Salem Observer : Brentwood

Phantom gymnasts earn state titles

Salem Editor — Wed, 27 May 2009 20:17:00 GMT

BRENTWOOD – The Phantom Gymnastics prep optional division recently won two team championships at the state meet at Gymnastics at Brentwood Commons in Brentwood, taking the advanced division with a score of 109.575 and the intermediate division with a score of 111.3. The novice team placed second with a score of 113.775.

Ten teams participated in the third state meet for the prep optional gymnastics program, which allows more athletes to remain in competitive gymnastics without the time commitment of the traditional Junior Olympic program. For details, visit phantomgymnastics.com. In addition, Phantom gymnasts took five individual all-around state championship titles, as well as 15 individual event championship titles.

In the advanced level, senior 14+ division, Sammy Graziani was the all-around state champion and bar champion. Chloe Ouellette of Atkinson placed second in the all-around. Lilli Oliveri of Salem was the vault state champion, second on floor and sixth in the all-around.

In the junior 11- to 13-year-old division, Maddy Theodore was the all-around state champion and first on floor. Sam O’Connell of Salem earned the state title on vault and placed fourth in the all-around.

In the intermediate level, senior 13-year-old division, Amanda Holden was the all-around state champion, also winning bars, beam and floor.

Ally DeCloux took second in the all-around. Mel Fenton of Windham was the vault state champ and fifth in the all-around.

In the junior 12-year-old division, Nicole Faber of Salem took third in the all-around and tied for second on floor. Alexandra Cave took third on floor, Shealyn Redmond of Salem was fourth on beam, and Anna Fallisi of Salem was eighth on bars.

In the 7- to 11-year-old division, Bailey Dodge finished third on vault and fifth in the all-around, and Emily Cambra took second on floor.

In the novice level, junior 11- and 12-year-old division, Toni Schena was crowned all-around state champ, led by first-place finishes on beam and floor. Amber Chopelas of Salem placed third in the all-around, including second on beam. Ashley Iannuzzi took fifth in the all-around, followed by Samantha Milone of Salem in sixth.

In the 10-year-old division, Corinn Szostkiewicz tied for the all-around crown, winning the floor exercise outright. Gemma Schena won the beam and took second in the all-around.

In the child 6- to 9-year-old division, Julia DeCloux was second in the all-around. McKenzie Hughes of Salem took third on floor and sixth in the all-around.

Christina Giannopoulos finished seventh on bars and third on beam. Kirstin Klimkofski earned the state championship on bars and fifth on vault.

Sword killer sentenced

Salem Editor — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:06:00 GMT

BY TRENT SPINER

Nearly breaking down into tears, Scott Hanks, 50, pleaded guilty to murder on Monday, March 23, while apologizing to the family of a man whom he stabbed multiple times in the abdomen with a Samurai sword.

But his words were not enough for the family of William Solberg Jr., who was 49 years old when he was killed last April in the driveway of a cabin on Canobie Lake in Salem.

“There is no punishment great enough for you,” said Solberg’s sister, Cheryl Hughes of Andover, Mass. “We accept your plea bargain not because it is just, but to spare our family any more hurt.”

Superior Court Justice Kenneth R. McHugh sentenced Hanks to state prison for 15 to 30 years at the request of prosecutors.

Hughes was joined by almost two dozen family members who fully packed four rows of seats inside the courtroom. She said nothing can take away the family’s pain of losing their brother, uncle and son -- a kind and funloving man who worked in the family business.

“You have changed our lives forever, but you will not ruin our lives forever,” she said. “You made a wrong decision and we hope you pay for it for the rest of your life.”

Solberg’s other sister was also given a chance by the court to speak to Hanks after his guilty plea but before a judge sentenced him.

“Mr. Hanks, you had choices, you didn’t have to plunge that sword into my brother,” said Marybeth Cosgrove of Melrose, Mass.

Solberg’s parents were in the courtroom, but they were too distressed to speak, said Cosgrove. He was their only son.

“It has almost been a year, and there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by when I don’t ask myself why this happened,” Cosgrove said.

She said she will miss looking into his blue eyes.

“We will only be able to hold him in our hearts and that’s one thing you will never be able to take away,” she said.

In the late afternoon on April 6, Solberg came to the cabin Hanks was renting in Salem to confront him about a woman, who was also in the home, according to prosecutor Kirsten B. Wilson. It was the second day Solberg had been to the house on Lake Shore Road and Hanks was “seeing red,” he told police.

Hanks, dressed in only sweatpants, grabbed a Samurai sword to confront an unarmed Solberg in the driveway. He popped the rear driver’s side tire so he could not escape, then the two started brawling, according to Wilson, a senior assistant attorney general.

Neighbors called police when they saw Hanks holding Solberg on the ground in a headlock while stabbing him with the sword in his right hand, Wilson said in court.

Before being sentenced, Hanks was allowed to make a statement to the family. Wearing an orange jailhouse jumpsuit but no handcuffs, he stood from the defendant’s table and turned to face Solberg’s family.

“Not a single day has passed that I have not grieved your loss, especially on holidays and special occasions,” he said, adding the feelings were especially strong on Mother’s Day.

Losing a sibling of his own has helped him understand their loss, said Hanks, partially reading from a one-page note.

“If I could leave with anything from this terrible mess, it would be that you know how deeply, truly sorry that I am,” he said, nearly breaking into tears.

McHugh, from the bench, warned others to be in control of themselves at all times because so many lives can be changed in a heartbeat.

Hanks said he planned to help other people in jail who are troubled so Solberg’s death was not in vain.

After the hearing, Cosgrove, Solberg’s sister, questioned whether Hanks’ apology was from the heart. Both sisters thanked members of the State Attorney General’s office.

Accused sword killer to plead guilty

Salem Editor — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:38:00 GMT

BY TRENT SPINER

Accused Samurai sword killer Scott Hanks gave notice Tuesday, March 3, that he intends to plead guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the death of his former friend, William Solberg.

Hanks, 49, of Salem, was scheduled to face a jury trial later this month after police said he stabbed Solberg with a 15-inch sword on a Sunday afternoon last April.

Instead, he will now face a judge for sentencing on March 23. Under state law, Hanks could spend life in prison.

Court files at the Rockingham County Superior Court did not list a reason for Hanks’ notice of intent to plead guilty. Hanks also waived his right to have the state’s Probation Department make a recommendation on the length of his sentence. His public defenders could not be reached by press time.

Prosecutor Kirsten B. Wilson said she could not comment because she had not yet seen the filing.

Judge Kenneth McHugh will likely preside over the plea and sentencing hearing in three weeks. The judge will ask if Hanks made the plea in a sober state of mind before ruling on whether to accept it and handing down a sentence.

Hanks and Solberg had been fighting over a woman when Solberg pulled up in the driveway of Hanks’ home at 87 Lake Shore Road, police said at house shirtless with a sword and punctured the rear driver’s side tire on Solberg’s truck.

After a brief struggle, Hanks allegedly stabbed Solberg once in the abdomen.

Solberg, 46, a Pelham construction worker, was taken by ambulance to Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, Mass., where he died later that night. Hanks tossed the sword in nearby Canobie Lake, where a police dive team later recovered it.

Hanks was originally charged with first-degree assault and negligent homicide but was later re-indicted on two alternative counts of second-degree murder.