May 20, 2006
Theft suspect
free, awaits trial
Prosecutor loses bid to hold man also accused in fire
By Gary V. Murray
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER— A Connecticut man accused of stealing more than $20,000
from the Webster funeral home where he worked and then setting a
fire in an attempt at covering up the thefts remained free on his
own recognizance yesterday despite a prosecutor’s request that he be
held without bail.
John P. Stevens, 28, of Thompson, formerly of 6 Boyden St., Webster,
is awaiting trial in Worcester Superior Court on charges of arson of
a building and nine counts each of larceny over $250, uttering a
forged instrument and forgery.
Mr. Stevens, a former reserve police officer and state police
dispatcher and one-time candidate for Webster selectman, allegedly
stole about $21,000 from the Shaw-Majercik Funeral Home in Webster
during a three-month period in 2004. He also is accused of starting
a Nov. 12, 2004, fire that damaged the interior of the second floor
of the funeral parlor.
Mr. Stevens, who has pleaded not guilty, has remained free on
personal recognizance since his July 13 Superior Court arraignment.
Assistant District Attorney Richard L. Greco asked Judge John S.
McCann yesterday to hold Mr. Stevens without bail or set high cash
bail in the case. The prosecutor said his request was based on
allegations that Mr. Stevens committed “identity theft” crimes while
his case was pending by fraudulently obtaining credit cards using
his biological father’s name, date of birth and Social Security
number.
Mr. Greco said Mr. Stevens had not yet been charged in connection
with the identity theft allegations, but that Webster police would
be seeking related criminal complaints against him in Dudley
District Court.
Mr. Stevens’ lawyer, Louis P. Aloise, denied the identity theft
allegations. Mr. Aloise said Mr. Stevens and his father, who lives
in Mississippi, have been estranged since Mr. Stevens was a young
boy. Mr. Aloise said Mr. Stevens sought an investigation in 2004
when debts attributable to his father showed up on his credit
report.
Judge McCann said he would reconsider Mr. Greco’s bail request if
Mr. Stevens is charged with the alleged crimes.
The judge took under advisement Mr. Aloise’s request that the arson
charge against his client be tried separately from the remaining
charges.
Mr. Aloise said there was overwhelming evidence connecting Mr.
Stevens to the theft of checks from the funeral home, including his
own admissions, but no physical evidence linking him to the fire.
Mr. Aloise said his client would be prejudiced if all of the charges
were tried together.
Mr. Greco opposed separating trials, saying the charges against Mr.
Stevens were inextricably intertwined. The assistant district
attorney said the evidence showed that the fire started in a closet
close to where the funeral home’s financial records were kept.
“The theft of the money is the motive for the fire,” Mr. Greco said.
Mr. Stevens’ case was continued to June 21. No trial date has been
set.
September 23, 2005
Former funeral
home employee indicted, arraigned
Harold A. Gushue Jr., Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
DUDLEY - Charges against John P. Stevens stemming from larceny
from a funeral home were dismissed in Dudley District Court after he
was indicted and arraigned in Worcester Superior Court.
A Superior Court spokeswoman said he is due to return Nov. 15 in
that court.
Mr. Stevens, 28,
of 6 Boyden St., No. 2, Webster, was arrested last November on nine
felony counts each of forgery, uttering a false check and larceny
for allegedly stealing more than $21,000 from his former employer,
Shaw-Majercik Funeral Home of Webster.
Charges against him in Dudley District Court were dismissed Aug. 24.
Mr. Stevens, a former Webster reserve police officer and civilian
dispatcher for the state police, was working for the funeral home at
the time of the alleged offenses. Webster police arrested Mr.
Stevens after an investigation into the cause of a November 2004
fire at the funeral home, which revealed checks were missing. The
fire damaged the interior of the second floor of the business.
At the time of the arrest, police said the checks were missing from
Richard D. Majercik's account and the allegedly forged checks, taken
over a couple of months from the back of the checkbook, were made
out to Mr. Stevens and cashed by him at various places.
