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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
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“The well of Providence is deep. It’s the
buckets we bring to it that are small.” — Mary Webb
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2014
VOL. 83 NO. 281
75 cents
Trial starts in alleged murder-for-hire case By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A felon with a long rap sheet testified yesterday that a woman paid him $5,000 to kill her ex-husband in 2012 during a child custody court case that police said had millions of dollars at stake. The testimony in Hartford Superior Court came on the first day of the trial of 39-year-old Tiffany Stevens, formerly of Bloomfield, who has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder. The felon, John McDaid of Granville, Massachusetts, also testified that Stevens threatened to have him and his children killed if he didn’t follow through on the murder-for-hire.
McDaid, who said he had a criminal record dating back to the 1970s including 22 felony convictions, said he didn’t follow through on the plan and instead told Stevens’ ex-husband, Eric, who reported it to police. McDaid said he spent the $5,000 on a washer, dryer, clothes for his children and other items while leading Tiffany Stevens to believe he was going to carry out the plot. “Find somebody. I want him killed,” McDaid said Tiffany Stevens told him, adding, “I honestly almost didn’t think it was real.” McDaid said Stevens asked him “incessantly” over several months when her ex-husband would be killed and accused him of abusing her. In April
2012, while McDaid was working as a maintenance man for a wealthy Simsbury couple, he said Tiffany Stevens, who knew the couple, slapped an envelope containing $5,000 across his chest and said, “Get it done.” McDaid also testified he used a computer audio program to secretly record Stevens talking about the murder-for-hire plot. Her lawyers, Hubert Santos and Trent LaLima, are trying to prevent the purported audiotape of her and McDaid from being used as evidence during the trial. Yesterday they raised the possibility that the recording could have been tampered with. See Trial, Page 5
Munger Hill first-grader’s video goes viral By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Munger Hill first grader Kaitlynn Goulette may be just six years-old, but she’s making a name for herself in scientific circles. A video of the budding scientist asking former NOVA ScienceNow host Neil deGrasse Tyson how first graders can help the earth has gone viral and people around the world know Kaitlynn Goulette’s name. Kaitlynn attended a conference with Tyson at the College of the Holy Cross two weeks ago with her father Don and they talked about what she would ask the astrophysicist if given the chance. “We waited on line four hours – we were first in line – and we talked about what we would want to ask him,” said Don. “He kept walking by us and I knew when he sat down next to her that she would get to talk to him.” Kaitlynn was front and center in the auditorium when she asked Tyson how she and her fellow first graders could help the earth. Tyson basically told her to just explore the world. “When I was in first grade I was curious about things so here’s what I think you should do,” he said, “Just be a kid and explore things. You’re actually doing experiments.” Tyson asked if Kaitlynn ever went in the kitchen and banged on pots and pans. He said that was actually an experiment. Hearing how a wooden spoon sounded versus a metal spoon was an See Viral Video, Page 7
Tiffany Stevens, left, walks with her father, Edward Khalily, to Superior Court on the first day of her trial in Hartford, Conn. yesteday. (AP Photo/Dave Collins)
Post 124 to observe Pearl Harbor Day
Beth Cardillo, left, executive director of Armbrook Village, a senior living residence, explains how the City of Westfield and Armbrook Village Senior Living Center have joined forces to become a dementia-friendly community, where individuals with memory loss feel safe and remain independent for as long as possible, during a press conference at Westfield City Hall yesterday. Joining Cardillo are, left-right, David M. Mol, president and CEO of Noble Visiting Nurse & Hospice, Westfield Fire Department personnel Capt. Paul Lentini and Deputy Chief James Kane, Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, State Rep. John Velis and Tina Gorman, executive director of the Westfield Senior Center. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
City to launch dementia awareness campaign By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The city has launched an initiative to become a dementia-friendly community by increasing public awareness of memory-loss disease and how to appropriately respond to people afflicted with it. The City of Westfield, in partnership with Armbrook Village Assisted and Independent Living, has already made a commitment by training 60 of the city’s first responders to recognize memory loss and plans to expand that training to residents, especially those who provide retail and banking services to the city’s senior population. Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, speaking at a press conference yesteday, said the city’s senior population, residents 60 years of age and older, is now greater than the number of children in city schools. “The number of folks in our community over the age of 60 is 8,000, part of our population moving rapidly toward retirement age,” Knapik said. “And that population is living
By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The American Legion Post 124 will be conducting a Pearl Harbor Day Memorial program on Sunday to observe the 73rd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which resulted in America’s entry into World War II. The program will be held at 10:30 a.m. at Westfield’s Kane Park, the site of the city’s Pearl Harbor Memorial Stone. Special guests will be the Wojtkiewicz family and U.S. Navy veteran and Westfieldnative Robert Greenleaf, a Pearl Harbor survivor, (health permitting). In a statement, Post 124 said that all local and state dignitaries, along with the public, are invited to attend. Post 124 Past Commander and present Historian James E. Markvart will serve as the master of Ceremonies for the
event and state Sen. Don Humason, Jr., state Rep. John Velis and Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik are just some of the individuals slated to speak at the event. “As FDR said when asking for a Declaration of War, the attack on Pearl Harbor is a ‘day which will live in infamy’”. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a turning point in American history which immediately led to America entering World War II,” said Velis. “The events of that day mobilized America in a way that forever changed the course of American history. We will forever owe a debt of gratitude to the ‘Greatest Generation’”. “I am honored to participate in this ceremony,” said Knapik. “This year will be the first one without Walter Zarichak, who served as the master of ceremony for this event for many years. Walter always made this a very special event over the years.”
