Free Republic

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Prosecutors urged a judge Wednesday to send a former rock-band manager to prison for 10 years for setting off the pyrotechnics that caused a nightclub fire that killed 100 people. "The devastation wrought by the conduct of the defendant is unparalleled in our state's history," prosecutor Randall White said, choking up at times. He added: "The suffering is endless, and the extent and depth of the pain is bottomless." Daniel Biechele's attorney, Thomas Briody, argued that his client deserves mercy — in the form of community service, with no prison time — and feels immense sorrow for...

The members of Great White were spared Tuesday (December 9) when the band's tour manager and the club owners were indicted for the fire that took 100 lives in Rhode Island earlier this year. Tour manager Dan Biechele and the owners of The Station, Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, were each charged with 200 counts of manslaughter for the February 20 blaze in West Warwick that also injured 200 other people. All three men pled innocent at the hearing and were released after posting bail. Their next hearing is February 9. Biechele and the Derderians were each charged with 100 counts...

Rock band sent pyrotechnics into ceiling of Bangor club Tuesday,February25,2003,6:44 AM BANGOR (AP) -- The rock band Great White sent pyrotechnics into the ceiling of a Bangor nightclub two nights before that deadly fire in Rhode Island. That's according to Sgt. Stu Jacobs, a state fire investigator in Bangor. Jacobs says discarded canisters from the band's Bangor show indicate that the pyrotechnics required a minimum ceiling height of 15 feet. But the ceiling at Russell's nightclub was only 10 feet, and a 30-inch-high stage reduced the clearance further. Jacobs says pyrotechnics were shot into the ceiling but there was...