vermontaigne
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Yeah, Googling Carmichael+DeFreitas turns up a lot of newspaper articles about this case. One of the most interesting involves differences between Rainello's testimony and Gardner's, the two key prosecution witnesses. They both testify that it was DeFreitas and Brant who murdered Carmichael and the mystery woman, but the key differences are 1) DeFreitas' common-law wife, Rainello, who had left a husband and kids (according to Carmichael's testimony) to be with him claimed that Carmichael and the mystery woman were directed to the DeFreitas' A-frame by Gardner, which Gardner denied; 2) Gardner claimed that the story he heard was that DeFreitas shot Carmichael (who had been lured there from their new lodgings by Rainello, and was said by at least one witness to have been putting down a box), then Brant put the same gun to the head of the mystery woman and squeezed, but it was empty; whereupon Carmichael held her while Brant reloaded and shot her); 3) according to Gardner, Rainello had helped clean up the blood at the A-frame, which detail was noticeably absent from her testimony.
As noted above, the mystery woman signed her death warrant when she told Rainello that she was nervous about living under an assumed identity, and didn't know what she'd tell police if caught, which Rainello passed along to Carmichael, and Carmichael told Brant. It was then, according to Gardner that they decided to whack her, because of the possibility of her spilling, especially in view of their recent bank job. Why Brant and DeFreitas would have had to summon Gardner from Rhode Island to help them with their 'problem' is unclear, but he testified that he'd helped carry the bodies across the stream out back and conveyed them by sled to the site in the woods where he helped bury them, about 4 feet down, to be unearthed by bulldozer during a search several years later when Rainello squealed. According to Gardner, they would have been buried deeper, but the ground was hard at that time of year. Rainello seems to have turned state's witness when questioned about a DeFreitas robbery, after he'd left her for another woman.
Gardner stipulated that the .38 with which the two were shot belonged to him, one of several guns he kept on the DeFreitas' premises (they were living there under the name Emerson). According to Gardner, Carmichael had suggested an arrangement in which Gardner, Carmichael and Brant would be partners, and share out the loot whenever one of them scored. Gardner testified that after he'd helped dispose of the bodies, he got a large slice of the loot from the December 28th robbery.
DeFreitas and Rainello, before moving into the A-frame where Carmichael and the girl had lived, had lived across the hall from a the couple whose names Carmichael and the mystery woman assumed. At that time, they babysat for the couple's children, and that gave DeFreitas the chance to pinch the mother's SS card and other identity papers that were used by their very short-term guests to open the bank account and rent their property.
At trial, Brant chose not to testify, but DeFreitas did. According to DeFreitas, it was actually Gardner and another man--a particularly feared criminal who had been murdered before the trial, named John Robichaud--who had killed Carmichael and the woman. Unfortunately for Brant and DeFreitas, one of their lawyers opened the door to permitting Gardner's hearsay testimony during cross examination of one of the prosecution witnesses. At the same time, several snitches testifying on behalf of DeFreitas and Brant weren't permitted to testify in front of the jury, their testimony being nixed as hearsay by the judge. DeFreitas and Brant both requested the judge declare a mistrial. Specifically, they said that Mr. Satti, the prosecutor, had presented many suppositions as accusations, and although they'd been objected and the judge had upheld the objections and advised the jury to disregard the remarks, the jury had already heard them, and these statements were prejudicial. They also argued that they'd received ineffective counsel.
DeFreitas was said to have given the sled away to the child of neighbors who were friendly with him and Rainello at this time.
DeFreitas stated that, contrary to Rainello's testimony, she had feared this Robichaud fellow particularly, because Carmichael was a friend, and that plus his having thrown her over were the dual motivations for her pinning the blame on him and Brant. He argued, too, that Gardner perjured himself to get his sentence lightened and easier prison accommodations. It's a pretty plausible story, in some ways, but at trial DeFreitas also claimed never to have met Carmichael and the mystery woman. Another woman testified that Brant had thrown a New Year's Eve party at his place on the supposed date of the murder, December 31, 1970, and that she'd been with him all day preparing for it. They were convicted nevertheless, and their appeals, which eventually travelled all the way to CT Supreme Court, were denied.
