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#1 |
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This then unsolved murder case was profiled on the last "special" (number 7) before UM became a weekly series. An update has aired on Lifetime about the arrest of Raymond "Beaver" Tempest Jr. who is currently serving a life sentence for Laferte's murder. The update briefly mentioned allegations of a police coverup, but did not go into detail. This intrigued me so I did a Newsbank search and came up with these articles. It appears that Tempest's brother Gordon was a detective investigating the case and lied about evidence he found that exonerated Raymond. Kind of interesting...
================================================== TODAY'S DIGEST Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA) July 23, 1991 Edition: THIRDLOCAL NEWS Section: LOCAL NEWS Page: A2 Record Number: 9107233740 Witness in 1982 murder is arrested UXBRIDGE - Police arrested a Woonsocket man reported to have been with accused murderer Raymond D. "Beaver" Tempest Jr. when his alleged victim was killed, authorities said yesterday. Daniel J. Shaw, 36, 128 Water St., Woonsocket, was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace early Saturday morning at the Quaker Motor Lodge on Route 146A. Officer Brian MacDonald was called to the motor lodge by the owner, who complained someone was knocking on doors, police reported. Shaw was released on $300 bond. Shaw testified before the Rhode Island grand jury last month for the case charging Tempest with the beating death in 1982 of Doreen C. Picard, according to Massachusetts and Rhode Island authorities. He had been under police protective custody. Woonsocket police would not comment yesterday whether he continued to be in their custody. The case is awaiting a trial, police said. Picard, 22, was found bludgeoned to death in the basement of 409 Providence St. Feb. 12, 1982. Police believe she was on her way to do her laundry and came upon her killer and Susan Laferte. Laferte had been beaten in the head with a 28-inch length of steel pipe, police reported. She survived with partial paralysis. Selectmen meet in executive session NORTHBORO - Before going into executive session to discuss a police matter, selectmen last night approved the replacement of several telephone poles. The projected removal and replacement of the telephone poles is the result of ongoing Route 20 construction here which includes the installation of three traffic lights on Route 20 at Church, South and Bartlett streets. Chairman of Selectmen Warren B. LaBaire said he could not detail the issue to be discussed in executive session, other then to say "it concerns a police officer we have to discuss." 2 teens fined in Shrewsbury brawl WESTBORO - Two teens involved in a beer bash that turned into a brawl last month in Shrewsbury were ordered yesterday to pay fines and restitution. Westboro District Court Judge William F. Scannell fined Jason J. Masciarelli, 18, of 29 Front St., Marlboro, and Joseph M. Bianchi, 17, of 5 Wood St., Hudson, $200 each and ordered them to pay restitution of $320 each. Both youths were charged with being a disorderly person, malicious destruction of property of $250 or less and disturbing the peace. The judge ruled that there were sufficient facts to fine the youths and seek payment of restitution on the disorderly person and malicious destruction charges. Those charges were continued and would be dismissed if there are no further violations. Scannell dismissed disturbing the peace charges. Masciarelli and Bianchi were among 10 people charged in connection with a weekend keg party that turned into a brawl at 37 Colonial Drive involving bats, clubs and other weapons, police said. One suspect was arrested for allegedly firing a shotgun during the melee. Court cases of the remaining alleged participants are pending. Warrant is issued in heroin case NORTHBRIDGE - An arrest warrant has been issued for a woman living in a B Street apartment in which 80 small bags of heroin with a street value of about $4,000 were seized Thursday night. Hilda Candelario, 31, of 33 B St. has been charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute and possession of cocaine, a police spokesman said. Members of the South County Drug Task force raided the apartment at 33 B St. shortly before 8 Thursday night. There was noboby in the apartment when the seizure took place, the spokesman said. Copyright (c) 1991 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp. ================================================== R.I OFFICER DENIES LINK, DEFENDS BROTHER Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA) June 9, 1991 Edition: ALLNEWS Section: NEWS Page: D19 Record Number: 9106098597 WOONSOCKET, R.I. (AP) - Detective Lt. Gordon D. Tempest said he is confident his brother will be cleared of charges he bludgeoned a woman to death in 1982. And the officer denied lying to a grand jury to protect his brother. Tempest was suspended from the Police Department Wednesday after he and his brother, Raymond D. Tempest Jr., were charged