Builder guilty in Lowell scam flees rather than repay funds
Sun, The (Lowell, MA) - Friday, February 14, 2003
Author: LISA REDMOND, Sun Staff
LOWELL Less than two months after Richard McCue dodged jail by promising to repay an elderly, handicapped woman $43,000 he stole from her in a home-improvement scam, the New Hampshire contractor is a wanted man.

Richard McCue , 39, of 68 Plantation Road, Laconia, N.H., not only failed to make the first payment to Jacqueline Swan, 72, of Lowell after walking out of the Lowell Superior Courtroom in December, he spent the month of January working as a general contractor in New Hampshire, a direct violation of his probation, according to his probation officer.

When probation officials tried to contact McCue at his New Hampshire home, his wife told them McCue had moved to Florida despite an unrelated pending rape case in Lowell Superior Court.

Lowell Superior Court Judge Paul Chernoff this week ordered McCue to be called in default and his name added to a nationwide database as a wanted man.

At his December hearing, Lowell Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke initially balked at the plea agreement that called for McCue to plead guilty to five counts of larceny over $250, and four counts of prohibited acts by a contractor/subcontractor, in exchange for being placed on probation for four years and repaying Swan $43,000.

Two years ago, Swan, a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic with muscular dystrophy, paid McCue $52,000, only to be left with her Lowell home partially demolished and a much-needed enclosed handicapped ramp not built, said her son, Robert Swan Jr. of Westford.

The unfinished construction project left Swan and her daughter, Lisa, who also has muscular dystrophy, homebound because the existing ramp had been torn apart. The family had to pitch in to pay for the work.

McCue admitted that he started the improvements on Swan's home in October 2000, then abandoned the project, using some money to pay for the demolition work and the bulk of it to fund other projects.

Locke initially balked at the plea agreement, angrily telling McCue that the contractor had anticipated the elderly woman's poor health, figuring she wouldn't have the strength to come to court.

But Robert Swan said the plea agreement was his mother's wish because her health is failing and she wanted to end the case. The judge reluctantly agreed to her wishes.

Part of McCue's probation prohibited him from working independently as a building contractor or any related field, unless he is an employee of another licensed contractor. On more than four dates in January, McCue was allegedly in violation by soliciting work as a general contractor in New Hampshire.

McCue still has a pending rape case in Lowell Superior Court in which he is accused of rape, assault and threats against a Lowell woman whose house he was fixing in the fall of 2000. McCue, who pleaded not guilty, was scheduled for trial Feb. 1.

The two cases are not McCue's first brush with the law.

In 1987, McCue was convicted of murdering Alene "Lulu" Courchesne in Rochester, N.H., in 1987, shortly after their second date. He spent five years in state prison before he was acquitted in a second trial, which was granted based on juror misconduct in the first trial.

___

Contractor jailed in scam
Sun, The (Lowell, MA) - Thursday, May 8, 2003
Author: LISA REDMOND, Sun Staff
LOWELL Five months ago, Richard McCue dodged jail by promising to repay an elderly, handicapped woman $43,000 he stole from her in a home-improvement scam. Then he dodged the law when he failed to pay.

Today, the New Hampshire contractor is behind bars.

Richard McCue , 39, of 68 Plantation Road, Laconia, N.H., was slapped with a 4 1/2 to 5-year state prison sentence by Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke after the contractor failed to make the first payment to Jacqueline Swan, 72, of Lowell, according to his probation officer.

McCue, who was placed on probation in December, spent January working as a general contractor in New Hampshire, a direct violation of his probation, according to the officer.

When probation officials tried to contact McCue at his New Hampshire home, his wife told them McCue had moved to Florida despite an unrelated pending rape case in Lowell Superior Court. He was found and arrested at a local construction site.

While McCue's attorney had disputed that his client had fled the area, there was no dispute that the money had not been paid.

"As far as my family is concerned, we are glad he is off the streets, because he would have done it again to someone else," said Robert Swan Jr. of Westford, the elderly woman's son. "He continues to prey upon innocent people because he has gotten away with it in the past."

