WARWICK, R.I.-
One woman has blown out birthday candles for her father. Another gave birth beside a photo of her husband. A third still catches herself reaching for the phone to call her dad. The families of the 100 people killed in a nightclub fire three years ago said apologies from the club’s owners at their sentencing hearing did not begin to cover their grief.
“I certainly know saying that I’m sorry isn’t enough for people who lost so much,” said club co-owner Jeffrey Derderian, who cried while addressing the court Friday. “I wish I could give you back what you lost, but I know I can’t.”
Relatives of those killed in the fire vented their fury and berated the judge at the hearing, but they couldn’t derail a plea deal in which Michael Derderian received four years behind bars and his brother, Jeffrey, got a 10-year suspended sentence and no prison time.
Joe Gruttadauria, who lost his 33-year-old daughter, Pamela, in the fire, said he found the apologies worthless.
“She’s buried and these two guys are going to be walking the earth, breathing the free air and my daughter is still dead,” he said.
The Derderians pleaded no contest to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the Feb. 20, 2003, fire, which quickly engulfed The Station nightclub in West Warwick because the brothers had installed highly flammable foam to ease neighbors’ noise concerns. Michael Derderian got the harsher sentence because he bought the foam.
Judge Francis Darigan refused to reconsider the plea deals, which he said would avoid a long, heart-wrenching trial. Victims’ families were angry not only over the sentences but because they believed a trial would have told them more about how and why their loved ones died.
“Lady Justice in Rhode Island is blind, but she’s also deaf,” testified Jay McLaughlin, a relative of victims Sandy and Michael Hoogasian. Other family members applauded as he returned to his seat.
Shortly before the judge imposed the sentence, Jeffrey Derderian–a 39-year-old former television reporter who was there that night while a cameraman filmed footage for a story on safety in public places–tearfully apologized for the heartache he had caused and recounted the chaotic scene.
“The fire moved so fast. I was scared. I wish I did a better job,” he said. “There are many days that I wish I didn’t make it out of that building, because if I didn’t maybe some of these families would feel better.
“I know you would have liked it if I died too,” he added.
As he testified, his brother, 45-year-old Michael Derderian, who had remained largely stoic throughout the proceedings, broke down at the defense table. He composed himself by the time it was his turn to take the stand.
In his first public remarks since the fire, Michael Derderian apologized and said he never intended for the fire to happen.
“I fully accept, as business owners, we should not have relied on other people,” he said.
“If I had known now what that foam was, we definitely would have done things differently,” he said. “We would have never ever put our patrons, our employees, our families and our friends at risk.”
Michael Derderian was led from the courtroom in handcuffs. His brother and other family members followed him out a side door.
Prosecutors said they objected to the sentences and urged prison time for both men. Defense lawyer Kathleen Hagerty has said prosecutors offered the terms during negotiations, but Darigan took responsibility for the plea deal Friday.
As the hearing began, the lights dimmed and a screen flashed the photographs of each of the 100 people who died, while a clerk read their names.
Then, more than two dozen relatives of those who died took the stand to recount how their lives have changed since the tragedy. Many ignored the judge’s order not to offer opinions about the legal process and the plea deal.
The fire was sparked by rock band Great White’s pyrotechnics during a concert. More than 200 people were injured, and many of those killed became trapped and died at the doorways, overcome by fumes and smoke.
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Associated Press Writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
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