In the News

Friend Says He Warned Victim of the Danger: Suspect in Lynn killing won't fight his rendition from N.Y.
By John R. Ellement and Christopher J. Baxter
Boston Globe
August 01, 2008

LYNN - Just a few days before an act of friendship cost her her life, Greenland Etienne was warned she should no longer provide safe harbor to Louna Eveillard.

"I had a bad feeling about this," said Midlher, Etienne's friend and a shop owner who asked to be identified by only his first name. Midlher said he cautioned Etienne on Sunday about the danger in which she was putting herself and her four children.

Midlher, who knew Eveillard, too, said Etienne acknowledged she was in a risky situation, but said she could not just walk away. " 'She's my friend,' " the storekeeper recalled her saying.

Yesterday, Etienne was described as a victim of domestic violence by Jane Doe Inc. as her alleged killer, Rodlyn Petitbois, 25, appeared in a courtroom in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he went after allegedly stabbing the 33-year-old to death in her apartment Wednesday.

His hair in dreadlocks, the bearded Petitbois looked haggard as he walked into Brooklyn Criminal Court, hands cuffed behind his back, for his arraignment on a fugitive-from-justice charge before Judge Frederick Arriaga.

Petitbois's lawyer, Carol Gray, told the judge that her client will not fight his rendition to Massachusetts. Petitbois signed an agreement to that effect, she said.
Gray said after the hearing that she had spoken to her client and "he was crying a bit."

"I don't think this was any kind of cold-blooded incident," she said. "Things are not quite as it's been spun in the papers."

Steve O'Connell, a spokesman for Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, said Petitbois would be returned to Massachusetts today and an arraignment on charges of first-degree murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon will probably be held Monday.

"All of the facts and circumstances surrounding this case remain under investigation, but our witnesses have led us to believe that the children and their mother were taken against their will," O'Connell said in a statement.

Etienne, according to Jane Doe Inc., is the 22d woman killed in domestic violence this year and Petitbois is the 22d man charged with committing a domestic homicide this year.

Liza Sirota White, education manager for the antidomestic violence nonprofit, said Etienne is included in the tally because she intervened on behalf of a domestic violence case and lost her life as a result.

"It's a horrible tragedy, horrible," White said. "What is so bittersweet about this is that this woman cared so much for this woman and her family. She was willing to take that risk and, unfortunately, was murdered."

She said advocates of domestic violence victims feared that Etienne's death would send the wrong message.

Friends must help domestic violence victims, she said, but should also link them to professionally run programs, especially those that offer shelters.

"We would hope people would not be completely dissuaded from helping a friend [and] help them connect to a local program," White said.

"It's an incredible thing that her friend did for her. It's just a tragedy that this mother is now gone and four children are now left without their mother."

In papers filed in Lynn District Court on Wednesday, State Police outlined the case that led to Etienne's death and Petitbois's alleged flight with his estranged girlfriend and their four children in tow.

Petitbois had assaulted Eveillard three weeks ago in their Whittier Street apartment, according to the report, and she and her children moved in with Etienne "so she could feel safe."

But he tracked Eveillard down, and on Wednesday spent most of the day talking and arguing with Eveillard, Etienne, and others while drinking cognac in Etienne's apartment.

Early Wednesday morning, Petitbois insisted that Eveillard leave with him and then slashed at her with a kitchen knife when she refused, police said.

Etienne said she was going to call police, and at that point Petitbois allegedly stabbed her in the eye.

Etienne later died at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

State Police sent out an Amber Alert when Petitbois left with Eveillard and their four children, identified as Ryan Petitbois, 3; Lyndsey Petitbois, 2; Lauren Petitbois, 1; and Roddick Petitbois, 11 months.

Petitbois was captured about 6:15 p.m. in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.
Eveillard and the children were found sitting under a tree nearby in Prospect Park.
Eveillard, 26, and the children were in New York yesterday and could not be reached for comment.

Midlher said Etienne had had her own share of troubles.

"Everybody has their problems," he said, "but she was a good mother."