Massachusetts State Trooper Nicholas Nason had called earlier and asked if he could come over to speak with Mr. Pechonis.
Mr. Pechonis was not expecting the aggressive assault upon his family found after he had returned home from his late afternoon arraignment in an almost empty Westborough District. A complete video copy of the interaction with the State Police, their search of his home without a warrant, and his arrest which had been previously described as to contain numerous misleading statements by Trooper Nason.
January 27, 2006 A new day in district attorney's office Worcester County District Attorney John J. Conte announced Tuesday he will not seek re-election this year, after holding the seat for 30 years.We applaud Conte for making his announcement early enough so that other potential candidates can plan their campaigns.
Frankly, it was long past time for Conte to leave office.
As is his practice, Conte declined to speak to reporters about his decision Tuesday.
CBS 4 video of John Conte's Announcement
January 25, 2006
City cop facing assault charge
FITCHBURG -- Police Sgt. Jeffrey J. Howe is now facing a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon for arresting an on-duty sheriff's deputy at gunpoint in 2004.Howe is scheduled to appear in Fitchburg District Court on March 27 to face the charge of assaulting Worcester County Deputy Sheriff Joseph Coggans III on Nov. 18, 2004, according to court documents.
January 25, 2006
Druce found guilty of first-degree murder WORCESTER— A Worcester County jury has convicted Joseph L. Druce of first-degree murder in the 2003 prison slaying of defrocked pedophile priest John J. Geoghan.January 25, 2006
Surprise, surprise .......Worcester DA Conte announces he will not seek reelection.
In a stunning move today, District Attorney John J. Conte told his staff at 3 p.m. that on Christmas Day-with the support of his family-he decided not to seek reelection.It has been 30 days since Christmas Day. During the rocky week of January 14 when the telephone call came from Attorney General Thomas Reilly, in reference to the Murphy sister autopsy's becoming public, not one word of retirement was whispered.
The very last contribution posted with the Office of Public Finance web site is dated December 30, 2005 from a Ms Anita Conte. Ms Conte is listed as a homemaker at 340 Main Street, Worcester.
The 340 Main Street address happens to be the Worcester address of the law office of Moriaty & Associates, PC. Mr. Joseph Conte, who is employed by Moriaty & Associates, is the eldest son of District Attorney John Conte.
January 24, 2006
Druce tells jury of inner torment
Abuse during childhood created need to
murder ex-priest in cell
WORCESTER— Joseph L. Druce told a jury yesterday he killed
ex-priest John J. Geoghan to “make a statement” that child molesters
would be held accountable, and to relieve the inner torment he was
experiencing as a result of being sexually abused, himself, as a
young boy.
“I couldn’t get the thoughts out of my mind about being molested,
myself,” Mr. Druce testified in Worcester Superior Court, after
acknowledging he beat and strangled the 68-year-old defrocked priest
on the morning of Aug. 23, 2003, in Mr. Geoghan’s prison cell at the
Souza-Baranowski Correctional
Center.
January 22, 2006
Contribution total posted for John J. Conte reelection campaign. Conte took in $115,935.00, more than half contribute by his employees.
The first year of mandatory electronic filing with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign Finance Committee has come to a conclusion. This means for the first time all contributions provided to the John J. Conte reelection campaign could be reviewed.For years many have discussed the so-called employee tax placed upon those who are employed by the Worcester District Attorney's office. Administrators and clerks employed in several Worcester County court locations contributed $28,695.00 towards the Conte reelection campaign. Worcester Assistant District Attorneys contributed $30,750.00 for at total of $59,445.00 in employee contributions. This total represents more that half of all contributions raised by the Conte reelection campaign in 2005.
January 15, 2005
Concerned Citizens launch website.
A new interactive web site was launched today with the sole purpose of stopping the reelection of Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte. This site does not endorse any other political candidate.
It is our belief there are too many political prosecutions, or lack of, favored plead deals and misuse of the Auburn state police C-PAC unit attached to the district attorney's office.
We also believe that Mr. Conte for years has been taxing his employees for political contributions as a condition of their continued employment. As of September 2005, some 90 percent of his Assistant District Attorneys had made contributions. Those contributions are then used to support the activities favore
d by DA Conte.