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40 to 81 years for DWI deaths

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:14:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

A 25-year-old Hooksett man will spend 40 and a half to 81 years in prison on several counts each of manslaughter, aggravated assault and driving while intoxicated after he caused two deaths in a February 2006 crash in Manchester.

Joshua Lamy, of Martins Ferry Road, looked straight at Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Gillian Abramson as she handed down the sentence, saying Lamy showed “zero remorse” during the course of the trial.

In December, a jury convicted Lamy on two counts of manslaughter, two counts of second- degree assault, and three counts of aggravated driving while intoxicated.

Taxi passenger Sheila Moody, 39, and the newborn son of taxi driver Brianna Emmons, Dominick, both lost their lives in the accident. Family members and friends of the victims spoke at the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Feb. 14, about the emotional and physical scars left in the wake of Lamy’s speeding Honda Civic.

“When I go to visit my son, I visit a square foot of granite that’s on top of my buried son,” said Michael Bianchini, the baby’s father.

Bianchini said Lamy needs to be held accountable for what he called irresponsible and selfish behavior on the night of the crash, but addressed Lamy civilly and said he forgives the man who took his son’s life.

“I hope that you can forgive you for what you did,” Bianchini said.

Lamy read aloud a statement he wrote to the court prior to hearing his sentence, saying he wished he could trade places with the victims.

“I just want you to understand that I’m not heartless, I’m not a monster and it was an accident,” he said, tears breaking his voice.

Lamy, 23 at the time of the accident, and Anthony Brown, now 30, left the Yee Dynasty on Feb. 18, 2006, after drinking.

According to police testimony, there was an altercation involving Lamy and a young woman that prompted the two men to get into Lamy’s Honda and speed away from the bar at more than 100 mph down Maple Street, a residential area in Manchester.

Taxi driver Emmons, then 18, was seven months pregnant when Lamy’s Civic ran a red light at the intersection of Maple and Blodget Streets and slammed into the passenger side of her taxi van at 103 mph.

The occupants of both vehicles were severely injured.

Moody, who took the brunt of the impact, died a few days later as a result of her injuries.

Baby Dominick, delivered by emergency cesarean shortly after the crash, suffered severe trauma due to a lack of oxygen sustained during his mother’s extensive injuries, which included a broken pelvis. He was on life support for two weeks before he died.

Brown suffered serious head trauma, including brain swelling and a resulting aneurysm that left him with severe brain damage and no memory of the accident.

Lamy himself suffered two broken legs in the crash, the dashboard having pushed his knees up to his chin.

Judge Abramson said she based her decision for the maximum allowed sentence largely on Lamy’s lengthy prior criminal and motor vehicle records, which include two convictions for drug possession, several license suspensions resulting from drunk and reckless driving, conspiracy to commit theft, resisting arrest and a prowling charge.

She added Lamy looked “bored” during the sentencing hearing, and pointed to an instance on the second day of the trial in which Lamy told his attorneys to make sure he could get back to the jail by a certain time so he could take a shower.

“You cannot begin to fathom the damage that you have caused,” Abramson said, adding his past showed a clear progression of dangerous behavior.

“The only way to deter this individual is to keep him off the streets and remove him from society as long as possible,” said Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sandoval. “This absolutely cries out for the maximum punishment.”

Lamy’s attorneys asked for a lesser sentence of 13-and-a-half to 40 years in prison as well as a stay in sentencing, claiming the pre-sentencing investigation report contained inaccuracies.

Attorney Charles O’Leary also cited similar cases under the same circumstances which carried less hefty sentences, a point Sandoval countered by pointing out that Lamy had been convicted of manslaughter, not negligent homicide, and the defendants in those other cases had pleaded guilty.

Part of Lamy’s sentence includes paying $20,000 in restitution to the families of Dominick Emmons and Sheila Moody. He is also to have no contact with either family, is required to stay at least 500 yards from them and must go through drug rehabilitation while serving his sentence.

Lamy will be eligible for parole from the Hillsborough County House of Corrections at the age of 65.

Sex talk arrest

Hooksett Editor — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:09:00 GMT

BY SUSAN WARE

A Hooksett man will be jailed for soliciting sex from teenage girls via the Internet.

Norman Laliberte, 32, pleaded guilty on Monday, June 25, to three counts of certain uses of computer services, prohibited, in Hillsborough County Superior Court.

