In The News

From: The Boston Globe
Date: Friday, December 31, 2004

IN MEMORIAM
Editorial

THERE ARE 28 names on this year's list of domestic violence homicide victims in Massachusetts. The organizations Jane Doe Inc. and Peace at Home have compiled the names. Once again it's clear that these crimes know no boundaries. Victims are children and adults living in cities and suburbs. Violence crosses state lines, as it apparently did when New Hampshire resident Jaroslav Stepancik was killed in Lowell by his girlfriend's ex-husband, who then fatally shot himself. These murders show the need for more "community" services - defining community broadly enough to protect women and men, people who are gay and straight, those with disabilities, immigrants, and children.

Unfortunately, state funding for domestic violence services have been cut by $3.79 million from fiscal years 2001 to 2005.

While publicity has buzzed over the death of Laci Peterson and the conviction of her husband, many will be less familiar with the names below. But as Toni Troop of Jane Doe, Inc., says: "It is important to equalize our outrage, so we can equalize our commitment" to greater safety. Today, as in years past, the Globe pauses to remember these victims:

Jan. 5: Ricardo Rosa, 23, of Lowell, shot in the chest. Rosa and his girlfriend were at the home of Mory Keo, who had that morning ended a relationship with Frank Mota. Mota called the house when he saw Rosa, asking why a man was there. A few minutes later Mota knocked on a bedroom window waving a gun. Rosa went out to confront Mota. There was an altercation and Rosa was shot. Mota fled to the Bronx, but later turned turn himself in and was charged with murder.

Jan. 11: Catherine Pizzi, 48, of Belmont, fatally shot in her home. According to police, Pizzi was in her bedroom arguing with her husband, Domenic, when he apparently shot her and then himself. Two of the couple's three children were home at the time. They did not hear the shots from a .22 caliber pistol, but later found the scene of the murder-suicide.

Jan. 31: Leonardo Perez, 43, Jamaica Plain, shot to death in his apartment. He had been in a dispute with his stepdaughter's ex-boyfriend, Gualberto Barrero Cruz. The stepdaughter had obtained a restraining order against Cruz. He was charged with murder.

Feb. 2: Linda Rayburn, 44, and Michael Berry, 23, of Saugus, both killed at home. According to police, Rayburn's husband, David Rayburn, killed his wife and stepson with a hammer. Their bodies were found in adjacent bedrooms. David Rayburn left a suicide note, went to the basement, and hanged himself.

Feb. 10: Carmen Rodriguez, 34, of Worcester, found fatally stabbed at a hotel where she and her estranged husband worked. Police were called to the hotel where they found Rodriguez and her husband, William, who was also wounded. Police said his wounds were self-inflicted. He was charged with murder. Carmen Rodriguez had taken out a restraining order against her husband. She was the mother of three children.

Feb. 17: Shirley Garuti, 49, of Halifax, died a day after her ex- husband, Joseph Garuti, allegedly rammed her with his SUV. They had been arguing about arrangements for his seeing their two children. The fight took place in the driveway of her home. Her 12-year-old son attempted to resuscitate her. Police charged Joseph Garuti with murder.

Feb. 24: Carol Paradis, 65, of North Attleboro, found in a burning mobile home shot to death. When police arrived, they found her husband, Arthur Paradis, entering his car. He was wearing bandoliers of bullets across his chest and was carrying a gun. Police also found guns and other weapons in the car. Paradis was charged with murder and sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for psychiatric evaluation.

March 2: James Jeffreys, 35, of Dorchester, stabbed to death. Police charged Derrick Blocker with murder. According to the district attorney, the two were romantically involved.

March 8: Celines Caraballo, 34, of Dorchester, stabbed to death in the bathroom of her home. She was found by her brother. Her boyfriend, Francisco Cruz-Castro, was charged with murder in May, but fled. He turned himself into police in August. Caraballo was the mother of three children.

April 5: Linda DiLeo, 41, of Shrewsbury, strangled in the home she shared with her parents and daughter. Police were called to the home because DiLeo was missing, but found nothing. They went to the home of her estranged husband, Paul, and found his body in the garage where he appeared to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning. The police returned to Linda DiLeo's home where they found her in a bedroom closet. The district attorney said the crimes were a murder-suicide.