Police said at the time that Mr. Stevens admitted to forging and
cashing the checks. He was also under investigation at the time by
state police for allegedly mishandling 911 calls at the Framingham
barracks, where he had been a civilian dispatcher.
He is also a former dispatcher for Connecticut State Police and a
former Southbridge Police Department reserve officer. He was an
unsuccessful candidate for selectman in May 2004 and for permanent
intermittent Webster police officer in September 2004.
June 14, 2005
Ex-reserve
officer indicted in thefts, fire at mortuary
Gary V. Murray, Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
WORCESTER - A
former reserve police officer has been indicted on charges of
stealing more than $21,000 from the Webster funeral home where he
worked and then setting a fire there in an apparent attempt at
covering up the thefts.
A Worcester County grand jury handed up indictments yesterday
charging 27-year-old John P. Stevens with nine counts each of
larceny over $250, uttering a forged instrument and forgery and a
single count of arson of a building. Mr. Stevens, an unsuccessful
candidate for selectman in Webster last year, allegedly stole more
than $21,000 from the Shaw-Majercik Funeral Home in Webster from
Aug. 12 to Oct. 12. He also stands accused of starting a Nov. 12
fire that damaged the interior of the second floor of the funeral
home, but did not interrupt business.
Mr. Stevens, a
former reserve police officer in Webster and Southbridge who also
worked as a civilian dispatcher for state police, was arraigned Nov.
17 in Dudley District Court on the larceny, forgery and uttering
charges. Police also identified him at that time as a suspect in the
fire, although he was not charged with arson before yesterday's
indictments were returned.
The grand jury action will move the case from Dudley District Court,
where Mr. Stevens was ordered released on his own recognizance, to
Worcester Superior Court. As a condition of release, Mr. Stevens,
formerly of 6 Boyden St., Webster, was ordered to live with his
mother and stepfather in Thompson, Conn.
Mr. Stevens was arrested Nov. 16, after an investigation into the
cause of the funeral home fire four days earlier revealed that
checks were missing from the owner's account, according to police.
Investigators alleged Mr. Stevens took checks from the back of a
checkbook, made them out to himself and then forged and cashed
them.
March 28, 2005
Ballot needs state's OK -
Webster seeks deadline waiver
Jean Laquidara
Hill, Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
WEBSTER - Town
Clerk Robert T. Craver is hoping today's visit to the governor's
office will result in special legislation allowing the two-year
vacancy on the Board of Selectmen to be on the May 2 annual election
ballot. Even though there are three candidates, the vacancy is not
on the ballot because not enough time lapsed between the creation of
the vacancy and the deadline for filing nomination papers.
Resident John P. Stevens, who had run for the board last year but
said he is not going to run for the vacancy, has asked Gov. Mitt
Romney not to allow it to be on the May 2 ballot.
However, Mr.
Craver said residents knew the vacancy would be on the ballot and
had sufficient time to obtain and file nomination papers. A separate
election held at a later date would cost the town $4,000 to $5,000,
Mr. Craver said.
He said no one has called his office saying he or she did not have
adequate time to become a candidate.
From Mr. Stevens' perspective, prospective candidates did not have
adequate time to learn about the vacancy, to contemplate running, or
to obtain and file nomination papers. He said neither state nor
local timetables for getting on the ballot were met, and that the
special legislation would circumvent the will of the people.
Mr. Stevens acknowledged having written to Mr. Romney asking him not
to sign the special legislation, and that he received a letter back
from Mr. Romney thanking him for the information and telling him the
matter is being reviewed.
The two-year vacancy was created by the resignation of Selectman
Deborah A. Keefe, who announced her intent to selectmen March 7
during a meeting televised over local access cable television. The
resignation was reported in the local media over the next couple of
days.
The two-year vacancy became official at 7:30 a.m. March 8, when Ms.
Keefe's letter of resignation was filed with the town clerk,
according to Mr. Craver. The deadline for filing nomination papers
to be a candidate for office on the May 2 ballot was 5 p.m. March
14. Selectmen voted at their meeting that night to seek special
legislation allowing the two-year term to be on the May 2 ballot.
