Homeless Couple Gets Probation in Worcester Tragedy
ADAM GORLICK
Associated Press Writer
Firehouse.com Interview: 'Mixed Feelings' for Worcester Fire Chief on Plea Deal
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) -- A formerly homeless couple who accidentally started a warehouse blaze that killed six firefighters will serve no jail time under a plea agreement reached Thursday.
File Photo/Copyright 1999, Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Republished with permission
Surrounded by court officers, Julie S. Barnes, 19, and Thomas S. Levesque, 37, are originally arraigned in Worcester Central Court in early December 1999
Related Coverage
|
|
Thomas Levesque, 39, and Julie King, 22, were sentenced to five years of probation. If they stay out of trouble during that time, the involuntary manslaughter charges will be dropped from their record.
``They're marginally retarded, which would make it just about impossible to try the case,'' District Attorney John Conte said.
Prosecutors said they consulted with firefighters before agreeing to the deal.
King and Levesque started the December 1999 fire when they knocked over a candle while fighting in the abandoned warehouse where they were living. The couple tried to put out the fire, then fled the burning building without reporting it, authorities said.
The firefighters died as they searched the burning building for homeless people they thought were trapped inside.
The charges against couple were initially dismissed for lack of evidence, but in March, the state's highest court reinstated the case, saying there was evidence that the couple's failure to report the fire ``was intentional and reckless.''
Worcester Fire Chief Gerard Dio said he has mixed feelings about the probation.
``I trust the DA made what he thought was the best deal he could get,'' Dio said. ``I could imagine if my son died, I probably wouldn't feel that there was enough punishment, but at least there's something being done. They're not walking off totally free. There's some accountability.''
After the fire, King gave birth to a son and was adopted by a family in Maine that had adopted her sister. Levesque lives in Worcester.
``I'm extremely appreciative. It's really incredible,'' King's adoptive mother, Debb King, said after the hearing. ``We just want to go home and continue getting on with Julie's life.''
| 
