(Murdered and Buried in Graniteville)
On July 2, 1987 Mary Jane Pascuiti was murdered by Mr. Goudreau, a next door neighbor.
Mr. Goudreau was high on drugs, wanted to kill his ex-wife and daughters, but ended up murdering his neighbor instead, plus severely injuring his wife.
Ms. Pascuiti lived at 47 River Street.
Mr. Goudreau's ex-wife lived at 45 River Street.
One informant said there was a later kidnapping related to this case.
Mary Jane Pascuiti is buried in St. Catherine's cemetery (on left side, towards the back, large jet black headstone).
From the Westford Eagle (a weekly that comes out on Thursdays) on July 9, 1987:
by Gail Ferney
One Westford woman is dead and another remains in critical condition after a brutal double stabbing on River Street last Thursday evening (July 2, 1987).
The alleged attacker, Roger A. "Torry" Goudreau, 40, estranged husband of the wounded woman, has been charged with murder, attempted murder, and assault with a dangerous weapon. The accused man, who told police he lives in Nashua, is currently confined to Bridgewater State Hospital for observation.
Mary Jane Pascuiti, 37, of 47 River Street was pronounced dead at Lowell General Hospital shortly after 11 p.m. on July 2. Police, who found her lying in a pool of blood in her River Street home, said she has sustained "stab wounds all over."
According to Middlkesex County Medical Examiner, Dr. John Karbowniczak, the cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the chest.
Pasciuti's neighbor, Sandra Goudreau, 36, of 45 River Street is listed in critical condition at Emerson hospital, suffering multiple stab wounds in the back and upper chest.
Pasciuti's husband, Charles, "Doc" Pasciuti, is the former president of the Hell's Angel's chapter in Lowell, He is currently serving time on a 1980 assault charge, but reportably is scheduled to be released next month.
While police have said Goudreau often "ran with" the Hell's Angel's group, at least one member of that organization made it clear that Goudreau was never a member.
Details of the scenario leading up to the stabbings is still sketchy, but a source close to the victims said Sandra Goudreau and two of her daughters were visiting with Mary Jane Pasciuti when Tony Goudreau entered the house.
In the course of an argument between the Goudreaus, Tony reportedly stabbed his wife with a kitchen knife, Police surmise Pasciuti may have tried to intervene and was also stabbed.
Goudreau's daughter reportedly fled the house through a rear door.
Police arrested Goudreau at 45 River Street (listed as his residence in the current town census) after a tense four hour stand off that ended when tactical police stormed the home. The squad fired more than a dozen tear gas canisters through the windows of the house 35 minutes before entering.
According to Lt. Silva of the Special Operations Unit (SOU) of the Tactical Police Force, Goudreau "was in a semi-concious state lying on the couch.
"In my opinion, he had to be under the influence of drugs or something because no one person could withstand that amount of gas unless he was on somethinhg." Silva said.
Goudreau was arraigned in Ayer District Court Friday and ordered held without bail at the Middlesex County Jail. After examination by a psychiatrist at the jail, he was ordered to undergo 20 days of observation at Bridgewater State Hospital.
According to Westford police, they were first alerted to the unfolding drama in the Graniteville section of town when a call was received at 10:10 P.m. Thursday from the Steinhaus residence at 51 River Street. It was reported that a woman had been stabbed and needed medical assistance.
When officers arrived, they found a bleeding Sandra Goudreau, who had made her way to the neighboring home.
According to police, as Officer Joseph Bennett began first aid procedures, Goudreau said her husband Tony Goudreau had stabbed her. She told Bennett he might be found at 45 River Street.
Inspector Hervey Cote was one of three police officers who proceeded to that address.
"As we approached, Goudreau came out the front door with an ax in his left hand. It appeared he was covered in blood," Cote said, adding "He seemed out of it."
Police pulled out revolvers and asked Goudreau to drop the ax, but he refused, then turned and went back into the house, Cote said.