in connection with the death of Doreen C. Picard. "There's no doubt in my mind that we'll both be found innocent, absolutely," Gordon Tempest told The Providence Journal-Bulletin. "The sad thing about this is that the murderer is still out there. "I feel bad for the parents (of Picard) because they feel this whole thing's been solved. It's not solved." BOTH INDICTED This week, a statewide grand jury indicted Raymond Tempest in the murder of Picard, 22. Authorities have said she happened upon the beating of her landlady, Susan M. Laferte, then 25, and was slain. The grand jury also indicted Gordon Tempest, a 17-year police veteran, on a charge of committing perjury in April. Prosecutors say he falsely testified that he never interviewed a Woonsocket man, in 1983 or 1984, who disputed his brother's alibi. Authorities say more indictments are expected. Tempest did place his brother at the Woonsocket house where Picard was killed and Laferte was beaten on Feb. 19, 1982. He said his brother visited Laferte to see a litter of pit bull puppies but left shortly before the attacks. Tempest said a woman friend of Laferte whom he could not identify saw Raymond Tempest leave and is a witness in the case. EX-SHERIFF'S SONS Gordon, 39, and Raymond, 38, are the sons of Raymond Tempest Sr., the former high sheriff of Providence County and former head of the Woonsocket detective division. Gordon Tempest told the newspaper that his family had been targeted by two police officials for political reasons. He declined to identify the officials but said their names would emerge at the trial. He also said he uncovered evidence pointing to the real killer within the first two weeks of Picard's death, but the lead was never seriously pursued by his superiors. He said he disclosed the suspect's identity to the grand jury in recent months but was told by James W. Ryan, chief of the attorney general's criminal division, that the suspect had an alibi. Tempest said that his brother - nicknamed "Beaver" after the character in the television show "Leave It to Beaver" - was incapable of beating Picard and Laferte in such a "vicious, vicious" manner. "This wasn't your average murder," he said. "That's beyond killing. That's overkill." Copyright (c) 1991 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp. ================================================== ARREST IS MADE IN 1982 R.I. SLAYING Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA) June 6, 1991 Edition: ALLNEWS Section: NEWS Page: A10 Record Number: 9106068210 PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A Woonsocket man was charged with murder yesterday, almost a decade after Doreen Picard was bludgeoned to death in the laundry room of her apartment building. And his brother, a city police lieutenant, was charged with obstructing the controversial investigation by lying to a grand jury. Raymond D. Tempest Jr., 38, a Woonsocket beer truck driver, pleaded not guilty on the murder charge before Superior Court Judge Maureen McKenna Goldberg and was ordered held in the state prison until a June 12 bail hearing. He faces life imprisonment if convicted. His brother, detective Lt. Gordon Tempest, 39, pleaded not guilty to one count of perjury and Superior Court Judge Americo Campanella set bail at $20,000 with surety, or 10 percent. He was free on bail last night. The charge carries a maximum 20-year prison term. Picard, a 22-year-old former homecoming queen at nearby Bellingham, Mass., High School, was bludgeoned to death with a 28-inch pipe on Feb. 19, 1982, in the basement laundry room of the house where she rented an apartment. She planned to move to a larger apartment the next day. Her landlord, Susan Laferte, then 25, also was attacked, though she survived. But Laferte's head injuries were so severe, she couldn't remember anything. A fiberglass plate was inserted surgically in her skull during a three-month hospitalization. She still occasionally loses her balance, has a broken left eardrum and has only partial use of her right hand. Copyright (c) 1991 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp. |
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#2 |
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Yes I saw this case featured on a show on Discovery Times titled something like "Guilty or Innocent" and it convinced me that Raymond Tempest is not responsible for the murder and assault. One very compelling tidbit was that Raymond's wife and Susan Laferte were best friends. Surely Susan's young daughter would have recognized him if he were the one she let in yet she didn't seem to the know the man she let in who committed the assault. Furthermore Raymond was over at their house in the time after the assault and the daughter would have certainly seen him and remembered if he was the one who hurt her mom yet she never said a word. If I recall correctly there was another suspect whom the Laferte's knew (I can't remember the name) and the little girl did react very negatively to him when he was at their house after the attack as if she recognized him as the man who hurt her mother.
