Michael Derderian sat quietly at the edge of the table and stared straight ahead. He didn't speak. He didn't cry. He just sat there.
Jeffrey Derderian was the public face of the partnership, but Michael Derderian was the businessman who got his brother interested in the world of nightclubs and concert promotions.
Jeffrey Derderian, who had earned local fame as a hard-nosed television reporter, was facing a group of reporters, many of whom he had spent the past decade working alongside.
Instead of covering the news, Derderian, and his older brother, Michael, were the news. They had run The Station, the West Warwick nightclub that had burned to the ground, killing 99 people and injuring about 190 others.
On Feb. 22, fewer than 48 hours after the fire, the Derderians called a news conference at the Sheraton hotel in Warwick to express their sorrow for the worst fire in state history.
"Please know I tried as hard as I could," said Jeffrey Derderian through tears. "But many people didn't make it out and that is a horror that will haunt my family for the rest of my life."
The brothers were successful in their chosen professions. Jeffrey was making about six figures as a TV reporter in Boston; Michael seemed to have made some good money in the insurance and investment businesses.
In the weeks after that news conference, the Derderians have become a focus of the criminal investigation. About 500 victims, witnesses and others have been questioned and a grand jury has subpoenaed records and summoned others to its secret panel. Detectives from the state police and West Warwick police have seized documents from Michael Derderian's house in Narragansett.
Atty. Gen. Patrick C. Lynch has said the Derderians have been less than forthcoming with investigators. But then, if charged and convicted, the Derderians could spend time in prison. Meanwhile, lawyers for the victims and their families have already filed lawsuits seeking damages.
A lawyer for the state Department of Labor and Training recently ordered the Derderians to pay more than $1 million for failing to carry mandatory workers' compensation coverage for the nightclub's workers.
ARSHAG DERDERIAN SR. and his wife, Mary Ornazian Derderian arrived in Providence from Armenia in the 1920s. They had survived the Armenian Holocaust in which more than 500,000 of their countrymen had been slaughtered by the Turks.
In 1931, the Derderians opened Archie's Economy Market, a neighborhood grocery store on the corner of Rugby Street and Thurbers Avenue in the south end. The Derderians ran the store on the ground floor and raised their three daughters and two sons in an upstairs apartment.
In 1960, one of the Derderians' sons, Arshag Jr., took over the family grocery. The next year, Arshag, known as Archie, and his wife, Joan, had a son: Michael A. Two years later, Robert G. arrived, and in 1966, Jeffrey A. was born.
The Derderians bought a house on Algonquin Drive in the Governor Francis Farms section of Warwick, a comfortable middle class neighborhood off Narragansett Parkway.
In 1977, Joan Derderian, the mother of Michael, Bobby and Jeffrey, suffered a fatal heart attack. She was 38 years old.
Archie was left to raise the three boys who were 16, 14 and 11.
Bruce Lang, a neighbor and founder of Operation Clean Government, said Jeffrey was good friends with his two sons, Rich and Dave. Lang said Jeffrey and his brothers always worked in their father's grocery store.
"I loved Jeff. I still love him," Lang said. "I almost think of him as a second son."
Even before their mother died, the neighborhood surrounding the grocery store had deteroriated. Across the street, the Roger Williams Housing Complex, which had been home to soldiers returning from World War II, had become a crime zone.
The majority of its residents, who were on public assistance, bought their groceries at the Derderians' store. It was the kind of place where poor customers would buy groceries on credit and settle their debts when their government checks arrived on the first of the month.
Joseph P. Buchanan, who has always lived in the neighborhood, said the store was a cornerstone of the community. He said everyone in the project bought their hamburger, pork chops and other groceries from Archie.
"He was very good to my family," Buchanan said. "It was the only store in that neighborhood. He catered to the black community."
On June 4, 1981, a robber, Robert E. Lee, walked into the store, brandished a pistol and demanded money. Archie Derderian was near the register with his son, Bobby.
"C'mon," the elder Derderian told the gunman. "Cut the bull."
Lee opened fire, striking Bobby, then 18, in the right shoulder.
Archie Derderian came around the counter and lunged at Lee. As he did, he was shot twice in the shoulder. The two men fell to the ground. Lee grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed Derderian in the back. Bobby, who had suffered a collapsed lung, was still able to help his father subdue Lee.
Archie Derderian held the scissors to Lee's neck until police arrived.
Lee, the gunman, disappeared during the trial. He was captured in Buffalo, N.Y. in August 1983, and spent about 10 years at the Adult Correctional Institutions. Archie Derderian shut the store for a while, then decided to reopen it. He closed for good in 1987 and the building fell into disrepair. It was razed in 1993.
