkin, “Inspector’s Actions Are Scrutinized,”
Boston Globe
, February 27, 2003.

153–54
Town Manager Wolfgang Bauer took
Tom Mooney and Zachary R. Mider, “Fire Inspection Records Show Violations, Not Foam, at Club,”
Providence Journal
, March 4, 2003. Emphasis mine.

154
Bauer asserted, “At the outset
, Letter from Wolfgang Bauer to Governor Donald Carcieri et al., March 19, 2003, quoted by Tom Mooney in “The Station Nightclub Disaster—Town’s Bid for Aid with Fire Lawsuits Gets Little Support,”
Providence Journal
, August 1, 2003.

154
Wolfgang Bauer was in no hurry
Tracy Breton and Zachary Mider, “Town Hall Seen Releasing Nightclub Records Next Week,”
Providence Journal
, March 1, 2003.

154
In his call, Vanner volunteered
Controlled call from Frank Davidson to Paul Vanner, February 28, 2003; witness statement of Frank Davidson, p. 41–42, transcript pp. 28–29.

155
Contrary to the statements he gave police
Controlled call from Frank Davidson to Kevin Beese, March 1, 2003; witness statement of Frank Davidson, p. 147, lines 17–21.

155
As far as Beese was concerned
Ibid., p. 152, lines 2–3.

155
Unaware that the call was being recorded
Ibid., p. 152, lines 7–22.

155
told them to be careful not to “burn my building down”
Controlled call from Frank Davidson to Paul Vanner, February 28, 2003; witness statement of Frank Davidson, p. 62.

156–57
The all-too-simple answer
Ibid., witness statement of Frank Davidson, pp. 54–55, 58–59; controlled call from Frank Davidson to Kevin Beese; witness statement of Frank Davidson, pp. 67–68.

157
Jack Russell told Larry King
CNN,
Larry King Live
, “Rhode Island Club Fire Tragedy Revisited with Members of Rock Band Great White,” aired February 9, 2005.

157
Ed McPherson, Russell’s lawyer
Ibid.

157
Barry Warner, the neighbor
Mooney and Mider, “Fire Inspection Records Show Violations.”

157
According to Warner
Witness statement of Barry Warner, November 3, 2005 (“A.G.’s 4th Disclosure”), p. 35, transcript p. 9, lines 12–20.

157
Warner’s sworn grand jury testimony
Grand jury testimony of Barry Warner, June 4, 2003, p. 20, lines 5–16.

157–58
The
Providence Journal
reported
Scott MacKay and Alex Kuffner, “Nation’s Media Converge on Town,”
Providence Journal
, February 22, 2003.

158
Actually, on the video
Brian Butler videotape, 8:10–14:50.

158
Triton Realty Company’s lawyer
Jennifer Levitz, “The Entrepreneurs,”
Providence Journal
, December 17, 2003.

158
Moreover, under their Triton Realty lease
Letters and memos from Mary Jo Carolan to Michael Derderian dated February 20, 2002, March 18, 2002, March 26, 2002, March 28, 2002, and April 18, 2002; March 2002 sales report for The Station (indexed by AG under Carolan witness statement [4], p. 24).

158
The Derderian brothers filed for personal bankruptcy
Voluntary Petition for Individual Bankruptcy, filed by Michael Derderian on September 23, 2005, Case 1:05-bk-13641 in United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Rhode Island; Voluntary Petition for Individual Bankruptcy, filed by Jeffrey Derderian on September 23, 2005, Case 1:05–bk-13640, in United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Rhode Island.

158
Triton Realty transferred
Conveyances of June 13, 2003, from Triton Realty Limited Partnership to Framingham-150 FR Realty Limited Partnership and to Seekonk-226 Limited Partnership; March 13, 2003, conveyance of 16 Dennell Drive, Lincoln, Rhode Island, to Frances A. Villanova.

158
Corporate behemoth Shell Oil Company
Witness statement of Thomas J. Stimson, sales representative for Motiva / Shell Oil, April 9, 2003, Rhode Island State Police Case 03–414-OF WWPD; handwritten chronology of Danny Saad (prior owner of gas station).

23.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

159
The first was characterized
Jonathan Saltzman and Raja Mishra, “Station Nightclub Deal Stuns R.I.,”
Boston Globe
, September 21, 2006.

159
The minority position ProJo
(
Providence Journal
) newsblog comment of Maximo Deacaba, May 9, 2006, 11:52 a.m.

160
Historically, legal scholars
Kate E. Bloch and Kevin C. McMunigal,
Criminal Law: A Contemporary Approach
(New York: Aspen Publishers, 2005), chap. 2, sec. C, pp. 31–32.

160
States’ criminal codes variously
Ibid., chap. 6, sec. C.

160
Some states have a second
See, e.g.,
State v. Lillibridge
, 454 A.2d 237 (RI, 1982);
State v. Robbio
, 526 A.2d 509 (RI, 1987).

161
Rhode Island’s criminal code contains both
Title 11, chap. 23, sec. 3 (and cases cited in annotations thereto).

161
A Rhode Island grand jury
Associated Press, “About Grand Juries in Rhode Island,”
Providence Journal
, February 26, 2003.

161
Six days after the fire
Mark Arsenault, Tracy Breton, and W. Zachary Malinowski, “Musicians Expected to Be Called Before Grand Jury Today,”
Providence Journal
, February 28, 2003.

162
Perhaps the most telling transcripts
Grand jury testimony of Denis Larocque, June 25, 2003.

162
His assertion that he simply didn’t notice
Ibid., pp. 46–47.

162
Larocque’s capacity calculations
Ibid., pp. 20–25.

162
When jurors themselves sought to
Ibid., pp. 105–7.

162
Not surprisingly, when, after ten months
Instructions to Grand Jury, indexed by Attorney General’s Department under Testimony of Roland Coutu, vol. 10, November 19, 2003, pp. 18–21 (Grand juror: “My question is, is the town exempt from any liability on the part of a deficient inspection?” p. 18 [51 on page itself], lines 10–12; “I would just like to know more about the standards of practice of what a fire inspection entails.” p. 19 [52 on page itself], lines 22–24; “I would think the question is,
can he be charged criminally?
Not liable. I mean, we know there going to be liability.
Can he be charged criminally?
” p. 21 [54 on page itself], lines 5–7. Emphasis mine.

162
On December 4, 2003, the grand jury
Grand jury testimony, “Deliberations & Indictments,” December 4, 2003, pp. 19–28; Superior Court for the County of Kent, Indictments K1–2003–0653A (Biechele), K1–2003–0654A (J. Derderian), K1–2003–0655A (M. Derderian).

162
Days after the fire, it was determined
Neil Downing, “Nightclub Had No Workers’ Comp, Records Show,”
Providence Journal
, February 28, 2003.

162–63
The brothers were apparently aware
Lynn Arditi and W. Zachary Malinowski, “Derderians Ran One Business with Insurance, One Without,”
Providence Journal
, May 1, 2003.

163
Their contract with Eddie Money
Contract for Eddie Money’s appearance at The Station on February 5, 2002,
21 (II).