Former Catholic Priest Dies Same Day He Was Due to Be Charged with 1972 Murder
SPRINGFIELD (MA)
Newsweek [New York NY]
May 25, 2021
By James Crump
Read original articleA defrocked Roman Catholic priest has died on the same day he was due to be formally charged with the 1972 murder of a 13-year-old boy in Chicopee, Massachusetts.
On Monday, Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni announced that he had called state troopers to his office on Friday, May 21, to seek a warrant to arrest 80-year-old Richard Lavigne for the murder of 13-year-old Danny Croteau, but confirmed that the former priest died just a few hours later.
“Based on the accumulation of evidence, and in particular those admissions, as a prosecutor I believe that I was fulfilling my ethical duties by moving toward the charge of murder against Richard Lavigne…and I believe we could prove it,” Gulluni said.
According to a death record obtained by The Boston Globe, Lavigne’s death was listed as “acute hypoxic respiratory failure,” with the underlying cause of “COVID-19 pneumonia.”
“Regrettably, due to Lavigne’s…
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