Gianquitti

They might not make for the plots of thriller books or movies, but killings that result from seemingly trivial disputes are sadly commonplace, accounting for the majority of homicides in this country, says a Northeastern University sociologist and author.

They’re called “homicides over argument,” and they often begin with angry words drawn from a feeling of disrespect –– and end in bloodshed.

“That is the typical homicide,” said Prof. Jack Levin, author of numerous books on killers and crime, including The Will to Kill: Making Sense of Senseless Murder. “That is precisely the kind of homicide we see every day.”

The news is full of these cases:

•A Cleveland man was accused last year of shooting three people to death after a dispute over lighting July 4 fireworks in his neighborhood.

•A fight over a disputed fence in 2006 left four people dead in an apparent murder-suicide in Skiatook, Okla.

•A husband and wife were shot to death in Carmel Valley, Calif., last year, a double-killing allegedly stemming from an argument between neighbors over a slice of land a few feet wide. “This is not something in Iraq,” a friend of the victims told the San Jose Mercury News. “Two human lives are sacrificed for an easement.”

And while the details have not fully been revealed, last weekend, in Cranston, one-time Providence police Officer Nicholas Gianquitti, allegedly shot and killed his neighbor, James A. Pagano, after an argument.

Gianquitti is 40 years old and is charged with murder. He has a wife and a daughter.

Pagano leaves a widow. His two young children now must grow up without their father.

Murders that result from what seem to be trivial disputes often follow “a more profound psychological impact: feeling disrespected over a long period of time,” said Levin. Then a momentary lack of control in the heat of an argument can turn deadly, if a weapon is available. “The presence of an effective means of human destruction, when you lose your temper, might make all the difference,” he said.

Former Virginia police Detective Lee Lofland, now an author and a police procedure consultant for TV and book writers, has worked on cases in which blood was spilled over what seemed to be petty disputes. In an e-mail exchange on Monday, Lofland, now of Massachusetts, recalled a homicide case he worked in which twin brothers got into an argument over who should get the last hot dog on the platter. One grabbed a revolver and shot his twin.

“It doesn’t get much more trivial than that,” Lofland said. “I’m a firm believer of the theory that all criminal activity, including murder, is caused by a person’s inability to properly mentally process and evaluate certain situations. These individuals simply don’t have the ability to resolve problems using methods that society considers normal.

“This mental short-circuit can be initiated by various means, such as substance abuse, a brain abnormality” or “extreme anger.”

Before a neighborhood dispute becomes a drag-out fight, mediation might help soothe the conflict, says Abigail Jones-Herriott, executive director of the Community Mediation Center of Rhode Island.

The nonprofit agency, based in Providence, is experienced in helping neighbors resolve quarrels about encroaching fences, shared driveways, loud noise, barking dogs and “general respect,” which covers a range of grievances. The police frequently refer cases of neighbor-to-neighbor arguments to the center, she said. She once mediated a case in which somebody was accused of hanging dozens of wind chimes to annoy a neighbor in an ongoing dispute.

Community mediation is not like a court. “We don’t tell people what to do,” Jones-Herriott said. “We help [disputing parties] hear each other.”

Once they hear each other out, disputing parties, with the help of mediation, can often craft their own agreement to solve the problem. “People feel much more satisfied in agreements they build together,” she said. “The problem is far more likely to be addressed to their satisfaction if both parties had a part in crafting the solution.”

Fourteen years ago, Rhode Islanders were shocked by the case of the so-called “hedge murder” in North Providence. A 35-year-old man, James Gallagher, shot and killed his neighbor, Ronald Volpe, at point-blank range. At the time, news reports suggested the killing resulted from a dispute over the size of the Volpe family’s hedges.

Volpe’s brother, Ray, said in an interview this week that he doesn’t believe the hedges had much or anything to do with Ronald’s murder in 1994.

His brother had words with Gallagher one time after Gallagher had trimmed the hedges too severely, but that was long before the shooting, he said.

The hedge dispute “got blown out of proportion,” said Ray Volpe, who suggested that sometimes murder is even more inexplicable than a tragic killing over a trivial dispute. “The guy was sick. And he had a shotgun in the house.”

marsenau@projo.com