Digital Extra: The Station Fire

Families of The Station fire victims say Daniel Biechele's plea agreement -- in which he will serve no more than 10 years in prison -- is too lenient.

01:22 AM EST on Wednesday, February 8, 2006

BY PAUL EDWARD PARKER
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- The man who triggered the Station nightclub fire accepted responsibility yesterday for killing the 100 people who died in the fire three years ago this month.

At 3:18 p.m., a Superior Court judge accepted guilty pleas from Daniel Michael Biechele on 100 charges of involuntary manslaughter. Under a plea agreement, Biechele will be sentenced to serve up to 10 years in prison. Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. could impose a shorter term at a sentencing hearing that has been scheduled for May 8.

Biechele was the tour manager for the rock band Great White, the headline act at The Station on Feb. 20, 2003. When the band took the stage, he shot off fireworks that ignited highly flammable polyurethane foam that had been glued to the walls as soundproofing after neighbors had complained about noise.

While closing one chapter in the Station fire case, yesterday's hearing also foreshadowed what might lie ahead for the brothers who owned the West Warwick nightclub, Michael A. and Jeffrey A. Derderian, who also were charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Under oath, Biechele agreed with a prosecutor's account that Michael Derderian had given permission to use fireworks inside The Station.

The cases against the Derderians are still pending, apparently headed to trials.

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch declined to comment on the cases against the Derderians or what role Biechele might play in those proceedings.

"The value of his testimony will be measured over time," Lynch said at a news conference after yesterday's hearing.

Relatives of those who died blasted the 10-year maximum in Biechele's plea deal.

"It's a gross injustice that occurred here," said Eileen DiBonaventura, whose son, Albert, 18, perished. "If they keep giving lenient punishments like this, history is going to repeat itself. I hope he rots behind bars for the rest of his life."

"It's nice to hear somebody finally say, 'I'm responsible,' " said Diane Mattera, whose daughter, Tammy Mattera-Housa, 29, died. But Mattera, who held up a photograph of her daughter during the brief courtroom session, said the sentence is not harsh enough. "How do I ever explain it to my grandson that his mother's life is worth 10 years?"

About 70 relatives of the victims were seated in the public gallery of Courtroom 12 of the Licht Judicial Complex, where Biechele entered his pleas. Afterward, they solemnly walked down the hallway to a vacant courtroom for a 45-minute meeting with Lynch and his staff. The meeting was closed to the public and a group of Capitol police and state sheriffs guarded the door.

Following Lynch's meeting, the victims' families trickled out of the courtroom with sheriffs escorting many of them to their cars. Some refused to talk to reporters, while others chose to express their frustration with the plea.

Afterward, Lynch spokesman Michael Healey described the session as contentious. "How do you say to someone who lost a loved one this is the best you can do?"

Biechele's family -- mother, father, sister and fiancée -- sat behind him during the proceeding, which took about 20 minutes. They entered and exited a courtroom by a side door.

Judge Darigan prefaced the hearing with a few comments. "The court realizes that this is an important moment, not only for the defendant, but also for the family members of the victims and all who have been affected by the Station fire tragedy," Darigan said. "The court is sensitive to the fact that those in attendance today may experience a wide variety of strong emotions throughout this proceeding." Nevertheless, he reminded the crowd that they were in a courtroom and that they should conduct themselves properly.

Biechele and his lawyers stood before the judge on the left side of the room; prosecutors on the right. Biechele gave his full name and date of birth.

The clerk asked: "How do you plead?"

Biechele's lawyer, Thomas G. Briody, answered for him. He said his client, in accordance with the plea agreement, wanted to change his not-guilty plea to guilty on 100 of the 200 charges against him.

Biechele and the Derderians were each charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts for each of the 100 people who died. Each set of 100 counts was brought under a different legal theory: one that the defendants had committed misdemeanors that resulted in the deaths and one that the defendants had been grossly negligent, resulting in the deaths.

Under the double jeopardy clause of the Constitution, they cannot be punished twice for the same crime, so Biechele pleaded to 100 counts that he had committed a misdemeanor resulting in the deaths. The other 100 counts against him were dismissed at the end of yesterday's proceeding.

After Briody indicated his client wanted to change his plea, the judge asked Biechele a series of questions to be certain he understood that he was pleading guilty and that he was giving up important rights, such as the right to a jury trial and the right to appeal a conviction.

Then prosecutor Randall White described the evidence the state had against Biechele. He said prosecutors had expected to call 186 witnesses -- out of more than 950 people whom investigators had interviewed.

White said that a West Warwick police detective had taken two handwritten statements from Biechele only hours after the fire, which had started at 11:07 p.m. The first statement was taken at 1:21 a.m. The second was at 7:13 a.m.

White said that Biechele had had a telephone conversation with Michael Derderian sometime in the few weeks before the concert and that Derderian had given permission to use 15-by-15 gerbs, fireworks devices that would shoot a 15-foot-long shower of sparks for 15 seconds.

At that point, White stopped his account of the evidence and asked the judge to have Biechele, who was under oath, agree that that had happened. Biechele did.

White then described Biechele's actions in the moments before the fire:

Biechele took four Silver Spark gerbs, made by Lunatech, and attached them to a board he had made from metal broom clips and wood. He then placed the board at center stage, behind where the band's guitarist would stand, but in front of a raised platform that held the drums. He connected the gerbs to a wire that ran across the stage to a battery. At the start of Great White's performance, he used the wire and battery to trigger an electric match attached to the gerbs. The gerbs then shot sparks upward at the back of the stage.

White said Biechele possessed and used the fireworks without a permit and without a certificate of competency, which constituted the misdemeanor that resulted in the deaths, which made him guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

After Biechele agreed with the rest of White's account, Darigan formally accepted his change of plea and announced the sentencing date. As part of the plea agreement, Biechele will remain free on bail until the sentencing.

Lynch said afterward that no sentence could erase the pain felt by relatives of those who died. But he said the plea agreement accomplished much.

"Mr. Biechele's admission of guilt eliminates the need for a lengthy trial in which graphic, emotional testimony over a length of time would be presented. His plea provides a sure resolution to the state's case against him, and it spares the victims and their loved ones the agony of reliving the events that preceded the death of their loved ones."

Lynch urged relatives of those who died -- as well as survivors of the fire -- to contribute victim impact statements as part of the sentencing process. "The Rhode Island Constitution guarantees every crime victim of this moment -- to express his or her sense of loss and pain and suffering -- and I encourage everyone who is entitled to this moment to take advantage of it."

The attorney general's office can be reached at (401) 274-4400.

With reports from projo.com writer Jack Perry and Journal staff writer W. Zachary Malinowski.

pparker@projo.com / (401) 277-7360

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