Three people filed nomination papers by the March 14 deadline to be
candidates for the two-year position.
They are Joseph Gadbois of 208 Lower Gore Road; Peter F. Slota of 14
Tanner Road; and John Westerman of 61 Sutton Road.
Mr. Craver said state law requires that a town clerk be given 15
days' notice in order for a vacancy to be placed on the town ballot,
and that Ms. Keefe's resignation provided seven days.
He said the town was in the same situation last year when Selectman
Robert Stawiecki resigned shortly before his wife died and the
town's request for special legislation was granted.
When Ms. Keefe announced that her resignation would be effective May
1, she said she was making the announcement nearly two months before
the election to allow time for candidates to get on the May 2
ballot, thereby saving the town the expense of a special election.
Mr. Stevens said
it is worth $4,000 to $5,000 to allow adequate time for prospective
candidates to get into the race for office
Mr. Stevens said he is certain he will not run for office, and said
people commonly take out nomination papers, then decide not to run.
Mr. Stevens, who was defeated in a bid for selectman last year, said
he is too busy with work to run for office. He said his decision not
to run has nothing to do with pending felony charges filed in
November in Dudley District Court for alleged larceny from Shaw
Majercik Funeral Home, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
"It's not about me. I'm not a candidate," Mr. Stevens said
yesterday. "It's for a couple of people who may want the seat and
it's to hold selectmen to the (town) charter," Mr. Stevens said.
"The purpose of my letter is to allow people interested in running
for that office time to obtain nomination papers, obtain signatures
and file the nomination papers."
State Rep. Paul Kujawski, D-Webster, said Thursday that it is fairly
common for municipalities to seek, and be granted, special
legislation to get vacancies onto annual town election ballots
because legislators and the governor usually realize municipalities
do not have extra money.
November 24, 2004
Webster theft
suspect released
Jean Laquidara Hill, Worcester
Telegram & Gazette (MA)
DUDLEY - John P. Stevens, 27, of 6 Boyden St., Webster, who was
arraigned last week on nine felony charges each of forgery, uttering
a false check and larceny for allegedly stealing more than $21,000
from his former employer, Shaw-Majercik Funeral Home of Webster, was
released on personal recognizance yesterday.
Acting on the request of bar advocate John J. Bowes, and
acknowledging he was acting against the recommendation of Assistant
District Attorney Donald Xenos, District Court Judge David
Ricciardoni released Mr. Stevens to stay with his mother and
stepfather, Susan L. and Dennis M. Parker, in Thompson. They were
both in court yesterday. Mrs. Parker was also in court when her son
was arraigned last week.
Outside of court
yesterday, Mrs. Parker described Mr. Parker as her son's "real"
father, saying he had raised her son since he was 18 months old,
when Mr. Stevens last saw his biological father.
As a condition of release on personal recognizance, Judge
Ricciardoni ordered Mr. Stevens to relinquish his passport, inform
the court of any change of address, appear in person before a
probation officer weekly until he is employed, report his job search
progress to the court, and waive rendition rights from Connecticut,
so police can bring him back to court if he misses a court date.
The court also ordered Mr. Stevens to stay away from the Shaw-Majercik
Funeral Home.
Assistant District Attorney Scarlett A. Scannell had requested
$15,000 bail, or $150,000 cash surety, at Mr. Stevens' arraignment
last Wednesday. The bail decision was postponed while Mr. Stevens
underwent a psychological evaluation under the direction of the
University of Massachusetts Psychiatric Treatment Unit in Worcester.
After reading the resulting report yesterday, Judge Ricciardoni
released Mr. Stevens on personal recognizance.
The evaluation had been recommended last Wednesday by Robert J.
Simmons, a forensic psychologist with the state Department of Mental
Health, after he interviewed Mr. Stevens and listened to a police
report that said Mr. Stevens was suicidal. At that time, Dr. Simmons
said police had confiscated Mr. Stevens' gun and his license to
carry a firearm.