At McCue's December hearing, Locke initially balked at the plea agreement that called for McCue to plead guilty to five counts of larceny over $250 and four counts of prohibited acts by a contractor/subcontractor, in exchange for being placed on probation for four years and repaying Swan $43,000, about $800 per month.

Two years ago, Swan, a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic with muscular dystrophy, paid McCue $52,000, only to be left with her Lowell home partially demolished and a much-needed enclosed handicapped ramp not built.

The unfinished construction project left Swan and her daughter, Lisa, who also has muscular dystrophy, homebound because the existing ramp had been torn apart. The family had to pitch in to pay for the work.

McCue admitted that he started the improvements on Swan's home in October 2000, then abandoned the project, using some money to pay for the demolition work and the bulk of it to fund other projects.

Robert Swan said the plea agreement was his mother's wish because her health is failing and she wanted to end the case. Locke angrily told McCue that the contractor had anticipated the elderly woman's poor health, figuring she wouldn't come to court. The judge reluctantly agreed to her wishes.

McCue still has a pending rape case in Lowell Superior Court in which he is accused of rape, assault and threats against a Lowell woman whose house he was fixing in the fall of 2000.

The two cases are not McCue's first brush with the law.

In 1987, McCue was convicted of murdering Alene "Lulu" Courchesne in Rochester, N.H., shortly after their second date. He spent five years in state prison before he was acquitted in a second trial, which was granted based on juror misconduct in the first trial.

Man guilty in handicapped woman's rape
Sun, The (Lowell, MA) - Friday, February 23, 2007
Author: Lisa Redmond, lredmond@lowellsun.com
LOWELL -- A former Lowell man and New Hampshire carpenter, who was convicted and then cleared of murdering his girlfriend 20 years ago, has pleaded guilty to raping a handicapped woman who hired him to do repairs on her home.

In Lowell Superior Court yesterday, Richard McCue , 44, pleaded guilty to raping a then 37-year-old handicapped woman in her Lowell home in September 2000.

McCue, formerly of Laconia, N.H., was given two years probation to be served after he completes a sentence he is currently serving.

While on probation, McCue must register as a sex offender in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He must also stay away from the victim.

In pleading guilty, McCue avoided a second trial in the rape case.

In December 2004, a mistrial was declared after the jury became deadlocked on the rape charge, but they convicted McCue of assault and threats in the same case.

The victim, who suffers from muscular dystrophy, testified in the first trial that McCue forced her to perform a sex act on him while the two were alone in her home.

McCue was hired and paid $10,000 by the woman and her husband to build a porch on their Lowell home so she could wheel herself outside.

After raping her, the woman alleged, McCue grabbed her shirt and tried to grab her breast before she could shut the door on him. He threatened to kill her, her husband and her dog if she told anyone, she said.

Scared of the 300-pound carpenter, the woman said she did not report the alleged assault to police for nearly six months until she had a break-in at her home in the city's Christian Hill section.

While the jury was "hung" on the rape charge, McCue was sentenced to 21/2 years in the House of Correction in Billerica for assault and threats in the same case.

McCue is serving a state prison sentence for bilking an elderly woman out of her life savings in a construction swindle.

In December 2002, McCue pleaded guilty to taking the life savings -- $43,000 -- of a 72-year-old quadriplegic woman when he failed to build a handicapped ramp and addition onto her Lowell home. After demolishing half her house, McCue didn't come back and then defaulted on repaying the debt.

In May 2003, McCue was slapped with a 41/2- to five-year state prison sentence for failing to make even one payment on the debt. The elderly woman died without seeing a cent.

But the first time McCue made headlines was in 1987, when the Lowell native was convicted of murdering Alene "Lulu" Courchesne in Rochester, N.H., shortly after their second date.

He spent five years in state prison before he was acquitted in a second trial in February 1993, which was granted after juror misconduct was found in the first trial. A dispute over tire tracks and boot prints found near the body provided reasonable doubt for a jury to find him innocent during a second trial.

Anyone beginning to have doubts about Richard being innocent w/ Lulu?

Uh, YEAH.

