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Research website by Alice de Sturler

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You are here: Home / Archives for Bernice Martin

Bernice Martin

Rest in Peace, Richard Lapointe

August 5, 2020 By Alice

Richard Lapointe Journal Inquirer

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 […]

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Filed Under: Cold Case News Tagged With: Bernice Martin, Connecticut, DNA, Richard A. Lapointe, Wrongful Convictions

Lapointe seeks $13.5M in state compensation

March 18, 2019 By Alice

Richard A. Lapointe

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 […]

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Filed Under: Unsolved Tagged With: Bernice Martin, Connecticut, Richard A. Lapointe, Wrongful Convictions

Guest blogging for GMA

February 29, 2016 By Alice

Criminal Justice Photo Art by AdS

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 […]

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Filed Under: Guest Bloggers, Unsolved Tagged With: AISOCC, Bernice Martin, Cold Cases, DNA, GMA, Human Rights, M-Vac Systems, Richard A. Lapointe, UK, Wrongful Convictions

Wrongfully convicted Lapointe cannot be retried

October 3, 2015 By Alice

Grid Justice (Photography AdS)

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 […]

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Filed Under: Miscarriages of Justice, Unsolved Tagged With: Bernice Martin, Connecticut, Dandy Walker Syndrome, Richard Lapointe, Wrongful Convictions

Richard Lapointe free on bail

April 10, 2015 By Alice

Richard A. Lapointe

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 […]

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Filed Under: Miscarriages of Justice Tagged With: Bernice Martin, Connecticut, Richard A. Lapointe, Wrongful Convictions

Lapointe’s wrongful conviction

April 1, 2015 By Alice

Bernice Martin

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 […]

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Filed Under: Forensics, Miscarriages of Justice, Unsolved Tagged With: Arson Detection, Autopsy, Bernice Martin, Connecticut, DNA, Miscarriage of Justice, Police Misconduct, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Richard A. Lapointe

Connecticut Supreme Court Orders New Trial For Richard Lapointe

March 31, 2015 By Alice

Richard A. 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 […]

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Filed Under: Miscarriages of Justice Tagged With: Bernice Martin, Connecticut, Richard A. Lapointe

Case of the Month: Bernice Martin

September 2, 2013 By Alice

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 […]

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Filed Under: Case of the Month, Cold Case News, Forensics, Miscarriages of Justice Tagged With: Arson Detection, Autopsy, Bernice Martin, Case of the Month, Connecticut, DNA, illegal wire-tapping, Police Misconduct, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Richard A. Lapointe

CT Supreme Court hears Lapointe case Sept 17, 2013

August 18, 2013 By Alice

Richard A. Lapointe

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 […]

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Filed Under: Forensics, Miscarriages of Justice, Unsolved Tagged With: Arson Detection, Autopsy, Bernice Martin, False Confessions, Miscarriage of Justice, Police Misconduct, Richard A. Lapointe

Progress in some cold cases

July 25, 2013 By Alice

Criminal Justice Photo Art by AdS

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 […]

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Filed Under: Unsolved Tagged With: Bernice Martin, Betty Gene Hull, Brenda Martinez, Gregory McRoberts, Hawley Harvey Crippen, Jeanette and Harvey Crewe, Karen Caughlin, Kimberly Ann Thompson, Robert L. Tatman, Teresa Sue Hilt

New Trial for Richard Lapointe!

October 1, 2012 By Alice

Richard A. 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 […]

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Filed Under: Miscarriages of Justice Tagged With: Arson Detection, Autopsy, Bernice Martin, Connecticut, DNA, Faulty Evidence, Miscarriage of Justice, Police Misconduct, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Richard A. Lapointe

Lapointe: DNA does not match

July 3, 2012 By Alice

Richard A. Lapointe

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 […]

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Filed Under: Miscarriages of Justice, Unsolved Tagged With: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Bernice Martin, DNA Database, Frederick Rodney Merrill, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Richard A. Lapointe, Wrongful Convictions

Connecticut Appellate Court to review 1987 Bernice Martin murder

May 18, 2012 By Alice

Richard A. Lapointe

“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 […]

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Filed Under: Forensics, Unsolved Tagged With: Arson Detection, Autopsy, Bernice Martin, Connecticut, Faulty Evidence, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Rape kits, Richard A. Lapointe

Sum it up #37

March 6, 2012 By Alice

sum it up #cclivechat

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 […]

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Filed Under: Forensics Tagged With: 3D Skull Reconstruction, Bernice Martin, DNA, Forensics, Richard Lapointe

Update Richard Lapointe: Habeas denied

April 20, 2011 By Alice

Richard A. Lapointe

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 […]

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Filed Under: Forensics, Miscarriages of Justice Tagged With: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Bernice Martin, Connecticut, DNA, Expert Testimony, Forensics, Miscarriage of Justice, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Rape kits, Richard A. Lapointe

Who really killed Mrs. Bernice Martin?

January 21, 2010 By Alice

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. […]

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Filed Under: Forensics, Miscarriages of Justice, Unsolved Tagged With: Bernice Martin, Capital Punishment, Connecticut, Crime Labs, Dandy Walker Syndrome, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, FBI, Finger Printing, Forensics, Ineffective Assistance of Council, Mental Retardation, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Police Misconduct, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Richard A. Lapointe, Victim, Wiretaps, Witnesses

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Author Notes

I write about old, unsolved cases from the pre-DNA era as they need renewed media attention. I only do research and leave the active investigation of these cases to professionals.

Posts include homicides, missing and unidentified people, wrongful convictions, and forensics as related to these cases.

On book reviews: I only review select works of true crime, crime fiction, and historical fiction/mysteries. The stories have to fit my website's theme and research. It remains my prerogative to not review a book. Please check the FAQ page for more.

My databases are free to the public. Cases are sorted by the victim’s last name.

If you have any questions about my website please check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, the about page, and the tabs in both menu bars. If you cannot find the answers there, please contact me.

Thank you,

Alice de Sturler
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