Richard Lapointe (Oct. 18, 1945 – Aug. 4, 2020) died of corona virus complications. “He eventually tested negative for the virus, but could not outlive its complications.” Richard was born with Dandy Walker syndrome. This syndrome causes a malformation of the head. Fluids build up and place pressure on the brain. It is a hereditary […]
Bernice Martin
Lapointe seeks $13.5M in state compensation
In 1992, Richard A. Lapointe was sentenced to life plus 60 years for the 1987 rape-murder of Mrs. Bernice Martin who was found stabbed, raped, and strangled in her Manchester, Connecticut apartment that was set on fire. Lapointe has Dandy walker Syndrome, a congenital brain malformation that made him gullible and vulnerable to giving a false […]
Guest blogging for GMA
Guest blogging for GMA was my pleasure and absolute honour. This UK based blog on human rights is from Global Minorities Alliance, a non-profit, non-governmental human rights organisation. They believe that all human beings, regardless of race, colour, religion or belief, faith or no faith, gender, or membership of another particular social group, should be treated […]
Wrongfully convicted Lapointe cannot be retried
Wrongfully convicted Lapointe cannot be retried and was set free on International Wrongful Conviction Day! From the Hartford Courant: “A judge on Friday dismissed the notorious, quarter-century-old capital murder case against Richard Lapointe, a mentally impaired dishwasher who was released from prison when the state Supreme Court said he was wrongly convicted in the brutal death […]
Richard Lapointe free on bail
Richard Lapointe free on bail as reported by CT Now: “On April 10, 2015, Superior Court Judge Joan Alexander ordered that Lapointe be released on $250,000 security bond. Alexander also ordered him not to have contact with any members of the victim’s family and that he be subject to intensive pre-trial supervision. Appeal lawyers at […]
Lapointe’s wrongful conviction
Lapointe’s wrongful conviction brings back Martin’s cold case because if we take Lapointe out of the equation we are left with no answers. Who killed Bernice Martin? The decision The decision to grant a new trial is here (RICHARD LAPOINTE v. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION). A few quotes: “On appeal, the petitioner claims that the court improperly rejected his […]
Connecticut Supreme Court Orders New Trial For Richard Lapointe
Connecticut Supreme Court Orders New Trial For Richard Lapointe after the state’s appeal from Sept 17, 2013! From the Hartford Courant of March 31, 2015 is says:”the mentally disabled dishwasher was denied evidence supporting his innocence when he was tried and convicted a quarter-century ago for the rape and murder of his then-wife’s 88-year-old grandmother. The […]
Case of the Month: Bernice Martin
Case of the Month: Bernice Martin. On March 8, 1987, fire fighters found Mrs. Bernice Martin inside the Mayfair Gardens Elderly Housing Complex, Manchester, Connecticut. She had been brutally beaten and passed away that same night in the hospital. The fire department found her front door locked but the glass sliding door in the back open. The […]
CT Supreme Court hears Lapointe case Sept 17, 2013
CT Supreme Court hears Lapointe case Sept 17, 2013. This fantastic news came from the Bellingham Herald. Almost a year ago, I posted that Richard Lapointe was going to get a new trial. In a stunning decision, the state Appellate Court Monday ordered a new trial for Richard Lapointe, a mentally disabled dishwasher convicted of […]
Progress in some cold cases
We have seen some real progress lately in unsolved homicides. Some of our missing have been found, trials in decade old cold cases are ongoing, and forensic science is facilitating the progress that law enforcement is making in solving cold cases. The more we read about this the better the chances that other cold cases will […]
New Trial for Richard Lapointe!
The Connecticut Appellate Court ordered a new trial for Richard Lapointe. From the Hartford Courant: “In a stunning decision, the state Appellate Court Monday ordered a new trial for Richard Lapointe, a mentally disabled dishwasher convicted of a murder a quarter century ago, concluding that state prosecutors wrongly withheld a police report that tends to support […]
Lapointe: DNA does not match
Who left his DNA behind: Richard A. Lapointe or Frederick Rodney Merrill? We have new developments that could shed a light on the case of Bernice Martin and could once and for all clear up who left his DNA. We already know it wasn’t Lapointe. The Connecticut State Board of Pardons and Paroles decided last week to grant […]
Connecticut Appellate Court to review 1987 Bernice Martin murder
“The Appellate Court is scheduled to hear arguments Friday [today] in the appeal of 66-year-old Richard Lapointe, who was convicted of murdering Bernice Martin and sentenced to life in prison. Lapointe insists that DNA evidence shows he’s innocent and that his former lawyers were ineffective.” On March 8, 1987, fire fighters were called to the […]
Sum it up #37
A short “Sum it up” just alerting you to some interesting things I found in the mailbox: Starting this Friday, March 9, 2012 on Investigation Discovery the movie “An Appointment With Death” will show you interviews with five death row inmates in Florida and Texas awaiting their execution. It is a four-part miniseries. More information […]
Update Richard Lapointe: Habeas denied
Richard Lapointe: his Habeas Petition was denied as reported by the Hartford Courant. “Superior Court Judge John J. Nazzaro, in a 51-page ruling issued late Friday, turned back arguments that prosecutors had withheld material evidence, that Lapointe’s trial and appellate lawyers were incompetent, and that new evidence proved Lapointe was innocent. The decision is another defeat in what […]
Who really killed Mrs. Bernice Martin?
On March 8, 1987, fire fighters were called to the Mayfair Gardens Elderly Housing Complex, Manchester, Connecticut. They found Mrs. Bernice Martin, 88 years old, barely breathing, and badly beaten. She died later that evening in the hospital. To many the case is closed. Convicted for her murder is her granddaughter’s former husband, Richard A. […]