Wow this is certainly shocking!! Yes you can't help but wonder even though I had always thought he was guilty. Maybe what the other suspect's wife said was true about if he did it he would have confessed on his deathbed. Although I don't think Lulu was raped. I mean I don't remember them talking about it on the UM segment but from what the roommate said it was a consensual relationship. This really makes you wonder.

This does definitely come as a shock. I always believed he was innocent, but this is certainly enough of a revelation for me to start having doubts.

This does definitely come as a shock. I always believed he was innocent, but this is certainly enough of a revelation for me to start having doubts.

I agree. This case always stood out to me as one where the man in prison was definitely innocent. Now, I'm not so sure. As they say, "where's there's smoke, there's fire."

It's just sad -rape is bad enough,but raping a handicapped person? He really must have had a hard time getting any with his small penis....

This is really sad. I always thought he was innocent and he seemed so sincere. Damnit.

To play devil's advocate here, McCue was accused of raping the handicapped woman, but was never convicted of it. So all we really have is a POS who's scaming handicapped people out of thousands of dollars. And that doesn't necessarily make him a murderer. Based off of the UM segment, I've always thought McCue was innocent of the murder of Lulu. But fooling around with an engaged woman should speak volumes of his character.

To play devil's advocate here, McCue was accused of raping the handicapped woman, but was never convicted of it. So all we really have is a POS who's scaming handicapped people out of thousands of dollars. And that doesn't necessarily make him a murderer. Based off of the UM segment, I've always thought McCue was innocent of the murder of Lulu. But fooling around with an engaged woman should speak volumes of his character.

He wasn't convicted because he didn't go to trial. He pled guilty to it. He admitted he was a raper of a handicapped person.
"In Lowell Superior Court yesterday, Richard McCue , 44, pleaded guilty to raping a then 37-year-old handicapped woman in her Lowell home in September 2000.
"

He wasn't convicted because he didn't go to trial. He pled guilty to it. He admitted he was a raper of a handicapped person.
"In Lowell Superior Court yesterday, Richard McCue , 44, pleaded guilty to raping a then 37-year-old handicapped woman in her Lowell home in September 2000.
"

"In December 2004, a mistrial was declared after the jury became deadlocked on the rape charge, but they convicted McCue of assault and threats in the same case."

"In December 2004, a mistrial was declared after the jury became deadlocked on the rape charge, but they convicted McCue of assault and threats in the same case."

And it was about to go to trial again (a new trial since the last one was a mistrial), but he pled guilty in 2007.

And it was about to go to trial again (a new trial since the last one was a mistrial), but he pled guilty in 2007.

He plead guilty and got placed on probation and by pleading guilty avoided going to trial again. While I myself would never plead guilty for something I didn't do, is it safe to assume that McCue didn't want to go to trial (yet again) and decided to bypass all of that by just pleading guilty and getting it over with? Sounds to me like he got a plea bargain, if all he got was two years probation and to finish out his previous sentence in an unrelated crime. The guy is a loser, I'm not defending him, but this woman waits six months to report this rape for some carpenter doing work on her home? I'm sorry, I just don't buy it and apparently neither did a jury.

He plead guilty and got placed on probation and by pleading guilty avoided going to trial again. While I myself would never plead guilty for something I didn't do, is it safe to assume that McCue didn't want to go to trial (yet again) and decided to bypass all of that by just pleading guilty and getting it over with? Sounds to me like he got a plea bargain, if all he got was two years probation and to finish out his previous sentence in an unrelated crime. The guy is a loser, I'm not defending him, but this woman waits six months to report this rape for some carpenter doing work on her home? I'm sorry, I just don't buy it and apparently neither did a jury.

Sorry, he's officially on the books as a rapist. He probably is. Also dishonest scammer punk who actually fled to avoid capture on the scam charges! Either he was guilty of LuLu's murder or he learned some bad habits during his time in the slammer.

P.S. Most people don't admit guilt to something unless there's some damn good evidence, they would adamantly deny the allegations and say, well we had a mistrial already, we can get another or a not guilty next time.

