GREAT WHITE: Names Of 100 Fire Victims Read At Sentencing For Club Owners
September 29, 2006The Associated Press reports:
A hearing to sentence the two brothers who owned a nightclub where a fire started by rock band GREAT WHITE's pyrotechnics, killing 100 concertgoers, on Friday took on a memorial feel.
It began with the lights being dimmed and a slideshow flashing pictures of each of the people killed as a woman read their names out loud. There were tearful testimonials from relatives of those who died.
And then, there was the anger directed at the court, the system and the brothers who owned The Station nightclub, a West Warwick club where highly flammable foam was placed on the walls for soundproofing — and ended up fueling a fast moving fire that trapped many of those who died at the doorways, overcome by fumes and smoke.
Many of those who spoke before club owners Michael and Jeffrey Derderian were sentenced were angry that a plea deal had been reached rather than a trial, where they could find out more about how and why their loved ones died.
Claire Bruyere, whose daughter Bonnie Hamelin died in the blaze, said her daughter was now in a place where "there is no corruption or negligence."
"She was let down by the system, state and even me. I can't reassure her that someone was held responsible for her death," Bruyere said. She was applauded as she finished her statement.
Read the rest of the report from The Associated Press.
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