Guilty plea in Danny Paquette murder

[Kane]

Eric Windhurst has pled guilty to second-degree murder in the 1985 shooting death of Danny Paquette. He has been given 15 to 36 years in prison. Danny's brother, Victor Paquette, initially expressed his displeasure with the plea deal, but soon remarked that any further court proceedings "would only create more heartache" for his family.

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=153811

[kadrmas15]

Well 2nd degree murder I believe is where there is intent but not premeditation. I imagine Eric Windhurst will probably be sentenced from anywhere to 25 to 30 years in prison. He will probably released after serving 15 to 20 of those years. I doubt he will get the minimum sentence but he probably wont get the maximum either. Despite the family not exactly being pleased with the plea arrangement it is probably better for them to not have to sit through a trial and re live all this stuff again if they can avoid it. It was also a no brainer for Windhurst to take that plea deal because if he would have fought it they probably would have charged him with first degree murder and he would have been looking at life then. But of course they are also sentencing him according to 1985 sentencing guidelines so he will get off easier regardless of what he is charged with. I think it is a good thing that it is over with and I hope Windhurst serves his time and gets out eventually. It was wrong for him to kill Danny, however he was only 17 at the time and I dont think he would have killed Danny unless he believed his girlfriends allegations about Danny were true.

[Kane]

It was wrong for him to kill Danny, however he was only 17 at the time and I dont think he would have killed Danny unless he believed his girlfriends allegations about Danny were true.

It makes one wonder if there's another possible motive for Eric to kill Danny Paquette. Danny's brother Victor admittedly knew about the sex abuse allegations, but didn't know of any of evidence to back them up. If Danny Paquette was factually innocent of any abuse, then that would mean another dead man's name has been smeared. :mad:

The molestation claims against Danny Paquette remained sealed by the court until Eric Windhurst was arrested and charge with Danny's murder. So before then, information related to these allegations were not available to the public. Needless to say, this was why they weren't discussed in the UM segment.

[Or So It Seems]

Thanks for that update Kane. I had no idea there had been an arrest and didn't think the case would ever be solved.

I find it interesting that the details of the crime can often differ remarkably from the theories that UM puts forward in their re-enactments. I remember how this case focused on an accidental shooting by a hunter and had no details of the alleged domestic problems with Danny.

[Kane]

I find it interesting that the details of the crime can often differ remarkably from the theories that UM puts forward in their re-enactments.

That's not uncommon. But there's a good reason for that in Danny's case. Although the sex abuse allegations were not publicly known at the time the segment was being produced, the show still mentioned Danny's divorce, and indicated that there was friction involved between Danny and his ex-wife.

I remember how this case focused on an accidental shooting by a hunter and had no details of the alleged domestic problems with Danny.

I never bought the theory that Danny's death was accidental. In my mind, the evidence didn't support that.

[Kane]

The article at the following link includes a photo of Danny's brother, Victor Paquette.

http://www.salemobserver.com/hooksett-banner/2006/08/news/24-eric-windhurst.html

Victor, as you might remember, was interviewed for the UM segment. I can still remember the part of the interview where he discussed how Danny was affected by the death of their mother, Rena Paquette (who was suspiciously burned to death in 1964). Victor said something to the effect the tragedy was like losing a security blanket.