State v. Laurence

• Decision Date: 20 May 2004
• Docket Number: No. 2001-46-C.A.,2001-46-C.A.
• Citation: 848 A.2d 238
• Parties: STATE v. Norman LAURENCE.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

848 A.2d 238

STATE v. Norman LAURENCE.

No. 2001-46-C.A.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

May 20, 2004.

Virginia M. McGinn, Providence, for Plaintiff.

Janice M. Weisfeld, Providence, for Defendant.

Present: FLANDERS, GOLDBERG, FLAHERTY, and SUTTELL, JJ.

OPINION

FLAHERTY, Justice.

The defendant, Norman Laurence, appeals from his convictions for first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and breaking and entering, following a jury trial in Kent County Superior Court. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. For the reasons stated below, we deny the defendant's appeal and affirm the convictions. A summary of the chilling facts surrounding the murder follows.

I FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Norman Laurence, defendant, and Gretchen Nelson, his girlfriend, began a tumultuous, on-again, off-again relationship in October 1993, one of the fruits of which was the birth of their son the following September. In January 1997, during a period when Nelson and defendant were together, he accused her of having a sexual liaison with their landlord. The defendant became violent and, consequently, she asked him to leave their home. He immediately reacquainted himself with Betty Jo Gardiner, a woman with whom he had a brief relationship a few months earlier.

On January 17, 1997, $4,000 to $6,000 was stolen from the West Warwick home that Carol Theroux (Theroux) shared with her father. The defendant telephoned Nelson that day and told her that he had just come into some money. During a visit the next weekend, defendant admitted to Nelson that he had about $3,000, and that he had stolen the money from the Theroux home with the help of Jay Young, defendant's friend and Theroux's boyfriend.¹ Nelson asked defendant whether Gardiner knew about the break-in. The defendant responded that Gardiner was, indeed, aware of the crime; it was planned at her kitchen table, and he had given her the money to hold for him.

Notwithstanding the fact that defendant had confided in Gardiner about the crime, he admitted to Nelson that he was worried because he had heard that Gardiner had cooperated with police in the past. He was further concerned that Gardiner might inform on him because he was unwilling to resume a relationship with her. On January 22, 1997, in the L.A. Café in West Warwick, Lisa Gagnon, an employee and acquaintance of Gardiner, overheard defendant, a regular customer, tell Gardiner that he would kill her if she did not stay out of his "business." That same evening at the café, Gagnon heard defendant tell Nelson that if Gardiner went to the police about the Theroux break-in, he would kill Gardiner and dispose of her body where "nobody would find it." The next day, Nelson and defendant reconciled yet again after both he and Young arrived at her East Providence apartment and announced that they would both be moving in with her.

Theroux learned from the West Warwick police that Gardiner had, in fact, given a statement to them that implicated defendant and Young in the break-in. On January 31, 1997, a day during which Nelson, defendant, and Young were in the process of moving from their apartment in East Providence to another one in Warwick, Theroux telephoned Young. Immediately thereafter, Nelson observed defendant and Young in a secretive conversation. When she inquired about their furtive behavior, defendant told her the import of Theroux's call to Young. The defendant and Young then drove off in Nelson's Toyota Tercel.

At 6 that evening, defendant telephoned Gardiner and persuaded her to meet him at a donut shop in Coventry, near her home. Gardiner made arrangements to leave her children in the care of Shawn Ann Machado, a friend who resided in a neighboring apartment. She told Machado that she was meeting defendant so that he could give her money for back rent. At 6:20 p.m., Gardiner left her apartment, telling Machado that she would be back in about twenty minutes. She never returned.

A few hours later, defendant and Young, both stained with blood, returned to their Warwick apartment. They immediately entered a bedroom and removed their clothing. The defendant asked Nelson for a garbage bag, and she watched as they threw the discarded articles of clothing in it. After showering, defendant said that he, Young, and Nelson were "going for a ride." The defendant drove Nelson's Toyota to India Point Park in Providence, where they threw the trash bag into the river. During the return home, defendant handed Gardiner's driver's license to Nelson and told her to throw it out the window of the car, which she did.