May 23: Kayla Ravenell, 21, and Xavier Ravenell, 2, of Dorchester. Kayla Ravenell was found at a Braintree reservoir. The district attorney said Ravenell was asphyxiated in the apartment of her ex-boyfriend, Jim Beneche, her body wrapped in trash bags and bed sheets and dumped in Braintree. When police went to Beneche's house to ask about Ravenell's disappearance, they saw a garbage bag thrown out the window. Inside was the body of Ravenell's and Beneche's two year-old son, Xavier. Police charged Beneche and his girlfriend, Jessica Deane, with murder.

May 29: Andrew Campbell, 30, of Milton, stabbed at the home of his former girlfriend, with whom he had a child. She had taken out a restraining order against Campbell. Police found Campbell collapsed and bleeding at a neighbor's house where he had gone for help. Police charged the girlfriend's current boyfriend, Lawrence Martin, with murder.

July 7: Rachel Thomas, 20, of Brockton, found with a gunshot wound in the back of her head at Salisbury Park in Brockton. She told police that she had been shot by her boyfriend, Richardson Sauveur. She later died at the hospital. Sauveur was found nearby with a fatal self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

July 27: Kimberly St. Hilaire, 38, of Clinton, fatally shot in the head and chest in her home. The police said she was shot by her husband, Earl Gonyea, who then shot himself. Their daughter and her friend were in the house at the time, and the daughter called police. Kimberly St. Hilaire was the mother of three children.

July 28: Joseph Brodeur, 70, of West Springfield, stabbed to death in his home. Police charged his wife, Joann Sliech Brodeur, with murder. According to the assistant district attorney, the couple were about to get a divorce.

Aug. 1: Lisa Ann Brundage, 41, of Falmouth, found dead in the woods near the Mashpee/Falmouth town line. Police charged her boyfriend, Thomas Winner, with murder. According to the district attorney, both appeared to be homeless.

Aug. 7: Deshanta Bailey, 29, of Brockton, shot to death in a Dorchester rooming house. Her boyfriend, Norman Nord, lived in the rooming house, and police charged him with murder based on ballistic evidence. Bailey was the mother of two children.

Aug. 9: Jessica Corvelo, 23, of Fall River, stabbed. Police charged her boyfriend, Andres Rivera, with murder. Corvelo and Rivera lived together and had two children.

Aug. 9: Lucy Signorino, 26, of Revere, shot in the chest. Her body was found by a relative in her home along with the body of her boyfriend, Anthony D'Orsi. The two were engaged to be married. According to the district attorney, the crime was a murder-suicide.

Aug. 17: Richard Rutkowski, 50, of Palmer, was run over in the parking lot of his apartment complex, allegedly by his wife, Starleen Rutkowski, who was driving a minivan. The crime took place after Richard Rutkowski returned home from a fishing trip and saw that his wife had put his belongings on the lawn. He laughed at her. She attacked him with the car. She was charged with murder.

Sept. 23: Tremayne King, 27, of Springfield, stabbed. On leave from military duty, King found his wife with Pablo Vargas. King and Vargas argued. Vargas allegedly stabbed King, who was a father of five children.

Sept. 26: Betina Francois, 27, of Brockton, stabbed to death. Police discovered the crime indirectly. Rhode Island authorities found an unconscious driver in a car wreck on I-95 in that state. A pay stub in his pocket listed a Brockton address. Police who went there found Francois's body. Francois and Pierre Cadet had been boyfriend and girlfriend, but she had taken out a restraining order against him. Police charged him with murder.

Oct 14: Michele VanLeeuwen, 49, of Northampton, strangled. She was found in the apartment she shared with her boyfriend, Timothy Dubuc. Police have charged him with her murder. According to court documents, Dubuc called his sister and told her that VanLeeuwen was dead. The sister's husband called the police.

Oct 21: Eliska Voska, 48, and Abigail Voska, 8, of Hingham, stabbed in their home. The mother, and her daughter, were apparently attacked by Voska's husband, Pavel Voska. He then fatally stabbed himself. When police arrived in response to a 911 call, they found the front door barricaded with a folding chair. A trail of blood led to the bedroom where the bodies were.

Oct. 25: Elizabeth Lochtefeld, 44, of Nantucket, stabbed. Police charged her former boyfriend, Thomas Toolan, with murder. Lochtefeld had asked police about getting a restraining order, but did not name the person she was concerned about. Authorities say Toolan traveled from New York to Nantucket to commit the crime. He was apprehended in Rhode Island.