MICHAEL DERDERIAN had decided to set out on his own even before the trouble at the store, where he had moved up to assistant manager.
He had taken a few business courses at the former Rhode Island Junior College and had worked jobs at Star Market, and at Old Stone Bank.
In March 1981, Derderian went through a training program to sell life, health and accident insurance for Metropolitan Life Insurance. The state Department of Business Regulation granted him a license and Derderian began selling insurance in the West Warwick area.
Three years later, in May 1984, Michael Derderian married Heather Judi Fiske. He was 23; she was 22.
Things were going well. In 1985, the Federal Aviation Administration granted him a private pilot license. And by the end of the decade, Derderian had established his own insurance firm, Insurance Investors Group. He later got a license to sell stocks.
Over the next 12 years, Derderian worked for 11 different firms, including Prudential-Bache Securities Inc., Commonwealth Equity Services, Polaris Financial Services and CUNA Brokerage Services.
In 1996, he formed Ashley & Alec Inc., an airplane leasing company that was named after his two children.
That same year, the Derderians bought a plot of land for $67,000 in Holly Hills, an upscale development in the Saunderstown section of North Kingstown.
The current assessed value of the two-story house and more than an acre of land is $382,600, according to town land records.
"We enjoyed an upper-class lifestyle," Judi Derderian would later write in a court document. "My husband drives a BMW. He gave me a Mercedes for my birthday. We lived in an upper-class neighborhood."
Five years later, the marriage was falling apart. In December 2001, the Derderians separated.
JEFFREY DERDERIAN took a different career path.
As a young man, he became news director for the campus radio station at Rhode Island College. John DePetro, a talk-show host on WHJJ-AM radio, said that Derderian, unlike most of the students, was more interested in news than music.
By the 1990s, Derderian was working for WLNE-Channel 6 in Providence. Derderian was aggressive and often outworked his competitors. Derderian seemed to be everywhere. He covered morning fires, broke in for live reports at noon and often had the lead story on the evening news. On weekends, he filled in as an anchor.
He was best-known for "You Paid For It," a popular segment that exposed the wasteful ways of public officials. He was nicknamed "the pocket newsman," in part in reference to his height.
In 1994, Jeffrey Derderian married Linda Berube. His brothers, Michael and Bobby, the one who was shot at the store, served as Jeffrey's best men. The newlyweds moved to North Providence.
The hard work had paid off for Jeffrey Derderian.
In 1997, he joined WHDH-TV in Boston. The move meant bigger stories, more exposure and bigger pay. He won the Edward R. Murrow Award and covered the Columbine High School massacre and the John F. Kennedy Jr. plane crash. Several television reporters in Providence said that, they would be surprised if Derderian wasn't making $100,000 a year.
DESPITE HIS success, Jeffrey Derderian's roots were in Rhode Island. In 2000, he decided to buy an old nightclub in West Warwick with his brother. They named it The Station.
DePetro, the talk-show host, was surprised. He had worked in nightclubs and knew the problems associated with running one: late nights, drunken patrons and unpredictable entertainers. Besides, he said, Jeffrey Derderian had never been very interested in music.
"I think it was just a business opportunity," DePetro said.
The Derderian brothers formed a corporation, Derco LLC, and leased the nightclub for $4,000 a month from Triton Realty in Cranston. Records filed with the West Warwick Board of Licensing Commissioners, note that the Derderians said they had invested $100,000 in the business.
The club, with aggressive promotions on local radio and in The Phoenix, featured local bands and tribute groups that paid homage to heavy metal bands such as Kiss and Led Zeppelin. Once in a while, the nightclub would book a fading star. Eddie Money, for example, once played there.
Michael Derderian was juggling other business interests. He formed another corporation, Derderian Realty, to buy a gas station. There are no records that indicate he ever followed through with his plans.
But in March 2000, the same month he launched The Station, Michael Derderian bought land in Richmond to build a car wash on Route 138. Town records show that he paid $215,000 for the land. He assumed an $80,000 mortgage and paid the rest with a check.
Fire Chief Frederick Stanley, of the Hope Valley Wyoming Fire District, said Derderian received permits from the state Department of Environmental Management to have town firefighters burn down the existing farmhouse on the site.
"He wanted to get it down so he could start building the car wash," Stanley said. "It was a hurry-up deal."
Derderian and his wife planned to build a car wash with one automated and four self-serve bays. They hired a surveying firm to develop plans and they appeared several times before the Richmond Planning Board.
