PROVIDENCE – A Superior Court judge agreed today to a Department of
Corrections request to allow the insertion of a tube, if necessary, to
feed the suspect in the murder of a Providence police detective.
Neither the suspect, Esteban Carpio, or his lawyer, objected to the
step, prompted by Carpio’s recent reluctance to eat while being held at
the state prison.
Journal photo / Mary Murphy
Esteban Carpio, the suspect in the murder of a Providence police detective, sits in a wheelchair for a videoconference appearance in Superior Court today.
The 26-year-old Carpio, who was sitting in a wheelchair during his
videoconference court appearance, also entered not guilty pleas to the
charges against him. He wore no facial covering, as he had in previous
appearances, but did have a thick beard.
Patricia A. Coyne-Fague, chief legal counsel for the Department of
Corrections, told Superior Court Judge Susan McGuirl that Carpio has
been "very inconsistent" about eating for about the past month and as a
result, "has suffered certain medical consequences." She did not
elaborate.
Coyne-Fague said the department wanted permission to insert the feeding
tube to ensure that Carpio doesn't starve himself to death.
McGuirl asked Carpio about the situation.
"I'm not doing too good when I eat the food," Carpio replied, in a slow
and soft voice.
McGuirl ruled that any feeding tube would be inserted at an outside
medical facility, as the department requested.
Also appearing in court today was the widow of slain Det. Sgt. James
Allen, Marguerite Allen. She sat in the front row, escorted into the
courtroom by a Providence police detective. Members of Carpio's family,
including his mother, Yvonne, sat on the other side.
Prosecutor Paul Daly told McGuirl that the state would seek a sentence
of life in prison without parole if Carpio is convicted of murdering
Allen.
Carpio has been in custody since his April arrest, minutes after Allen
was shot twice in a conference room at police headquarters.
He continues to be held without bail at the Adult Correctional
Institutions in Cranston. McGuirl said she would set a bail hearing as
soon as possible after a conference next week with Carpio's attorneys,
Kirsten Wenge and Robert L. Sheketoff of Boston.
Sheketoff plans to handle the bail hearing, but since he isn't a member
of the Rhode Island bar, he and Wenge must take some procedural steps
before that can happen. Wenge was recently admitted to the Rhode Island
bar, but she must establish an office here before Sheketoff can join her
on the case.
Carpio was arraigned today for murder and discharging a firearm while
committing a crime of violence, death resulting. He was also arraigned
for felony assault and assault of a person over 60 in the case of
Madeline Gatta, a Providence woman who was stabbed between the shoulder
blades.
The Providence police had brought Carpio to the headquarters April 16 to
question him on the Gatta assault when, police say, Carpio, left alone
in a room with Allen, got hold of Allen's gun and fatally shot the
detective.
The police say that after shooting Allen, Carpio crashed through a
third-story window. He was captured a few minutes later on a downtown
street after a violent struggle with police officers. He has been in
custody ever since.
Carpio was also arraigned today on three charges of assaulting
correctional officers April 26 at the ACI: felony assault, assault of a
correctional officer with bodily fluid and assault of a correctional
officer. The Rhode Island Attorney General's Office filed those charges
today via criminal information.
The police say Carpio attacked two correctional officers in his cell
after they tried to stop him from eating a blanket. After he was subdued
with pepper spray, Carpio spit at another officer, according to the
police.
Carpio has had other problems while in custody. He was taken to the
hospital June 16 after, prison officials said, he had repeatedly banged
his head against the wall.
His physical appearance in court shortly after the shooting -- in which
his face was bruised and swollen and covered partly by a "spit shield"
-- also drew cries of outrage from family and friends and led to an FBI
investigation into his handling by law enforcement officials. That probe
concluded that law officers did not use excessive force.
Today, three correctional officers stood beside Carpio during the
arraignment. The hearing was temporarily halted so he could speak
privately to Wenge over the telephone about waiving his right to a bail
hearing within two weeks.
As the hearing drew to a close, McGuirl asked Carpio whether he had
anything else to say. Carpio said, "I want to wish my family good
thoughts."
Because of his disciplinary problems at the ACI, Carpio hasn't been able
to receive visits from his family. After the arraignment, an aunt said
she thought family visits would be helpful.
She said, "I suspect he's sick, and he never got the treatment he
needed."
Allen's widow left the courtroom without comment.
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