According to Cote, the three officers attempted to speak to Goudreau through open windows, but were told, "Go away, just go away."
Goudreau made a second appearance through the front door, this time a knife in his hand.
Again he was ordered to drop the weapon.
Cote said Goudreau then "implanted" the knife in the porch railing. Later inspection showed the knife to be "covered in blood."
Police believe the knife may be the murder weapon. It, along with the ax, is undergoing forensic testing.
According to Cote, early in the incident, there was confusion as to whether Goudreau may have had another person in the house -- either an accomplise or a hostage. As it turned out, he was alone.
When Goudreau returned inside the house a second time, police cordoned off the area, blocked both ends of the street and called for backup officers.
Police began to evacuate homes in the area because, as Cote said in the event shots were fired, "we want to protect innocent bystanders."
It was when officer Scott Mank went to 47 River Street to evacuate residents there that he discovered "a woman in a pool of blood on the floor.: That woman was later identified as Pasciuti.
Cote recalled that numerous attempts to talk to Goudreau through a public address system proved fruitless, although those who talked to him included Cote, police chief Joseph Connell, a Goudreau daughter, and Dennis Goudreau, brother of the accused.
"We got no response whatsoever," said Cote. At approximately midnight local police called the SOU for assistance.
"This is like a SWAT team," Cote explained. "But they go above and beyond what a tactical force does. They are trained for entry techniques, use of gas, and negotiations." (See related story)
At 12:20 a.m. Dick Delrossi, a specially trained SOU hostage negotiator, attempted to talk to Goudreau, but again received no response.
Later, rounds of tear gas were fired through the windows into all the rooms in the house. Described by Cote as "very potent", he said tear gas usually flushes out a subject within a very short time. In the wee hours of Friday, however, Goudreau was unmoved by the gas.
Police surmised central air conditioning and Goudreau's "relaxed" state may have lessened the effects of the gas.
When the tear gas failed to drive out Goudreau, members of the SOU led by Chelsford Stg. Frank Roark stormed the River the River Street home. Goudreau was found on a sofa in a semi-concious state with the ax beside him.
Police led Goudreau from the home, a ski mask covering his face, and took him to the Westford police station where he was held overnight.
First Assistant District Attorney Thomas Reilly, who is handling the case and was on the scene when Goudreau was captured, said he believed Goudreau may be involved in the case. Substances found in the River Street home are currently being tested. Police are awaiting that toxicology report.
Goudreau was arraigned in Ayer District Court Friday morning.
Mary Jane (Reemanyder) Pascuiti, 37, of 47 River Street died July 2, 1987 at Lowell General Hospital.
She was born in West Palm Beach, Fla., daughter of Richard Reemanyder and Agnes Knapp, who survive her. She was married to Charles, "Doc" Pascuiti.
She made her home in West Palm Beach for most of her life before moving to Westford nine years ago. She was employed by C.R> Bard Surgical Supplies of Billerica in the shipping and receiving department.
Besides her husband and parents, she is survived by a daughter, Shauna Marie Pascuiti of Westford; and two brothers, Don Baily and Buck Baily, both of West Palm Beach.
By Marlene Switzer
Mary Jane Pascuiti went to hergravr surrounded by Angels. Hell's Angels.
The very name conjures up a paradoxical image.
The tragic circumstances of a July 23 stabbing set the stage for a self-contradictory scene Monday morning graveside at St. Catherine's Cemetery, as two segments of society that harbor no love for each other peacefully stood side by side. Hell's Angels members, relatives and friends of Mary Jane Pascuiti solemnly mourned her passing.
The cemetery quiet followed a deafening rumble of some 50 powerful motorcycles that had permeated the still July morning. Hell's Angels members from New York, Connecticut, even California, had led the funeral cortege behind the hearse, carrying the wife of "Doc" Pascuiti as it wended its way from St. Catherine's Church.