longer.” Knapik said he visited shelters following the Halloween Snowstorm of 2011 and realized that the need to provide memory loss care and services was much greater that he had previously thought. “We didn’t have a structure in place to take care of them,” Knapik said. “Seniors are a very compelling age bracket because they have contributed to their community.” Knapik said the Dementia-Friendly Westfield initiative is an educational process, enabling city residents to learn what dementia is and how to appropriately respond to senior citizens who appear confused. The goal, shared by the city and social services agencies, such as the Noble Visiting Nurse Association which has trained 100 of its clinical staff through the Armbrook Village Assisted and Independent Living training program, is to adopt the “Dementia Friendly” movement by becoming a designated See Dementia, Page 7
Shoplifter indicted in superior court By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Shoplifting incidents at the Walmart department store on Springfield Road are not unusual but, although some thieves probably successfully evade detections, many shoplifting crimes are observed by the store’s sophisticated video surveillance system and suspects are arrested. Those suspects are arraigned in Westfield District Court where their cases are eventually adjudicated but one defendant saw an unusual outcome Monday when his charges were dismissed – because he had been indicted and arraigned in Hampden Superior Court for the same crimes. Westfield Police Captain Michael McCabe explained that the action is significant because it contributes to the
ROBERT A. BERUBE process of charging the suspect as a habitual criminal, a crime carrying a significant prison sentence. McCabe said that to be charged as a habitual offender a perpetrator must be found guilty in three separate appearances in Superior Court. A layperson reviewing the record of Robert Berube, 50,
of 273 Shelburne Line Road, Colrain, might think that he is obviously a habitual criminal. His most recently offense alleges that he stole property valued more than $250 from Walmart on five separate occasions during a ten-day period. In setting bail in that case, Judge Philip A. Contant noted “Def (sic) has (a) 14 page adult record of convictions going back to 1984 … (with) more than 100 adult entries.” He went on to say that “(the) vast majority of cases are larceny type cases.” Det. Scott Phelon, who filed the current case, reported to the court that “The defendant is being charged with 11 felonies in this case. He has 160 adult hits on his BOP (Board of Probation record). He currently has 6 open cases (5 different courts in MA).” Phelon filed the 11 charges
as a result of five trips Berube allegedly made to the store where he is alleged to have stolen four computers, five drills, three baby monitors, a computer monitor and a head set. Five additional charges, for possession of burglarious tools, resulted from the fact that Berube allegedly used “a key or similar device” to defeat security devices which had been attached to the merchandise. The eleventh new charge, malicious destruction of property valued more than $250, is the result of Berube allegedly cutting two holes in a wall of the garden section of the store so that he could pass merchandise through the insubstantial wall of the garden addition for later pickup. Berube currently is being held at the Hampden County See Court, Page7
Westfield resident and Pearl Harbor survivor Robert Greenleaf, right, drops a ceremonial wreath into the Westfield River as part of last yarr’s Pearl Harbor ceremony. Joining Greenleaf are, American Legion Post 124 Commander Edward Johnson, and Chaplin Paul Nimchick. The ceremony took place at the Great River Bridge. (File photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)