Richard D. Majercik of Shaw-Majercik Funeral Home said yesterday
that Mr. Stevens is no longer associated with the funeral home in
any way.
November 18, 2004
Former police officer arraigned -
Evaluation ordered for fire, theft suspect
Jean Laquidara Hill, Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
DUDLEY - John P. Stevens, 27, a former local reserve police
officer and a former civilian dispatcher for state police, was
arraigned yesterday in Dudley District Court on felony larceny
charges totaling more than $21,000 from the funeral home where he
worked.
Police said Mr. Stevens also is a suspect in a fire last week at the
same funeral home.
Mr. Stevens, of 6
Boyden St., Webster, was charged with nine felony counts of larceny
over $250 totaling more than $21,000, nine counts of forgery and
nine counts of uttering false checks, all from Richard Majercik,
director of the Shaw-Majercik Funeral Home of Webster, for whom Mr.
Stevens worked.
He also has a pending Sept. 30 misdemeanor charge of unlawful
possession of fireworks.
The alleged larcenies were from Shaw-Majercik Funeral Home in
Webster, where Mr. Stevens worked at the time, and where a suspected
arson fire broke out Friday morning, damaging the interior of the
second floor, but not interrupting business.
A not guilty plea was entered on Mr. Stevens' behalf and the case
was continued to Monday, when Mr. Stevens is scheduled to return
from a four-day psychiatric evaluation in the University of
Massachusetts Psychiatric Treatment Unit in Worcester.
District Court Judge David Ricciardoni ordered Mr. Stevens to have
the evaluation after Robert J. Simmons, a forensic psychologist with
the state Department of Mental Health, testified that Mr. Stevens is
a suicide risk because of the current charges and loss of his
funeral home job, the fact that conviction would mean the end of Mr.
Stevens' hopes of a career in law enforcement, the recent breakup
with his girlfriend of two years, and the loss of another job in
June.
Dr. Simmons made his recommendation to the court after interviewing
Mr. Stevens in the lockup at the courthouse. Webster police had
petitioned the court yesterday for a psychiatric evaluation based on
Mr. Stevens' comments to investigating officers that he would kill
himself if he were released from jail and that he had considered
killing himself in June.
Webster police arrested and charged Mr. Stevens Tuesday after the
investigation into the cause of Friday morning's fire at the Shaw-Majercik
Funeral Home revealed that checks were missing from Mr. Majercik's
account, Webster Police Chief William J. Keefe said yesterday
morning. The larceny case was investigated by Webster police Officer
Donald Southall and state police assigned to Worcester District
Attorney John J. Conte's office.
The arson is being investigated by Webster police Officer Gordon
Wentworth and the state fire marshal's office. Chief Keefe said Mr.
Stevens is a "potential suspect in the arson investigation." He
declined to discuss motive.
Chief Keefe said the allegedly forged checks, taken from the back of
Mr. Majercik's checkbook over the past couple of months, were made
out to Mr. Stevens and cashed by him at various places. According to
Chief Keefe, Mr. Stevens admitted to investigating officers that he
had forged the checks and cashed them.
Mr. Stevens was held in the Webster police lockup overnight Tuesday
in lieu of $15,000 cash bail, or $150,000 surety, and brought to
court by police yesterday.
At his arraignment yesterday, Mr. Stevens told Judge Ricciardoni he
is unemployed now, and asked for a court-appointed lawyer. Judge
Ricciardoni appointed bar advocate John J. Bowes to the case. He
argued successfully that Mr. Stevens should be released on personal
recognizance, a decision which Judge Ricciardoni later reversed
after hearing Dr. Simmons' testimony.
Mr. Bowes told the judge that he and Mr. Stevens both agreed with
Judge Ricciardoni's later decision to order Mr. Stevens to the UMass
psychiatric unit as a condition of release.
