Opinion ID: 200355
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Search warrant affidavit

Text: 8 The affidavit in support of the search warrant application was signed by Donald R. Beech, a detective with the Pawtucket, Rhode Island Police Department. It stated the following: 9 On August 13, 1992, a jogger found the body of Robert J. Laforest in a wooded area in Smithfield, Rhode Island. An autopsy revealed that he had been shot four times with a .222 or .223 caliber gun. Laforest's mother reported that she had last seen him on August 11, 1992, when he said he was going to visit a friend named James St. Jacques. 10 On September 15, 2000, St. Jacques confessed that he had paid Beckett $15,000 to murder Laforest. St. Jacques explained that he used Paul Ferguson as an intermediary to negotiate the contract killing with Beckett, paying Ferguson $9,000 for his role as middleman. Beckett, who was then living in California, flew into Rhode Island shortly before the murder. St. Jacques and Ferguson met Beckett at the airport and took him to the Days Inn Hotel at India Point in Providence, where he stayed during the visit. On August 11, 1992, the day of the murder, Beckett drove St. Jacques's car to a wooded area in Smithfield, while St. Jacques remained at his own house. St. Jacques then phoned Laforest and accompanied him to the wooded area where Beckett was waiting. When Laforest got out of the truck, Beckett shot him several times with Laforest's AR 15 rifle (which had been left for safekeeping with St. Jacques). Later that day, St. Jacques took Beckett to the airport and gave him $7,500, the first half of the $15,000 fee. Ferguson, the middleman, delivered the remaining $7,500 to Beckett during an August 20, 1992 trip to California. 11 Also on September 15, 2000, St. Jacques made an initial confession that three years after the murder of Laforest, Beckett also killed Ferguson. He said that between the two murders, Ferguson was talking too much about the Laforest murder and was demanding money from Beckett and St. Jacques. St. Jacques said that he saw Beckett twice on the day of Ferguson's murder, October 19, 1995: once early in the day, and again that night at a local bar. At the bar, Beckett told St. Jacques, I shot him and he will never be found. As reasons for killing Ferguson, Beckett complained to St. Jacques that Ferguson had told Beckett's former roommate that Beckett had killed a man in Rhode Island, and that this former roommate now was attempting to blackmail him. When Beckett later discovered that Ferguson's family had reported that Ferguson was last seen on Wednesday, October 18, 1995, the day before the murder actually took place, Beckett told St. Jacques that the family's inaccurate report had given him an alibi because Beckett was at work as a prison guard on October 18 and had taken the day off on October 19. 12 On August 1, 2001, investigators found Ferguson's body wrapped in plastic, buried five feet under a concrete slab in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, on property that had previously belonged to St. Jacques. An autopsy disclosed that Ferguson had been shot at least four times with a weapon consistent with a .380 caliber handgun (possibly a Llama brand). 13 On August 3, 2001, two days after Ferguson's body was exhumed, St. Jacques elaborated on his earlier confession. This time, he said he had actually witnessed Beckett kill Ferguson and that he had helped him dispose of the body. According to St. Jacques, in October 1995, Beckett and Ferguson visited St. Jacques at his Rehoboth house. After Beckett accused Ferguson of shooting off his mouth, the two got into a fight. During the fight, Beckett pulled out a black semiautomatic handgun and shot Ferguson at least three times and struck him with the butt of the gun. Beckett and St. Jacques then wrapped Ferguson's body in plastic and dumped it into a hole that had been dug for a well. Beckett kept the gun after the murder. About a year and a half later, St. Jacques hired two men to pour concrete over the site, to make a foundation for a barn that was never built. 14 The affidavit set forth information corroborating multiple elements of St. Jacques's confession. As to the first murder, corroboration included St. Jacques's wife's personal observations of the first murder preparations; confirmation that Laforest owned an AR 15 rifle, which takes .223 caliber ammunition; records and witness statements concerning Beckett's travel from California and hotel stay; and confirmation of Ferguson's payment to Beckett in California. Corroboration of St. Jacques's account of the second murder included, inter alia, witnesses' confirmation of the alleged blackmail and dispute with Ferguson; Beckett's employment records showing that Beckett had been at work on October 18, 1995, and that he was off-duty on October 19, 1995; and several witnesses' statements that Beckett regularly carried a handgun. 15 Finally, the affidavit supporting the warrant application also addressed Beckett's record keeping. Records and witnesses indicated that by the time of the second murder, in October, 1995, Beckett resided in Lincoln, Rhode Island, and he worked as a guard at the Wyatt Correctional Facility. He was still employed at the prison at the time of the search. Beckett later moved to 783 High Street in Cumberland, Rhode Island, and then, at some point before the search, moved to 58 Edgewood Drive, also in Cumberland. 16 In February, 2001, an ordinary citizen with no criminal record who had known Beckett for more than two years reported that he had been inside the 783 High Street address and was familiar with [Beckett's] habits and practices. The witness said that Beckett kept small spiral type notebooks in which he recorded his whereabouts including days worked and days off, that these notebooks dated back to 1992, and that the witness had seen one notebook in particular that records his whereabouts in 1995. The witness described Beckett as a `pack rat' who saves everything. The affidavit stated, Shortly after the witness saw these notebooks at the High Street address the witness became aware of the fact [that] Beckett had moved his personal possessions to his new home at 58 Edgewood Drive in Cumberland, Rhode Island. The witness also accurately described the outside of 58 Edgewood Drive. 17 Also in February, 2001, a second witness who had known Beckett for at least two years and was familiar with many of his habits reported that Beckett fastidiously recorded his whereabouts in a spiral type notebook that the witness had seen and that the witness was sure that the book reflects work schedules and days off for 1995. The affidavit stated, This witness indicated that the books along with other personal belongings have recently been moved to 58 Edgewood in Cumberland.