Brant escaped from prison in St. Albans, VT, where he was being held pending testimony in an appeal in June of 1977, and died in a high-speed chase and shootout with Burlington, VT police. Given the sums realized in various robberies by various parties testified to at the trial, you'd have to say that these were pretty outstandingly successful thieves. I bet the Coen Bros could make a pretty great movie of all this.
Apart from the identity of the mystery woman, one of the biggest mysteries here is still the question of how she and Carmichael got steered to DeFreitas and Rainello in the first place. Answering that question might help answer some of the others.
As noted above, the mystery woman signed her death warrant when she told Rainello that she was nervous about living under an assumed identity, and didn't know what she'd tell police if caught, which Rainello passed along to Carmichael, and Carmichael told Brant. It was then, according to Gardner that they decided to whack her, because of the possibility of her spilling, especially in view of their recent bank job. Why Brant and DeFreitas would have had to summon Gardner from Rhode Island to help them with their 'problem' is unclear, but he testified that he'd helped carry the bodies across the stream out back and conveyed them by sled to the site in the woods where he helped bury them, about 4 feet down, to be unearthed by bulldozer during a search several years later when Rainello squealed. According to Gardner, they would have been buried deeper, but the ground was hard at that time of year. Rainello seems to have turned state's witness when questioned about a DeFreitas robbery, after he'd left her for another woman.
Gardner stipulated that the .38 with which the two were shot belonged to him, one of several guns he kept on the DeFreitas' premises (they were living there under the name Emerson). According to Gardner, Carmichael had suggested an arrangement in which Gardner, Carmichael and Brant would be partners, and share out the loot whenever one of them scored. Gardner testified that after he'd helped dispose of the bodies, he got a large slice of the loot from the December 28th robbery.
DeFreitas and Rainello, before moving into the A-frame where Carmichael and the girl had lived, had lived across the hall from a the couple whose names Carmichael and the mystery woman assumed. At that time, they babysat for the couple's children, and that gave DeFreitas the chance to pinch the mother's SS card and other identity papers that were used by their very short-term guests to open the bank account and rent their property.
At trial, Brant chose not to testify, but DeFreitas did. According to DeFreitas, it was actually Gardner and another man--a particularly feared criminal who had been murdered before the trial, named John Robichaud--who had killed Carmichael and the woman. Unfortunately for Brant and DeFreitas, one of their lawyers opened the door to permitting Gardner's hearsay testimony during cross examination of one of the prosecution witnesses. At the same time, several snitches testifying on behalf of DeFreitas and Brant weren't permitted to testify in front of the jury, their testimony being nixed as hearsay by the judge. DeFreitas and Brant both requested the judge declare a mistrial. Specifically, they said that Mr. Satti, the prosecutor, had presented many suppositions as accusations, and although they'd been objected and the judge had upheld the objections and advised the jury to disregard the remarks, the jury had already heard them, and these statements were prejudicial. They also argued that they'd received ineffective counsel.
DeFreitas was said to have given the sled away to the child of neighbors who were friendly with him and Rainello at this time.
DeFreitas stated that, contrary to Rainello's testimony, she had feared this Robichaud fellow particularly, because Carmichael was a friend, and that plus his having thrown her over were the dual motivations for her pinning the blame on him and Brant. He argued, too, that Gardner perjured himself to get his sentence lightened and easier prison accommodations. It's a pretty plausible story, in some ways, but at trial DeFreitas also claimed never to have met Carmichael and the mystery woman. Another woman testified that Brant had thrown a New Year's Eve party at his place on the supposed date of the murder, December 31, 1970, and that she'd been with him all day preparing for it. They were convicted nevertheless, and their appeals, which eventually travelled all the way to CT Supreme Court, were denied.
Brant escaped from prison in St. Albans, VT, where he was being held pending testimony in an appeal in June of 1977, and died in a high-speed chase and shootout with Burlington, VT police. Given the sums realized in various robberies by various parties testified to at the trial, you'd have to say that these were pretty outstandingly successful thieves. I bet the Coen Bros could make a pretty great movie of all this.
Apart from the identity of the mystery woman, one of the biggest mysteries here is still the question of how she and Carmichael got steered to DeFreitas and Rainello in the first place. Answering that question might help answer some of the others.