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#3 |
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40-0 0WN3D
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Join Date: Dec 06, 2004
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I too have serious doubts as to Beaver's guilt. On the Guilty or Innocent show, one of Beaver's friends said that he saw him (Beaver) commit the crime and later admitted it was a lie he was forced to make. Only thing nags at me is why it took 4 days for the murder weapon to be found in a place that was suppose to have been searched previously, it is thought Gordon returned to the scene and planted it there (to cover it up?).
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#4 |
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Retired from Board 03/03/11
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Well the weapon could have always been there and it could be that the cops just missed it. IT could be that Gordon planted it however I am not sure of this. I do think that this investigation was botched whether Beaver did it or not. An innocent man might very well be serving a life sentence for a murder he knows nothing about. If he did do it, well then he is where he deserves to be but if he didnt, something very wrong with him being in prison. I do question how a jury could convict him of first degree murder off of such shaky evidence. Essentially without Beaver's friend saying what he said the prosecution didnt have a case. So it would be interesting if he was forced to lie to get Beaver convicted so that the public would shut up and forget about the case. Unfortunatly this kind of crap happens much too often in the American "justice" system.
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#5 |
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All this time I never knew they arrested someone. Man, I hope they got the right one.
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#6 | |
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Quote:
The police covered it up for him because Degasse had relatives and/or friends within the department. |
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#7 | |
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#8 |
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Was this the case where the husband was getting late night phone calls telling him to stop pursuing the matter?
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#9 | |
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#10 |
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This is a case where it seems like the Woonsocket cops knew who did it very shortly after the beatings/murder (Donald Degasse) and decided to lie their a**es off to keep him free, for whatever reason. I know some of them must have been chummy with him, but they must have been VERY chummy to go to those lengths.
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#11 |
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I love a mystery
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Allegedly, Susan's daughter Nicole accused Degasse by reportedly saying "that's the man who boomed Mama." But because she was only 2 when she saw the killer, police didn't consider her a credible witness and said her story kept changing. Looking back, I now wonder if they didn't pursue Nicole's accusations because of the cover-up.
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#12 | |
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Quote:
It probably was because of the cover-up. Some of the officers probably already knew that it was Degasse that did it within a couple of weeks of the attack (evidence at the crime scene, probably some other witnesses seeing him leave his work to go to the apartment that day, etc.), but also knew that no one would take seriously the words of a 3 year-old at the time. |
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#13 |
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Join Date: Jun 03, 2015
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This was the very first episode I ever watched. I was maybe 12 or so. It was at a sleep over. (My mom never let me watch things like it.)
It scared the crap out of me. A few years ago when you could watch it on YouTube I seen it again. Just now I am looking it up again and reading up on It. I remember they had thought the friends her sister did not know could be the suspect. Thank good her daughter wasn't with her. OK so you can watch this segment on vimeo someone who goes by um classic. |
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Last edited by aura; 06-07-2015 at 07:43 PM. |
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#14 |
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Someone posted that investigators thought the murder weapon was a gun that they were searching for instead of a pipe
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#15 | |||
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I believe that Raymond Tempest was responsible, and that Doreen Picard was killed because she came down to the cellar and witnessed his attack on Laferte. Tempest is currently appealing his conviction, based on his claims of false testimony and witness manipulation, but it's pretty obvious that he did make various incriminating statements, had assistance with an alibi and the his father and brother, both on the Woonsocket PD, tried to cover up for him. There's a lot of information in this document that wasn't on UM:
https://www.courtlistener.com/opinio...ate-v-tempest/ *Tempest made statements to several people that he had committed the crime - he even showed someone the crime scene photos and bragged about the attack (see below). *Susan Laferte was having an affair with Tempest at the time of the attack, and Tempest was worried that his wife, whom he was reconciled with, would find out. *Tempest's former sister in law and her boyfriend provided him with a false alibi for the time of the murders * Tempest was protected by his brother and his father, who were a lieutenant and second in command in the Woonsocket PD at the time. (His brother Gordon was later convicted of perjury for making false statements under oath about the investigation and was ordered to serve seven years in prison after being fired from the police department.) Here are parts of the document (bolded by me) Quote:
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Last edited by soilentgreen; 06-10-2015 at 08:53 AM. |
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