PAYETTE

WEST WARWICK — Robert E. Payette, accused of stabbing a man to death this month, never missed an appointment with his probation officer after he was released from 22 years in prison and showed no warning signs of recidivism, officials said.

A more complete picture of Payette’s life in and out of prison was provided to The Journal by the state Department of Corrections in response to a story in which Payette’s sister charged the corrections system with inadequately preparing him for life outside of bars.

Payette, 45, of 19 Maple Ave., was arrested Nov. 11 and was arraigned Nov. 13 in Kent County District Court on first-degree murder charges. A tipster told the state police that Payette stabbed Ronald Dufour, 66, of 56 Maple Ave., at River Run apartments, and then dumped the body into a hole at the bottom of a ravine leading to the Pawtuxet River behind the complex. He is being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions. A status conference to determine when a full bail hearing and probation violation hearing will take place is set for Dec. 18.

The stabbing occurred seven months after Payette was released after two decades in jail. Just before his release, he was seen in March by a probation officer from the Cranston probation office, said Tracey Z. Poole, chief of information and public relations for the state Department of Corrections. He was assigned to the active caseload of a probation officer in the Kent County Probation office when he was released in April.

Since then, he never missed an appointment. Poole said Payette was complying with the conditions of his probation and was being seen in person at least once a month by his probation officer in addition to receiving phone calls between visits. He told his probation officer that he was working at Burger King in May and had a place to live, Poole said. He last reported to his probation officer on Oct. 31 and, at the time, nothing was reported to be amiss, Poole said.

“Problems we often see leading someone on a downward spiral were not present here because he had family, did have a job and a place to live,” said Poole. “The things we usually are concerned about seemed to be in place.”

But Payette’s sister, Lisa McDermont, responded to the ACI review of services provided to her brother and reiterated her charges that the system did not do enough to help him assimilate to life outside prison.

“You can’t just put someone out on the street and hope for the best,” she said. “Without any assistance or help, what are they supposed to do?” Payette has lived most of his life behind prison walls.

On Oct. 7, 1980, a 19-year-old Payette spent nine days in jail on breaking and entering charges. In 1981, he served a year in jail for entering a dwelling with felonious intent. Seven months into his sentence, Payette was charged with — and later acquitted of — assault with intent to commit murder and felony assault with a dangerous weapon after he was accused of slashing an inmate’s throat with a pen-sized knife during a fight. He was released on Oct. 22, 1982, and by May he was back in jail. This time, he faced charges of assault with intent to murder, breaking and entering, and possession of marijuana. He was released on bail in June 1983 as he awaited trial. While on bail, in September 1984, Payette began a three-month sentence for failing to appear in court in connection with the 1983 assault charge.

From then on, he would serve time in jails in Rhode Island, New Hampshire and New Jersey before being released from the ACI earlier this year.

McDermont said the family petitioned the court system to move Payette to a lower security grade numerous times over the years but each request was denied.

A graduated journey is the ideal route, said Poole. But prisoners who are violent or have disciplinary problems may not follow that route because of their behavior, Poole said.

“The classification is based on institutional behavior,” she said. “You can start in minimum security, but if you have discipline problems, you can get reclassified to a higher security facility.”

During his sentence, Payette was involved in a number of violent crimes which added years onto his jail time and likely lessened his chance to be placed in a lower security classification.

In 1985, Payette was sentenced to serve seven years for stabbing Wilfred Gileau with a kitchen knife during a fight at the complex where Payette currently lives. He pleaded no contest to assault with intent to murder. In 1986, while he was jailed, another five days were tacked onto Payette’s sentence for possessing a weapon, according to Poole.

The following year, Payette was sentenced to another 18 years for robbing another inmate.

In December 1989, Payette stabbed corrections officer Michael Auyer in the upper chest and lower back with an ice pick fashioned from a paint roller. Auyer’s spleen was punctured and he spent nine days in the hospital. Payette pleaded no contest to assault with the intent to murder and another five years was added to his sentence.

During that time, Poole said, Payette was assigned a counselor at the high-security unit, as all inmates are. Before he was released in April, the deputy warden assembled a discharge planning team meeting to make sure things were in place for the prisoner’s release, Poole said.

The probation officer followed up with Payette, and Poole said his files showed no indication he was seeking counsel for housing or social services. There is only so much the state can do, she said.

“A probation officer can’t be all things,” she said. “Their primary responsibility is to make sure someone is being appropriately supervised.”

tbuford@projo.com