Again, that does not make him guilty in the murder of Lulu. An eyewitness said McCue was gone from the apartment for fifteen mintues total. Not enough time to kill Lulu, dump her body, and then clean himself and his truck. Another eyewitness at Lulu's building also said McCue dropped Lulu off and then left, and she then heard Lulu stumbling up the steps to get to her apartment. Again, where does McCue have all of this time to do this? He'd have to park his truck a distance away from Lulu's building (Lulu's neighbor says she could hear McCue's loud truck outside, and if he did come back to murder her she most likely would have heard it again), then kill her in her apartment (without disturbing the neighbors), and then drive to the site where her body was found, and then haul ass back to his apartment in less than fifteen minutes.

Again, that does not make him guilty in the murder of Lulu. An eyewitness said McCue was gone from the apartment for fifteen mintues total. Not enough time to kill Lulu, dump her body, and then clean himself and his truck. Another eyewitness at Lulu's building also said McCue dropped Lulu off and then left, and she then heard Lulu stumbling up the steps to get to her apartment. Again, where does McCue have all of this time to do this? He'd have to park his truck a distance away from Lulu's building (Lulu's neighbor says she could hear McCue's loud truck outside, and if he did come back to murder her she most likely would have heard it again), then kill her in her apartment (without disturbing the neighbors), and then drive to the site where her body was found, and then haul ass back to his apartment in less than fifteen minutes.

Yes, I decided to rewatch the segment again after hearing all the new info about Mr. McCue and this is the main reason my opinion about his innocence in this particular case still hasn't changed. Like the Bob Hall case, the suspect in question may be a sleaze, but it just seems physically impossible that they could have successfully pulled off a murder in such a limited timeframe.

It's not like all of the final appellants on UM were choirboys even though they may have been innocent of the particular crime they were convicted of. Given what we know about McCue's penchant for sexual assault, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that if Lulu hadn't been killed and he'd gotten too spent more time with her, she might have been gotten cold feet about cheating on her fiancee, and it might have escalated to the point where he was charged with her rape instead of her murder. But that doesn't mean he ever would have killed her.

Yes, I decided to rewatch the segment again after hearing all the new info about Mr. McCue and this is the main reason my opinion about his innocence in this particular case still hasn't changed. Like the Bob Hall case, the suspect in question may be a sleaze, but it just seems physically impossible that they could have successfully pulled off a murder in such a limited timeframe.

It's not like all of the final appellants on UM were choirboys even though they may have been innocent of the particular crime they were convicted of. Given what we know about McCue's penchant for sexual assault, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that if Lulu hadn't been killed and he'd gotten too spent more time with her, she might have been gotten cold feet about cheating on her fiancee, and it might have escalated to the point where he was charged with her rape instead of her murder. But that doesn't mean he ever would have killed her.

Based off of the two eyewitness accounts (one of which had no association with McCue) it is physically impossible for him to have committed this crime. Usually when a person has a good head on their shoulders and if they keep their nose clean, they don't get embroiled in a wrongful murder conviction. So obviously if McCue wasn't messing around with an engaged woman, he never would have even been in that predicament in the first place.

The man is a complete con-artist.

The man is a complete con-artist.

That does not make him a murderer. Nice avatar, BTW.

Here's his picture on the sex offender registry. I didn't even recognize him!

http://lowellpolice.com/crime_safety/sex_offenders/posters/Richard_McCue.pdf

Here's his picture on the sex offender registry. I didn't even recognize him!

http://lowellpolice.com/crime_safety/sex_offenders/posters/Richard_McCue.pdf

YIKES! He looks completely different, and looks exactly how I would picture a pervert in my head.

Prison changes people, innocent man sent to jail comes out completely different. On top of that, get out of jail after being convicted of murder (being found not guilty after the fact or not) and there is a big stigma attached to your name. I am sure it isn't easy getting a job and thus more likely to commit fraud etc. While his second run in with the law leads me to believe there is a bigger possibility he was guilty, I think the evidence points towards him being not guilty.