Laliberte was charged with soliciting a 15-year-old girl and 14-year-old girl through the Internet to engage in sexual activity. According to the Attorney General’s Office, Laliberte also performed sexual acts on himself over a Web cam while asking one of the girls if she wanted to make a sex video with him.

The “girls” were actually Timothy Craig of the Manchester Police Department and Gary Gott of the Litchfield Police Department posing as the minors.

Laliberte arranged to meet with one of the girls and was arrested by Manchester police on Aug. 25, 2006, before the meeting took place.

In the case of the girl he arranged to meet, he was sentenced to two-and-half to seven years in the state prison and will be required to attend sexual offender counseling while incarcerated. He was also sentenced to three-and-a-half to seven years consecutive in the state prison for the second incident, all of which was suspended for 10 years. He is required to register as a sex offender and is prohibited from having any contact with children in person or online.

Cooper sentence reduced

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 19:38:00 GMT

BY RYAN O'CONNOR

Melanie Cooper will only serve half of her original sentence.

After Cooper pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension, a felony charge, in the investigation of Eric Windhurst’s 1985 murder of her stepfather, Danny Paquette of Hooksett, she was sentenced, in December, to three to six years in prison.

But after a three-judge panel reviewed her case, at the request of Cooper, her sentence was reduced to 15 to 30 months, according to published reports.

Cooper met with the judges on June 15 and the panel made its decision on Friday, June 22.

Cooper, 37, has been serving her sentence at Goffstown’s state women’s prison since December and will be eligible for parole in March.

“Melanie appreciates the careful review conducted by the sensory panel in the reduction of her sentence,” said Cooper’s lawyer, Paul McDonough.

Eric Windhurst, Cooper’s high school classmate, is serving a 15- to 36-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2006.

Cooper testified against him and according to Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeff Strelzin, the prosecutor in the case, Windhurst couldn’t have been brought to justice without her assistance.

Still, Superior Court Judge Robert Lynn went against the state’s recommendation of a five-year suspended sentence, instead sentencing her to a three to six year prison sentence.

But prior to Cooper’s meeting with the panel, Strelzin said the state would stand by its original recommendation.

“It was in recognition, primarily, of her cooperation in the case that allowed us to solve the 20-year old unsolved murder,” he said. “We also considered who she was at the time, and a lack of criminal history and what she’s done with her life since.”

Cooper had been living out of state with her husband and five children, and had lied to police during prior investigations.

She claimed she was with Windhurst, who was 17 years old at the time he shot and killed Paquette. She was 15 years old.

Cooper told Windhurst that Paquette had sexually assaulted her, but said she was unaware Windhurst would kill her stepfather.

McDonough said the panel ruled Cooper had nothing to do with the homicide.

Two of four in court

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 19:33:00 GMT

BY SUSAN WARE

Attorney B.J. Branch filed a petition in Merrimack Superior Court on Tuesday, June 26, asking a judge to declare the terminations of Joanne Drewniak and Jessica Skorupski unlawful.

“What my clients want is for the court to declare the terminations unlawful and to decide appropriate remediation.

They want reinstatement, at least on paper. What happens after that remains to be seen,” said Branch.

According to Branch, remediation could include back pay, legal fees, lost time for pension vesting and other out-of-pocket expenses, plus damages.

Branch also plans to challenge the Town Council’s decision to return a citizen’s initiative petition demanding that the four former employees be given their jobs back.

Drewniak and Skorupski are two of what the media has dubbed “Hooksett Four.” They were fired by the Hooksett Town Council without warning on April 11 for gossiping about Town Administrator David Jodoin.

Sandra Piper, Michelle Bonsteel, Skorupski and Drewniak have 46 years of town service between them. They don’t deny claims that they were discussing the rumor of an alleged relationship between the married Jodoin and another employee, or that Drewniak used a derogatory term to describe Jodoin.

The Town Council made the decision to terminate the longtime employees after receiving a fact-finding report written by an investigator who questioned two hall employees about whether they had been gossiping. The report recommended disciplinary action, but not termination.

Drewniak and Skorupski appealed to the Town Council to reverse their terminations. Their appeal was denied on May 25. Branch said at the time that litigation would follow, once Piper and Bonsteel had their hearing with council.

The hearing for Piper and Bonsteel has been canceled once and Branch said it is uncertain if it will be rescheduled.