But, by January 2002, the proposal had run into snags. "There was some serious issues with traffic and congestion," said Town Planner Jonathan J. Reiner.
MICHAEL DERDERIAN had a lot on his plate that winter. In addition to the club and the car wash, he had separated from his wife and he had started seeing another woman. Plus, he had gotten into the concert promotion business.
Lawrence J. Lepore, executive director of the Dunkin' Donuts Center, remembered the day that he welcomed Derderian and Howard Julian, the former owner of the West Warwick nightclub, into his office. They were interested in promoting a show with Def Leppard, a big heavy metal band in the '80s.
Lepore said his visitors seemed serious, but naive about transferring their success at the nightclub to a much larger venue.
"They seemed to me like guys who were successful, guys who had made some money and now they were going to lose it," he said.
Unlike nightclub owners, concert promoters don't profit from liquor sales.All the profits from drinks and food at an event at the Dunkin' Donuts Center would go to the center. Lepore said the arena can make as much as $60,000 on beer sales for a sellout.
They also have higher costs. At a nightclub, the owners can hire whom they want and negotiate their pay. But at a venue like the Dunkin' Donuts Center, the union contract for the stagehands requires a set number of workers and pay.
During negotiations with Lepore, the Derderian brothers and Julian promoted an Aretha Franklin concert at the Providence Performing Arts Center. On short notice, the fledgling promoters agreed to pay Franklin $75,000; they spent another $20,000 advertising the show on television, radio and newspapers.
Norbert Mongeon, PPAC's director of finance, had doubts the concert would sell more than 2,300 tickets. He was wrong.
On the night of March 23, about 3,000 people packed into the refurbished concert hall, at ticket prices of $51 and $61.
Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr., on the eve of his federal corruption trial that would land him in prison, went on stage and presented Franklin with the key to the city. There was an awkward silence when Cianci mistakenly called her "The Soul of Queen," instead of "The Queen of Soul."
It could not be determined how much the Derderians and Julian made on the concert, but it's safe to say they made a healthy profit.
If 3,000 tickets were sold for an average price of $56, the show would have grossed $168,000.
Lepore decided to help the Derderians and Julian. The group Earth, Wind & Fire, once a huge success in the '70s, had reunited and was looking for local promoters.
The band, which had had problems drawing crowds in larger arenas, had scaled back its national tour and had reduced its appearance fee.
Lepore convinced the Derderians and Julian that it might do well in Providence.
The show, on May 29, 2002, was a half-house show, meaning that only 5,500 seats would be sold. A curtain was drawn on the empty half of the building. Lepore said 3,700 tickets were sold and they gave away another 500 tickets through radio stations to help promote it.
"The band was thrilled with the show," Lepore said. "They had been averaging less than 3,000."
Again, the Derderians and Julian made money.
Lepore joined them at the Capital Grille for a late dinner.
"They were on a high from Earth, Wind & Fire and they were on a high from Aretha Franklin," Lepore said.
A few weeks later, the Derderians and Julian were at it again. They promoted "Rock Never Stops," a heavy metal show at the Dunkin' Donuts Center that featured Skid Row, Vince Neil from Motley Crue and Tesla. The show did not do well and Lepore believes that the promoters broke even, at best.
Lepore said he dealt almost exclusively with Michael Derderdian and Julian. He said the only time he met with Jeffrey Derderian was on the night of a concert.
He said that in the weeks before the show, Michael Derderian would call him "three or four times a day" for updates on ticket sales.
"I think Michael was the driving force," Lepore said. "Michael came across as the numbers guy. He always knew what the margin was. He knew where he had to be to make money."
"Rock Never Stops," was the last concert the Derderians and Julian promoted in Providence.
AS THE SUMMER turned to fall in 2002, Michael Derderian and Julian tried to book other concerts at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. They set up tentative dates for performances by bluesman B.B. King, Def Leppard and hip-hop show. The shows never materialized.
Lepore said it's difficult for an independent promoter to make it. If you're successful, he said, big concert promoting agencies such as Clear Channel Communications will buy you out. Or sometimes, the conglomerates will freeze a small promoter out. Most of the major acts are affiliated with big booking agencies.
Lepore said that Michael Derderian and Julian were frustrated
"We're offering these people 60 or 70 grand and we can't get them to talk to us," they would complain. "They don't want our money."
The Derderians still had the nightclub.
Paul Vanner, a sound technician and stage manager, said the nightclub was open seven nights a week and the Derderians rotated working on weekends. He said that Michael Derderian liked working the sound board if a band was playing a Pink Floyd song.