Prison changes people, innocent man sent to jail comes out completely different. On top of that, get out of jail after being convicted of murder (being found not guilty after the fact or not) and there is a big stigma attached to your name. I am sure it isn't easy getting a job and thus more likely to commit fraud etc. While his second run in with the law leads me to believe there is a bigger possibility he was guilty, I think the evidence points towards him being not guilty.

Good points, I could see how prison may have changed McCue's personality.

Builder guilty in Lowell scam flees rather than repay funds
Sun, The (Lowell, MA) - Friday, February 14, 2003
Author: LISA REDMOND, Sun Staff
LOWELL Less than two months after Richard McCue dodged jail by promising to repay an elderly, handicapped woman $43,000 he stole from her in a home-improvement scam, the New Hampshire contractor is a wanted man.

Richard McCue , 39, of 68 Plantation Road, Laconia, N.H., not only failed to make the first payment to Jacqueline Swan, 72, of Lowell after walking out of the Lowell Superior Courtroom in December, he spent the month of January working as a general contractor in New Hampshire, a direct violation of his probation, according to his probation officer.

When probation officials tried to contact McCue at his New Hampshire home, his wife told them McCue had moved to Florida despite an unrelated pending rape case in Lowell Superior Court.

Lowell Superior Court Judge Paul Chernoff this week ordered McCue to be called in default and his name added to a nationwide database as a wanted man.

At his December hearing, Lowell Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke initially balked at the plea agreement that called for McCue to plead guilty to five counts of larceny over $250, and four counts of prohibited acts by a contractor/subcontractor, in exchange for being placed on probation for four years and repaying Swan $43,000.

Two years ago, Swan, a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic with muscular dystrophy, paid McCue $52,000, only to be left with her Lowell home partially demolished and a much-needed enclosed handicapped ramp not built, said her son, Robert Swan Jr. of Westford.

The unfinished construction project left Swan and her daughter, Lisa, who also has muscular dystrophy, homebound because the existing ramp had been torn apart. The family had to pitch in to pay for the work.

McCue admitted that he started the improvements on Swan's home in October 2000, then abandoned the project, using some money to pay for the demolition work and the bulk of it to fund other projects.

Locke initially balked at the plea agreement, angrily telling McCue that the contractor had anticipated the elderly woman's poor health, figuring she wouldn't have the strength to come to court.

But Robert Swan said the plea agreement was his mother's wish because her health is failing and she wanted to end the case. The judge reluctantly agreed to her wishes.

Part of McCue's probation prohibited him from working independently as a building contractor or any related field, unless he is an employee of another licensed contractor. On more than four dates in January, McCue was allegedly in violation by soliciting work as a general contractor in New Hampshire.

McCue still has a pending rape case in Lowell Superior Court in which he is accused of rape, assault and threats against a Lowell woman whose house he was fixing in the fall of 2000. McCue, who pleaded not guilty, was scheduled for trial Feb. 1.

The two cases are not McCue's first brush with the law.

In 1987, McCue was convicted of murdering Alene "Lulu" Courchesne in Rochester, N.H., in 1987, shortly after their second date. He spent five years in state prison before he was acquitted in a second trial, which was granted based on juror misconduct in the first trial.

___

Contractor jailed in scam
Sun, The (Lowell, MA) - Thursday, May 8, 2003
Author: LISA REDMOND, Sun Staff
LOWELL Five months ago, Richard McCue dodged jail by promising to repay an elderly, handicapped woman $43,000 he stole from her in a home-improvement scam. Then he dodged the law when he failed to pay.

Today, the New Hampshire contractor is behind bars.

Richard McCue , 39, of 68 Plantation Road, Laconia, N.H., was slapped with a 4 1/2 to 5-year state prison sentence by Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke after the contractor failed to make the first payment to Jacqueline Swan, 72, of Lowell, according to his probation officer.

McCue, who was placed on probation in December, spent January working as a general contractor in New Hampshire, a direct violation of his probation, according to the officer.

When probation officials tried to contact McCue at his New Hampshire home, his wife told them McCue had moved to Florida despite an unrelated pending rape case in Lowell Superior Court. He was found and arrested at a local construction site.

While McCue's attorney had disputed that his client had fled the area, there was no dispute that the money had not been paid.

