Ex-GREAT WHITE Tour Manager's Sentence Too Light, Say Many Relatives
May 11, 2006Ray Henry of The Associated Press has issued the following report:
It took just seconds for the families of those killed in the state's deadliest fire to react as a judge told the man who set off pyrotechnics that set The Station nightclub ablaze he would have to spend the next four years in prison.
Some gasped and cried. One woman shouted at Biechele's mother. Others left the courtroom too distraught to speak.
"Four years! You might as well just slap him on the wrist," said Patricia Belanger of West Warwick, whose 30-year-old daughter, Dina DeMaio, died in the fire, leaving an 11-year-old son.
She said Biechele's remorse seemed real, but it doesn't console her.
"He's got his family, but what do we got?" she said. "He's still going to go on with his life once he's out — in four years."
Daniel Biechele was the former band manager for the heavy metal band GREAT WHITE when on Feb. 20, 2003, he did what he'd done countless times: set off pyrotechnics, a trademark gimmick to stir up the crowd.
This time, however, the colorful sparks quickly set on fire foam that surrounded the stage. The flames billowed out across the tiny club in West Warwick, and the concertgoers struggled to escape.
Read the rest of the report at this location.
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