Post by Vermontn03 on Jun 6, 2012 15:19:43 GMT -5
Man disputes arson deaths conviction
A Milton man who admitted setting a 1999 fire in his apartment building that killed four neighbors says his conviction and sentence should be overturned because he is actually innocent.
A hearing about the status of Eric Williams' challenge is set for Wednesday in Chittenden Superior Court in Burlington.
Williams, 28, was sentenced in 2001 to serve 40 to 60 years in prison following his guilty plea to four counts of involuntary manslaughter arising from the deaths of three boys, all younger than 12, and their grandmother. But an attorney for Williams contends in court papers the suspect made a false confession, had an ineffective trial lawyer who failed to investigate the fire's true cause, and was pressured into accepting a plea bargain.
"Mr. Williams is, in fact, innocent of the crimes," defense attorney Mark Furlan wrote in court papers. "In order to correct a miscarriage of justice, he must be permitted to present evidence of his actual innocence."
The return of Williams' case to court has left Bobbi-Jo Perreault reeling. Three of her four children -- Ryan Francis, 11, Tyler Billado, 5, and Troy Perreault-Moulton, 3 -- and her mother, Amelia Perreault, 64, perished in the October 1999 blaze at the Sara Marie Apartments on U.S. 7 in Milton.
"Here we go again, reliving this whole thing," Perreault, 37, of St. Albans said last week. "This reopens the wound."
Williams, who had worked with a local volunteer fire department, was upset the day of the blaze about a recent break-up with his girlfriend, and the woman's interest in his best friend, according to court papers. He initially told investigators he awoke early in the morning to find his room engulfed in flames, but after extensive questioning he recanted and said he set the blaze using a lighter and some papers, according to a transcript of an interview with authorities.
The transcript reveals Williams alternated between telling police he was responsible for the fire and saying he might have committed the crime in a daze and wanted to know whether evidence proved his culpability.
"The detective knows that I did it, but I can't figure out how I did it, but I know deep down I did," Williams told Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. David Harrington shortly after the fire, according to the transcript.
Amelia Perreault and her grandsons were in an apartment above the unit Williams was convicted of igniting, and the fire trapped the family inside.
burlingtonfreepress.com/ap...080707/NEWS02/807070312/1001/NEWS
A Milton man who admitted setting a 1999 fire in his apartment building that killed four neighbors says his conviction and sentence should be overturned because he is actually innocent.
A hearing about the status of Eric Williams' challenge is set for Wednesday in Chittenden Superior Court in Burlington.
Williams, 28, was sentenced in 2001 to serve 40 to 60 years in prison following his guilty plea to four counts of involuntary manslaughter arising from the deaths of three boys, all younger than 12, and their grandmother. But an attorney for Williams contends in court papers the suspect made a false confession, had an ineffective trial lawyer who failed to investigate the fire's true cause, and was pressured into accepting a plea bargain.
"Mr. Williams is, in fact, innocent of the crimes," defense attorney Mark Furlan wrote in court papers. "In order to correct a miscarriage of justice, he must be permitted to present evidence of his actual innocence."
The return of Williams' case to court has left Bobbi-Jo Perreault reeling. Three of her four children -- Ryan Francis, 11, Tyler Billado, 5, and Troy Perreault-Moulton, 3 -- and her mother, Amelia Perreault, 64, perished in the October 1999 blaze at the Sara Marie Apartments on U.S. 7 in Milton.
"Here we go again, reliving this whole thing," Perreault, 37, of St. Albans said last week. "This reopens the wound."
Williams, who had worked with a local volunteer fire department, was upset the day of the blaze about a recent break-up with his girlfriend, and the woman's interest in his best friend, according to court papers. He initially told investigators he awoke early in the morning to find his room engulfed in flames, but after extensive questioning he recanted and said he set the blaze using a lighter and some papers, according to a transcript of an interview with authorities.
The transcript reveals Williams alternated between telling police he was responsible for the fire and saying he might have committed the crime in a daze and wanted to know whether evidence proved his culpability.
"The detective knows that I did it, but I can't figure out how I did it, but I know deep down I did," Williams told Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. David Harrington shortly after the fire, according to the transcript.
Amelia Perreault and her grandsons were in an apartment above the unit Williams was convicted of igniting, and the fire trapped the family inside.
burlingtonfreepress.com/ap...080707/NEWS02/807070312/1001/NEWS