"As far as my family is concerned, we are glad he is off the streets, because he would have done it again to someone else," said Robert Swan Jr. of Westford, the elderly woman's son. "He continues to prey upon innocent people because he has gotten away with it in the past."

At McCue's December hearing, Locke initially balked at the plea agreement that called for McCue to plead guilty to five counts of larceny over $250 and four counts of prohibited acts by a contractor/subcontractor, in exchange for being placed on probation for four years and repaying Swan $43,000, about $800 per month.

Two years ago, Swan, a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic with muscular dystrophy, paid McCue $52,000, only to be left with her Lowell home partially demolished and a much-needed enclosed handicapped ramp not built.

The unfinished construction project left Swan and her daughter, Lisa, who also has muscular dystrophy, homebound because the existing ramp had been torn apart. The family had to pitch in to pay for the work.

McCue admitted that he started the improvements on Swan's home in October 2000, then abandoned the project, using some money to pay for the demolition work and the bulk of it to fund other projects.

Robert Swan said the plea agreement was his mother's wish because her health is failing and she wanted to end the case. Locke angrily told McCue that the contractor had anticipated the elderly woman's poor health, figuring she wouldn't come to court. The judge reluctantly agreed to her wishes.

McCue still has a pending rape case in Lowell Superior Court in which he is accused of rape, assault and threats against a Lowell woman whose house he was fixing in the fall of 2000.

The two cases are not McCue's first brush with the law.

In 1987, McCue was convicted of murdering Alene "Lulu" Courchesne in Rochester, N.H., shortly after their second date. He spent five years in state prison before he was acquitted in a second trial, which was granted based on juror misconduct in the first trial.
Wow this does not shock me at all. He was my sisters first boyfriend. He ripped off our parents when my parents hired and paid him for a job he never did finish. As much as I hate to admit it this monster stopped by my house and attempted to rape me. Both wrist became very bruised from him grabbing at my wrists in an attempt to rape me. I never reported this to the authorities as he was like a brother and son to my family. I was in a state of schlock over what he did to me and our family. He scared the heck out of me, I saw a side of him that I did not know existed. I am so glad my sister did not marry him. I hope he stays in prison for a very long time. As much as I hate to admit it, after reading up on his appeal I have to confir he did not kill lulu. But prison did bring out these traits in him, the ripoffs and the rape of that handicapped woman and the attempted rape of me.

I just recently saw this case again and was always troubled by the fact that this case ever even went to trial (at least the way UM framed the story). I found an civil rights suit that McCue brought against the City of Rochester and the police in 1996, and it had some interesting nuggets:

At McCue's trial, the prosecution offered circumstantial evidence of his guilt, including a witness's description of a truck parked on the side of the highway about 2:30 a.m. near where the police discovered Courchesne's body that matched the truck McCue was driving on October 17; another witness's testimony that Courchesne and McCue left the witness's house just after 2:30 a.m., that she heard Courchesne's raised voice and the truck engine revving before they left (the witness's house was four minutes from where Courchesne's body was later found); evidence of truck tire marks and tire impressions in the gravel where Courchesne's body was found that matched the tires on McCue's truck; evidence that an antifreeze stain was found on the ground at the scene and that McCue's truck had been filled recently and leaked antifreeze; and evidence that the boot impressions at the scene matched a test impression made with McCue's boots.

I had heard about the antifreeze before, as well as the tire marks (the defense challenged these identifications successfully at trial), but have never heard that they matched boot impressions to one of McCue's boots, or how close the house McCue was staying at that night was only 4 minutes away from the spot where Lulu's body was eventually found. Still a very circumstantial case, and while the segment does try to paint Russell Healy as the real killer, it should be noted that the same neighbor who says she saw McCue drop Lulu off after 2:30 a.m., also says she saw Russell Healy leaving Lulu's apartment at 1:30 a.m. that night and he never returned. At 1:30, Lulu was still at the bar with McCue.

Source (https://www.nhd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/96/96SM067.pdf)

https://i.ibb.co/5g1Ck5NV/rm.png

Time has not been kind to Rick McCue.