Authorities in Massachusetts say a defrocked priest was responsible for the death of a child in a cold case from 1972 — but the suspect died last week before he could be arrested.
In a press release, Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni announced that the death of Danny Croteau, a 13-year-old boy from Springfield whose body was found floating in a river in 1972, was caused by his then-priest, Richard Lavigne, who pleaded guilty to child molestation in 1992 and was defrocked in 2003.
The district attorney said that Lavigne granted hours of recorded interviews with state investigators over the past few months in what ended up being the final weeks of his life. He died on Friday at the age of 80.
In the 11 hours of interviews over five dates in 2021, Lavigne never admitted to killing Croteau, but he admitted being with him on the night of his death and later seeing his body floating face-down in the Chicopee River.
“During all of the interviews, Lavigne refused to specifically admit that he killed Danny Croteau, and at times, was cagey and evasive, continuing his long-running attempts to mislead and distract investigators,” Gulluni said.
In one clip played Monday by Gulluni at a press conference, according to NBC News Boston, the defrocked priest says, “I just remember being heartbroken when I saw his body going down the river knowing I was responsible for giving him a good shove.”
“He made several statements to indicate that he was the last person to see Danny Croteau alive, that he brought him to the riverbank on April 14, 1972, that he physically assaulted him there, and after leaving Danny there and returning a short time later, that he saw Danny floating face down in the river,” Gulluni said.
Lavigne was asked days before his death, “What did you do with the object after you hit him?” He told the investigator he “tossed it in the water,” the DA said.
Decades of direct and circumstantial evidence already tied Lavigne to Croteau and to the scene of the crime, according to Gulluni.
The priest led Croteau’s family parish and had personal relationships with many altar boys, several of whom later accused him of long-term sexual abuse, Gulluni said.
The victims were altar boys like Danny Croteau and recalled the priest using alcohol and chewing gum to loosen the kids’ inhibitions.
One of Lavigne’s molestation victims recalled Danny Croteau, during a camping trip the boys took with the priest in 1968, saying to Lavigne, “I’ll tell!” The priest turned extremely serious after the fact, according to the witness.
When Croteau’s body was found on April 15, 1972, he had a blood alcohol level that would make him legally drunk and both his stomach and pocket were full of chewing gum.
While DNA testing was inconclusive, Croteau’s and Lavigne’s blood types were both tied to the scene of the crime.
Croteau’s brother recalled a telephone call two days after Danny’s death, from a voice that sounded like Lavigne’s, apologizing for killing their brother.
Lavigne also possessed a letter — which investigators obtained in 2004 after learning of it from a separate investigation of a different clergy member — that referenced “a young boy along the Chicopee River,” where Danny was killed.
The district attorney outlined several recent statements by Lavigne’s molestation victims who claimed the ex-priest had a violent temper and “made you feel guilty” for the sexual abuse he perpetrated.
Gulluni said he had authorized investigators to present the evidence to a magistrate judge in order to obtain an arrest warrant for Lavigne on Friday, but then learned he had already died the same day.
“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 on Monday. He said the case was now officially closed.
Gulluni said he made the announcement for Croteau’s parents, Carl and Bernice, who died awaiting justice for their son’s murder.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