Vanner said Jeffrey Derderian often grabbed the microphone between sets to announce upcoming shows.
"They were tough, but fair," Vanner said. "They didn't want bartenders to give out free drinks or stuff like that."
Julie Mellini, a bartender, said the brothers were detail guys. They always checked the meter at the sound board to make sure the music wasn't too loud.
A few months before the fire, she said the Derderians told the bartenders not to overpour drinks.
"We're losing a lot of money on alcohol and you need to watch the way you pour," they would say.
Mellini said she trained Michael's girlfriend, Kristina Link, to work the bar. But Link, a divorced mother of two, ended up taking care of the nightclub's books in a back office.
Mellini said she also believes that Link sold insurance for Derderian.
Judi Derderian also knew about the relationship. In divorce papers, she complained that Michael Derderian had their two children, then 15 and 11, at The Station until 11:30 p.m. and "in the presence of his girlfriend, Kristina Link."
Kathleen M. Hagerty, Michael Derderian's lawyer, said that Michael began seeing Kristina Link after he separated from his wife. "I think they have a pretty committed relationship," she said.
Michael Derderian was paying dearly for the breakup.
Court records show that on April 15, 2002, he was ordered to pay $12,000 a month to cover his family's expenses. Among them were $2,480 for the mortgage on the house in North Kingstown, $1,195 for the mortgage on the property in Richmond and $1,565 for car payments on a Mercedes-Benz and a BMW.
The couple also had been paying $715 a month to lease a Cessna airplane.
In a property settlement in October, Michael Derderian assumed half ownership of The Station with his brother, Jeffrey. Heather Derderian no longer had a financial stake in the nightclub.
Despite the substantial payouts, Hagerty said she does not believe that Michael Derderian had financial problems. "There's no evidence of that," she said. "He doesn't have outstanding debts that are overdue."
But by the end of 2002, the Derderians were looking to sell the nightclub.
Michael Derderian needed the money to settle his divorce. Jeffrey Derderian had tired of the commute from Rhode Island to his job as a television reporter in Boston. He and his wife had 4-year-old twin boys and he wanted to spend more time with them.
In January, A & N Holding Co., a corporation created by Armando M. Machado, of Warwick, had shown interest in the club, but the deal never closed.
Just days before the fire, Jeffrey Derderian had returned to Rhode Island to work for WPRI-Channel 12. Several local television reporters said Derderian took a pay cut.
THE REST of the story has been told and told again. Minutes after Great White took the stage at 11 p.m. on Feb. 20, a pyrotechnic display that was part of the show ignited flammable foam on the ceiling.
The fire raced through the building in minutes, killing 99 people and injuring 190 others. Jeffrey Derderian was in the nightclub and escaped unharmed; Michael Derderian was out of state on business.
Six days later, on Feb. 26, 2003, Michael Derderian's divorce was finalized. The agreement calls for Michael Derderian to pay his ex-wife $50,000 a year for three years. Once his daughter turns 18, Derderian will have to pay his ex-wife $340 a week in alimony.
Judi Derderian got the house in North Kingstown which is now valued at $525,000. Michael Derderian got the property in Richmond. He also was ordered to pay a $28,000 debt to the Internal Revenue Service.
The couple was ordered to split $92,500 in debts with MBNA, Sovereign Bank, Discover and Fleet banks.
Michael Derderian got the BMW; Judi Derderian agreed to sell the Mercedes-Benz and split the proceeds with her ex-husband.
Judi Derderian also decided to drop her last name and return to her maiden name -- Heather Judi Fiske. Attempts to reach her for an interview were unsuccessful.
SINCE THE FIRE, Michael Derderian has spent a lot of time with Hagerty, his lawyer. She also said that he is very involved in activities with his children.
Shortly after the fire, WPRI-Channel 12 television suspended Jeffrey Derderian with pay. He declined to be interviewed for this story.
Last month, Michael Derderian renewed his state license to sell insurance. He lives in a yellow raised ranch house on Tern Road, off Point Judith Road in Narragansett. On a recent afternoon, his son, Alec, was in the yard playing with his golden retriever puppy. His father did not respond to a request for an interview.
Investigators also have questioned Kristina Link, Michael Derderian's girlfriend. She also has testified before the grand jury, law enforcement officials said. Link also did not respond to a request for an interview.
Julie Mellini, the former bartender at The Station, said the brothers showed up at the wake in Warwick for Tracy King, a popular bouncer who died in the fire.
Michael Derderian gave her a big hug. Jeffrey Derderian put his arm around her and patted her on the back. They paid their respects and quietly left the funeral home.
With reports from Lynn Arditi.
