Dan Biechele was to be tried in May on 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter related to the blaze at the Station nightclub in Rhode Island in 2003.
The fire started during a show by Great White, Mr Biechele's band, when fireworks ignited soundproofing foam.
Two brothers who were co-owners of the West Warwick club also face charges.
According to Judge Francis Darigan at Providence Superior Court, Rhode Island, Mr Biechele will plead guilty to "certain counts" against him.
Great White guitarist Ty Longley was among those killed in the fire, which began just seconds into the concert.
The band was popular during the 1980s, with hits including Rock Me and Once Bitten, Twice Shy.
― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 19:16 (eighteen years ago) link
By Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer | January 31, 2006
PROVIDENCE, R.I. --The former manager of the heavy metal rock group Great White has agreed to plead guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the deadly 2003 nightclub fire, a judge said Tuesday.
Superior Court Judge Francis Darigan said Daniel Biechele will serve no more than 10 years in state prison under a deal with prosecutors that may have spared him a life sentence. He is scheduled to enter the plea next Tuesday.
Biechele was originally charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter for setting the blaze that began when he ignited pyrotechnics during a Great White performance at The Station nightclub in West Warwick.
Sparks from the pyrotechnics ignited highly flammable foam lining the club's walls and ceiling, creating a fast-moving blaze that also injured more than 200 people in the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in the country's history.
Each manslaughter charge carries a maximum of 30 years in prison.
Darigan did not say whether Biechele will cooperate with prosecutors in the case against club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, who are also each charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter for allegedly installing the flammable foam in violation of the state fire code.
Tom Briody, a lawyer for Biechele, declined to comment.
Biechele has said through his lawyer that he had permission to light the pyrotechnics during the Feb. 20, 2003, concert, but the Derderians have disputed that claim.
Jeff Pine, the attorney for Jeffrey Derderian, declined to comment.
Some victims' relatives reacted angrily to the news.
"My daughter's life is worth more than a plea bargain," said Diane Mattera, who lost her 29-year-old daughter, Tammy, in the fire.
"For the 100 victims, and for all the ones that are burnt and scarred and everything else, they deserve much more than this -- not a plea bargain," she said. "This is absolutely wrong."
Rosanna Fontaine, whose 22-year-old son Mark was killed in the fire, was among the relatives notified last week in a letter from the Attorney General's office that Tuesday's court date would be Biechele's final pretrial conference. She was not told of a possible plea deal.
"It's hard today," she said. "I don't think we hold out much hope that anyone really is going to be held accountable."
The plea agreement is likely to change the landscape of the criminal case against the Derderians, said David Frank, a former prosecutor and current reporter for Rhode Island Lawyers' Weekly and Massachusetts Lawyers' Weekly. It could make it easier for them to point blame at Biechele if he admits responsibility.
"His lawyer isn't there to sort of present his side of the story or present his spin," Frank said. "So it really allows the Derderians to put whatever blame or whatever responsibility they think is appropriate on this manager."
The upside for prosecutors is that it would remove the uncertainty of a jury trial, he said.
That's not good enough for Mattera.
"Where in God's name would he ever be acquitted on this Earth?" she said. "That would never happen."
The three defendants were charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter for each of the 100 people killed. One count per death alleged criminal negligence, the other accused the defendants of committing underlying misdemeanor offenses that led to the deaths.
Under Biechele's deal, he would plead guilty to the counts related to misdemeanor offenses.
― Edward III (edward iii), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 20:35 (eighteen years ago) link
Is that long enough?
― hyde park records (colonel), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 20:18 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 20:24 (eighteen years ago) link
― polyphonic (polyphonic), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 20:30 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 20:33 (eighteen years ago) link
― hyde park records (colonel), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 20:35 (eighteen years ago) link
― Colin Meeder (Mert), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 20:36 (eighteen years ago) link
xpost
― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 20:36 (eighteen years ago) link
Jack White / manager / club owners - 10 yearsOther band members - 5 years
― hyde park records (colonel), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 20:39 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 20:40 (eighteen years ago) link
― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 20:54 (eighteen years ago) link
― polyphonic (polyphonic), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 21:00 (eighteen years ago) link
PROVIDENCE, R.I., May 10 — Daniel M. Biechele, the man who ignited the pyrotechnics that led to the deaths of 100 people in a catastrophic Rhode Island nightclub fire in 2003, was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison and three years of probation.Eileen DiBonaventura, who lost a son in the Station nightclub fire, was in tears as she left the courtroom.
The sentence was less than half the 10 years prosecutors had requested, but more than the community service Mr. Biechele's lawyers had sought.
Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. said he considered Mr. Biechele's background and obvious remorse, and the fact that his actions were "totally devoid of any criminal intent," in addition to the horrific result of the fire at the Station nightclub in February 2003.
"Mr. Biechele, the greatest sentence that can be imposed upon you has been imposed upon you by yourself, that is, having to live a lifetime knowing that your actions were a proximate cause of the death of 100 innocent people," Judge Darigan said. "Any attempt by me or anyone else to correlate any sentence imposed with the value of these lives, or any other yardstick that may be applied, I believe would be a dishonor to the memory of the victims of this tragedy."
Shortly before the sentence was pronounced, Mr. Biechele, 29, who was the tour manager for the heavy metal band Great White, which used the pyrotechnics in its performance at the nightclub, stood, sobbing, and spoke to the judge.
"I don't know that I'll ever forgive myself for what happened that night, so I can't expect anybody else to," said Mr. Biechele, who pleaded guilty in February to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter caused by a misdemeanor, the act of setting off pyrotechnics without a permit. "I can only pray that they understand that I would do anything to undo what happened that night and give them back their loved ones. I'm so sorry for what I've done."
Families of some of the victims gasped and some broke into tears when the sentence was announced. One woman, Patricia Belanger, who lost her daughter, Dina Ann DeMaio, a waitress at the nightclub, shouted at Mr. Biechele's mother: "How do you like your son now? Now you're going to feel the pain that I feel!"
Outside the courtroom, Ms. Belanger said the sentence was "a joke" and said of Mr. Biechele's mother, "she'll get her son in four years, and they'll go back to being a happy family. What do we have?"
Gerard Fontaine, whose son Mark was killed and whose daughter Melanie was injured in the fire, said: "One year for every 25 people that died — it's crazy. You can do what you want in Rhode Island and get away with it."
But relatives of some other victims said the sentence was appropriate.
"I think it's a fair and just reaction," said Sarah Mancini, whose son Keith was killed. "He didn't set out to kill anybody. It was a horrendous accident."
Some victims' relatives and others in Rhode Island have said that more of the blame should be placed with the club owners, Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, who had installed sound-proofing foam that proved to be highly flammable.
Many also blamed the fire and building inspectors who failed to cite the presence of the foam during inspections. The Derderian brothers, the only others charged in the case, are under indictment on involuntary manslaughter charges.
The sentencing of Mr. Biechele followed two days of testimony from relatives of more than 30 victims, who offered accounts so anguished and raw that at one point Judge Darigan's clerk was too overcome to announce the next speaker.
Mr. Biechele broke down in tears Tuesday as the father of the youngest victim, 18-year-old Nicholas O'Neill, testified that his son would have wanted the family to accept Mr. Biechele's apology.
Mr. Biechele, of Winter Park, Fla., who recently married and works for a flooring company and takes night accounting classes, wrote letters of apology to each of the victims' families.
Despite Mr. Biechele's contrition, the prosecutor, Randall White, told Judge Darigan on Wednesday that Mr. Biechele should receive the 10-year maximum sentence under the plea agreement because his failure to get a permit for the pyrotechnics was "not simply an unwitting and innocuous oversight, but a deliberate and intentional decision not to abide by Rhode Island law."
"A child could have seen and foreseen the harm" of lighting pyrotechnics in the overcrowded club, Mr. White said.
"If this isn't the case that deserves a serious sentence," he said, "what one is?"
Mr. Biechele's lawyer, Thomas G. Briody, cited several factors that Mr. Biechele could not have been aware of, including the flammability of the foam and the lack of sufficient exits and fire extinguishers. "Daniel Biechele is the only man in this tragedy to stand up and say, 'I did something wrong,' " Mr. Briody said.
― dave's good arm (facsimile) (dave225.3), Thursday, 11 May 2006 10:39 (eighteen years ago) link
― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 11 May 2006 10:47 (eighteen years ago) link
The club owners will probably seek a deal since the court was lenient w/ the band manager, but it's hard to say which way it will go. If the owners choose a trial and it shows they knew the soundproofing was flammable and they knew Biechele was going to light off pyrotechnics they could get who knows how long in the can.
― Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 11 May 2006 13:08 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 11 May 2006 13:13 (eighteen years ago) link
To get some perspective, RI doesn't have a full-time state congress, they all have other day jobs. Not sure how common that is but I was kind of surprised when I heard it.
― Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 11 May 2006 15:56 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Thursday, 11 May 2006 16:22 (eighteen years ago) link
― ed slanders (edslanders), Thursday, 11 May 2006 16:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Thursday, 11 May 2006 16:27 (eighteen years ago) link
Hmmm let me guess the other 8 states; North Dakota, South Dakota, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maine, etc.
― Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 11 May 2006 16:57 (eighteen years ago) link
(By the by, states with full-time legislatures = Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. This is according to Jeff Jacoby in yesterday's Boston Globe, writing on an unrelated matter.)
― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Thursday, 11 May 2006 17:13 (eighteen years ago) link
― JW (ex machina), Thursday, 11 May 2006 17:20 (eighteen years ago) link
Jon, I remember reading articles on the evictions, I think they were all in the Phoenix though.
― Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 11 May 2006 17:43 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Thursday, 11 May 2006 17:56 (eighteen years ago) link
Duh. I meant ... you know what I meant.
― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Thursday, 11 May 2006 18:32 (eighteen years ago) link
― JW (ex machina), Thursday, 11 May 2006 22:41 (eighteen years ago) link
Colin by "correct me if I'm wrong" I didn't mean "please tell me to look it up"!
― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 11 May 2006 23:07 (eighteen years ago) link
Then you go and have your arguments over what IS intention, and your "what's the difference between recklessness and negligence", and then the reasonable man shows up, and I quit the law three years ago today.
― Colin Meeder (Mert), Friday, 12 May 2006 07:42 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 21 September 2006 13:04 (seventeen years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 21 September 2006 13:08 (seventeen years ago) link
The unedited version of the fire footage has leaked onto the net. (posted without comment except that I'm astonished at how damn fast the fire is) http://www.metalsucks.net/?p=4231
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 7 February 2008 16:41 (sixteen years ago) link
It makes for even more disturbing viewing with that "all4humor.com" tag in the corner the whole time.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Thursday, 7 February 2008 17:06 (sixteen years ago) link
That makes me nauseous.
― Bill Magill, Thursday, 7 February 2008 17:11 (sixteen years ago) link
Very frightening :(
― Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Thursday, 7 February 2008 18:30 (sixteen years ago) link
no thanks
― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 7 February 2008 18:33 (sixteen years ago) link
i ain't going near that video : /
― omar little, Thursday, 7 February 2008 18:40 (sixteen years ago) link
The Wikipedia page has a pretty good run down of the whole thing. Most interesting are the diagrams the club's exit doors, and where victims were found.
Between this and the revisit of the MGM Grand hotel fire after the Monte Carlo fire, I'm *always* making note of exits.
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 7 February 2008 20:37 (sixteen years ago) link
That reminds me of the footage of the Bradford City football ground fire that was (possibly still is) on Youtube, it's unbelievable how fast these fires spread, especially when they're in a complete fucking firetrap like that place.
― Matt #2, Thursday, 7 February 2008 22:29 (sixteen years ago) link
the advert on the left is in bad taste
http://www.metalsucks.net/graphics/eko160x600.gif
― Herman G. Neuname, Thursday, 7 February 2008 22:36 (sixteen years ago) link
Just for something positive:
http://www.bates.edu/x72231.xml
^ {POSTER I WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL WITH NAME HERE} and I went to high school with him. nice guy and a really interesting music fan. I remember him liking Earth Crisis.
― Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Thursday, 7 February 2008 23:33 (sixteen years ago) link
I have to do a yearly fire safety course at my work and it's one of the things they always show. I've seen it several times now and still can't believe how rapidly it spread.
― Billy Dods, Thursday, 7 February 2008 23:39 (sixteen years ago) link
Ugh. I just watched the Bradford City fire footage and can't get past the spectators jumping up and down and mugging for the camera.
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 8 February 2008 01:34 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah I watched that Bradford fire as part of a H&S course a year or two ago. It's insane how fast it spreads.
― nate woolls, Friday, 8 February 2008 08:22 (sixteen years ago) link
he did like earth crisis, jon!
he was a wonderfully cool guy, brought really excellent porn to motivate the entire relay team on the new england regional swim championships. we swam the 200IM together: he butterfly, me breast
― remy bean, Friday, 8 February 2008 08:35 (sixteen years ago) link
-- Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 7 February 2008 16:41 (Yesterday) Link
I got as far as the camera person leaving the building and then panning back to the people who were quite literally piling & spilling out of the exit. Then I had to turn it off. Anyone else unable to watch it all the way through?
― Tantrum The Cat, Friday, 8 February 2008 15:42 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah, I started watching it, then decided it was pretty sick. Though I was able to watch this:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=860c9b9f3b&p=1
― our work is never over, Friday, 8 February 2008 15:44 (sixteen years ago) link
he butterfly, me breast
This is a not so excellent porn.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 8 February 2008 15:45 (sixteen years ago) link
Good article about the swimmer, thanks for the post.
― Bill Magill, Friday, 8 February 2008 15:55 (sixteen years ago) link