Doreen Picard's Killer Has Conviction Vacated

[RobinW]

Here's some pretty surprising news: Raymond "Beaver" Tempest, who was convicted of the murder of Doreen Picard and had nearly murdered Susan Laferte, has just had his conviction vacated:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...dUJ/story.html

He hasn't been officially released yet, as a bail hearing is set a few weeks from now.
Apparently, DNA testing done on a hair found in Picard’s hand did not match Tempest, but the judge said the main reason the conviction was vacated was because the investigation was mishandled and Tempest did not receive a fair trial. There has always been controversy about Tempest’s conviction, with allegations that the police covered up for another suspect named Donald Dagesse, who is currently deceased. I know there were rumours that Susan Laferte’s daughter allegedly recognized Dagesse as the man she let into the apartment building on the day of the murder, but her claims were dismissed because of her young age. She also apparently never identified Tempest as the killer even though he was friends with her family and she probably would have recognized him.

It will be interesting to see where this goes. Even if Tempest is released, I can’t see it changing the investigation too much if the prime suspect is deceased.

[TheCars1986]

Didn't the Susan initially tell police that her attacker was a man named Donald, and the detective had to say something like, "Donald, like Donald Duck?"

[RobinW]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Didn't the Susan initially tell police that her attacker was a man named Donald, and the detective had to say something like, "Donald, like Donald Duck?"

Found a copy of Raymond Tempest's appeal from 1995 and it looks like you're correct. Apparently, Susan was questioned while being hospitalized and did initially identify someone named "Donald", but by the time she recovered, she had no memory of the attack or her initial questioning:
http://law.justia.com/cases/rhode-is...a-2d-1198.html