According to Nelson, defendant explained to her later that evening that he and Young met Gardiner at the donut shop and then drove her to a remote, heavily wooded area off Route 3 on Weaver Hill Road in West Greenwich. He described to Nelson how he dragged Gardiner from the car and tried to strangle her. Unable to do so, he proceeded to punch and kick her. Soon tiring from the beating he was inflicting on Gardiner, he called Young over to help. Nelson testified that defendant admitted to kicking Gardiner between fifty and seventy times himself. The beating resulted in Gardiner's death.

The following morning, defendant orchestrated a plan to conceal Gardiner's murder. He told Nelson to meet him and Young at the West Greenwich home of Young's cousin, Brian Harrington. Although Harrington was not at home when defendant and Young arrived in Nelson's Toyota, they began to clean out the car's interior in the presence of Stacy Benevides, Harrington's girlfriend. By the time Nelson arrived, the two men had removed the carpeting and were in the process of burning it in a barrel, along with other items from the car. The defendant took Nelson aside and told her that if anyone asked about her car, she should answer that he was simply fixing it to make it look better. At defendant's direction, Nelson purchased sand paper and primer paint from a nearby auto parts store so that they could begin the process of repainting the car.

Carol Theroux arrived at the Harrington property at some point early in the afternoon. Theroux agreed to give Nelson a ride to her mother's house to pick up her son. Before the women left, defendant asked Nelson to buy more primer paint. He also placed an empty gasoline container in the trunk of Theroux's car, asking Nelson to fill it with gasoline. Nelson and Theroux returned around 4 p.m., by which time Harrington had also returned from work and was helping defendant and Young prime Nelson's Toyota for repainting. Young and defendant then left in the Toyota, saying that they were going to a liquor store. They returned after an hour, empty-handed. Harrington testified that defendant had told him that they had gone to the store without money. According to Nelson, however, defendant later told her that they had taken the gasoline back to the woods and had burned Gardiner's body.²

Meanwhile, Machado was still waiting for Gardiner to return home. Machado was suspicious because, in addition to the fact that Gardiner had told her that she would be gone only twenty minutes, Gardiner previously had told her that she had gone to the police about the breaking and entering at the Theroux home and provided a statement against defendant. On February 1, 1997, the day after Gardiner left to meet defendant, Machado telephoned the police to report her missing.

On February 2, 1997, defendant explained to Nelson that when he and Young had been in Providence the day before, they had noticed that the garbage bag containing the clothing they had worn on the night of Gardiner's murder had washed ashore. That evening, Nelson, defendant, and Young retrieved the bag and drove to East Providence, near the Metacomet Country Club, to dispose of it in coastal waters. The next day, the three took Nelson's once tan-colored Toyota to an auto body shop to have it repainted blue.

On February 4, 1997, Rhode Island State Police detectives stopped defendant and Young while the pair were driving on Route 95. Detectives Eric Croce and Nicholas Tella informed the men that they were assisting West Warwick police in a missing person investigation. Because they considered the interstate highway an unsafe place to discuss the matter, the detectives asked defendant and Young if they would accompany them to the Lincoln State Police barracks. Both men willingly complied.

At the barracks, the detectives began to question defendant about Gardiner. The defendant admitted that he had once dated her, but insisted that he had broken off the relationship. When the questioning began to focus on Gardiner's disappearance, defendant asked to speak to counsel. He attempted to reach attorney John O'Connor by telephone, but was unsuccessful. The defendant was acquainted with O'Connor through Nelson, whom O'Connor had represented in a number of matters since 1988. Although unable to reach O'Connor, defendant telephoned Nelson and asked her to contact him. O'Connor subsequently telephoned the barracks and was informed that no charges were being brought against defendant, and that he was neither in custody nor under arrest. O'Connor then spoke with defendant and advised him to leave the station. The defendant took O'Connor's advice and left.

While Young and defendant were at the state police barracks, police arrived at their Warwick apartment. Nelson was home at the time but did not cooperate with them. The defendant arrived while the police were still there, and he told them to leave. At 3 a.m., defendant and Young arrived at Harrington's home, concerned that he might be speaking to the police. Harrington testified that, after he let them into his home, he soon asked them to leave. He also informed them that the state police had been in contact with him.

Nelson testified that the next day, February 5, 1997, she contacted O'Connor, who then advised her to leave the apartment and separate herself from defendant....