During bail arguments, before Dr. Simmons testified, Assistant
District Attorney Scarlett A. Scannell argued for $15,000 cash bail,
saying she believed Mr. Stevens is a flight risk because police
found no clothes in his apartment when they searched it. She said
Mr. Stevens apparently had removed his clothes from the place
already. Mr. Bowes said that Mr. Stevens told him his clothes were
in the apartment, but police did not see them.
When Mr. Stevens' case was called, Mr. Bowes asked that the
arraignment be allowed on the stairwell leading up from the court
lockup to the courtroom, instead of in open court, but Judge
Ricciardoni declined, saying such allowances are only for
misdemeanor charges. He suggested that Mr. Bowes shield Mr. Stevens
from a media photographer and the audience in another manner, and
offered a blackboard as a shield. Mr. Stevens declined and stood
before the court unconcealed.
Mr. Stevens ran unsuccessfully for selectman last May, during which
time he was under investigation by state police for alleged
mishandling of 911 calls as a civilian dispatcher working in the
Framingham barracks. Soon afterward, he was dismissed from his job
as dispatcher.
Mr. Stevens also is a former dispatcher for Connecticut state
police, a former reserve police officer for the Webster Police
Department, a position he resigned; and a former reserve police
officer for the Southbridge Police Department.
Southbridge Police Chief Daniel R. Charette said Mr. Stevens
resigned his reserve police officer position when he asked about Mr.
Stevens' dismissal from his job as a civilian dispatcher with
Massachusetts State Police. Chief Charette said his department had
conducted background checks on Mr. Stevens before hiring him.
Mr. Stevens was an unsuccessful candidate in Webster for permanent
intermittent police officer in September, according to Chief Keefe.
He said police passed over Mr. Stevens after the standard background
investigation by Webster police. He said he believes Mr. Stevens
appealed to the Human Services Division of Civil Service over being
passed over. Mr. Stevens was second on a Civil Service list of 21
permanent intermittent candidates from which Webster hired about
five permanent intermittent police officers, Chief Keefe said.
Mr. Stevens is also a recent former member of the Webster Finance
Committee and, as such, was the Finance Committee's representative
on the Personnel Board.
John Dignam of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this
report.
April 30, 2004
Webster
hopeful confirms status -
Dispatcher on leave, not vacation
Author: Jean Laquidara Hill, Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
WEBSTER -- With
the election for the Board of Selectmen four days away, candidate
John P. Stevens, 26, of 360 School St. is confirming that he was
placed on paid leave on March 26 from his job as a civilian
dispatcher for the Massachusetts State Police, at headquarters in
Framingham.
Mr. Stevens said yesterday he wants people to know the truth.
He is one of six
candidates for two three-year terms on the board in a very
competitive race.
``I've heard a lot of rumors on the street that I've been fired from
my job. Those rumors are false, and some of them may be politically
motivated. As a candidate for the Board of Selectmen, I think it is
important for people to know that I am out on paid administrative
leave pending a completed job evaluation.''
Mr. Stevens acknowledged that his superiors had some concerns about
the way he was doing his job. State police have said Mr. Stevens is
not suspected of any criminal wrongdoing.
``I have not done anything criminally wrong. I want to clear up the
coffee shop rumors so people know what's going on,'' Mr. Stevens
said yesterday. ``It has to do with my job performance.''
Asked about his work status in an interview published in Monday's
Telegram & Gazette, Mr. Stevens said he was taking vacation time to
focus on his campaign for selectman because he is also busy as a
full-time student at the New England Institute of Mortuary Science
at Mount Ida College in Newton, majoring in funeral service; is an
auxiliary police officer for the town of Southbridge, and works as a
licensed apprentice in funeral directing and embalming at Shaw-Majercik
Funeral Home.
Mr. Stevens said yesterday he had given that answer because his
employer told him not to discuss the paid administrative leave and
he wanted to comply with that request.
He had most recently been working the midnight shift at state police
headquarters at Framingham after having started as a civilian
dispatcher for the state police in January 2002.
He said it has yet to be determined when he will return to work.
The other five candidates for the three-year terms on the Board of
Selectmen in the annual town election Monday are incumbents Irene A.
Martel, 79, of South Point Road and Robert J. Miller, 52, of 366
School St.; Joseph A. Gadbois of 208 Lower Gore Road, David W.
Germata, 54, of Worcester Road and Deborah Keefe, 49, of 4 Ash St.
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday in Town Hall.
April 26, 2004
Uniformed candidate upsets police
Author: Jean Laquidara Hill, Worcester
Telegram & Gazette (MA)
WEBSTER --
Members of the police union are upset about a political
advertisement in which candidate John P. Stevens is shown wearing a
Webster police uniform. The candidate for selectman was once a
reserve police officer, but is not now on the force in any capacity.
Mr. Stevens is one of six candidates vying for two three-year terms
on the Board of Selectmen in the May 3 election.
He was a reserve
police officer from 2000 or 2001 until 2002 and was a part-time paid
dispatcher from 1999 to 2002. Reserve officer is a voluntary, unpaid
position, but Mr. Stevens also worked paid details. The job as
dispatcher was a paid position.
Mr. Stevens said yesterday that he had intended for the
advertisement to run with information under the photograph
identifying it as a ``2001 reserve police photo,'' but that the
information was inadvertently omitted. He said he was not trying to
give the impression that he is a member of the Webster Police
Department, and said he believes many people know he no longer works
for the Police Department.
The full-page advertisement, which is in this week's edition of The
Patriot, a weekly newspaper, includes a photograph of Mr. Stevens
wearing a Webster Police Department Honor Guard uniform in front of
an American flag. According to the advertisement, it was paid for by
the Committee to Elect John P. Stevens.
John Nedoroscik, president of the International Brotherhood of
Police Officers Local 428, said yesterday that the advertisement
upset a majority of the members of the local police union.
``John Stevens was never a member of the Webster police union,''
Officer Nedoroscik said. ``He resigned from the Webster Reserve Unit
and as a part-time dispatcher. He currently has no ties to this
department.''
Officer Nedoroscik said that some police officers were also
concerned that people would misinterpret the advertisement to mean
that the police department is supporting Mr. Stevens in his election
campaign.
``We always maintained that we try to stay as politically removed as
possible. This way we do our jobs without fear of reprisal,''
Officer Nedoroscik said. He said the police union had voted not to
endorse any political candidates, and to proudly support any elected
official.
Mr. Stevens said he started as a Webster police dispatcher in 1999
and as a reserve police officer in 2000 or 2001. Finance Committee
Chairman Joseph S. Beresik said Mr. Stevens has not been employed by
the town since February 2002. Asked yesterday why he submitted a
photograph of himself in a Webster police uniform when he is no
longer associated with the police department, Mr. Stevens said:
``The purpose of photograph was to show I am an honest person
willing to serve my community, and it was supposed to project a
positive image to the residents of Webster ...
``In no way was that photograph to mean that the police department
is endorsing me.''
He said previous candidacy announcements have correctly noted that
he used to work for the Webster Police Department.
Mr. Stevens said he is a full-time third-shift dispatcher for state
police at Framingham, but is currently using vacation time to work
on his campaign for selectman. He said he also works as an
apprentice in embalming and funeral service for the Shaw-Majercik
Funeral Home , is a full-time student in embalming and funeral
service at the New England Institute of Mortuary Science at Mount
Ida College in Newton, and works part-time as an auxiliary police
officer in Southbridge, where is does paid details.
Asked when the approximately 270 people whose signatures appear
below his advertisement for office endorsed his candidacy, Mr.
Stevens said the names are of people who signed his nomination
papers to run for selectman, and that he used the names in his
advertisement because nomination papers are public record, and he
believed the signatures on nomination papers are endorsements.
Signatures on nomination papers indicate the signer endorses the
candidate to run for the office.
The other candidates for two three-year seats on the Board of
Selectmen are Joseph A. Gadbois of 208 Lower Gore Road, David W.
Germata of 89 Worcester Road; Deborah Keefe of 4 Ash St.; Irene A.
Martel, an incumbent; and Robert J. Miller, an incumbent.