It took something as inevitable as mortality to bring Angels together with the general public in anything but a confrontation. By choice, these counterculture people keep to themselves, take care of their own and are fiercely loyal to fellow Angels. Their independence from societal constaints has made the group the target of prejudice, sometimes justified but often based on the mindset of their appearance.
The people involved in the murder and assault that happened on River Street last week have been vicimized by this prejudice both grossly and subtly. What lies ahead is a long healing process for not only Sandra Goudreau, but also for those closest to the two victimes.
The Goudreau daughters -- Gina, 18, Jesse 12, and Melenda 16 -- face an insecure future with a critically injured mother and a father accused of murder. They also must gather the courage to weather the assault of public opinion issued as news of the tragedy reached the public.
All the survivors of that terrible night have a tougher road ahead because of the predudice towards the Hell's Angels, the group that has made its presence known in the River Street neighborhood for the past eight years.
It ahs been reported that a police official was "not surprised" by the type of crime that struck the Goudreau and the Pascuiti families because "Tony" Goudreau allegedly "ran with" Hell's Angels. Members of the group are unfuriated by the public perception and have made it clear that one of their own would never commit such a crime against an Angel's family.
Charles "Doc" Pascuiti is due to be released next month after serving a prison term stemming from a 1980 assault with a deadly weapon in Littleton. A pre-release program has allowed him to spend weekends at home recently. He was to arrive home for the July Fourth weekend at 5:30 a.m. the morning after his wife's murder in their 47 River Street home.
Now Pascuiti, former president of the Lowell chapter of the Hell's Angels, will get his life together without a wife, as a single parent to a teenage daughter, Shauna.
Although many neighbors in the River Street area said Hell's Angels members had cautioned them not to speak to the press, some felt strongly that an accurate picture of the people touched by the July 2 crimes should be published.
To hear a neighbor tell it, "Doc" Pascuiti in no way fits the public image of a Hell's Angelsqqq. Described as "stocky, balding with glasses .. like anyone else working to renovate his house." "Doc" is remembered by police and neighbors alike for his concern about children's safety.
Some years ago he took matters into his own hands when faced with motorists speeding down the hill in front of his house. He would park his car in wait for speeders, then pull in front of them, then lecture the offenders about protecting the safety of neighborhood children.
"Eventually it got so no one wanted to speed on River Street," a neighbor said this week.
"Doc" also petitioned to have a "caution children" sign erected on River Street, then moved it closer to his house.
A nearby resident said, in the years since the Hell's Angels moved to side-by-side houses, there were "never wild riots or craziness in the neighborhood, all the Hell's Angels I met were nice, very cortial."
One woman recalled the early years when the Hell's Angels moved to her street. "The Idle Hour" [bar] was their turf, their hangout. When it closed at night, the cycles would come peeling out."
That behavior "toned down after a few years," the River Street woman said. In recent memory, she could only report the occasional presence of a few cycles, mostly Hell's Angels whom she assumed were "looking after" Mary Jane Pascuiti while her husband was in prison.
Lately a larger than usual contingency of bikers has been seen on River Street, engaged in behavior incongrous with their image. Both the Goudreau and Pascuiti houses had been condemned, but the hard work of Angels members made them an asset to the neighborhood, according to a Westford police officer. He remembered the delapidated condition of the two River Street houses before the Hell's Angels bought them in 1979.
"You ought to see them [houses] now," he commented this week.
Even people in the Westford school system were steeling themselves against what they thought would be the shenanigans of the Hell's Angels children when several enrolled in the former North Middle school eight years ago. "But they [children] were fine, no problem at all," said a woman who worked at the school then.
The Goudreau girls and Shauna Pascuiti have grown up on River Street and are known by contemporaries as "regular girls, not wild or something."
They are considered valued babysitters by neighborhood mothers, with one woman recallingGina Goudreau taking a handicapped child for a swim in the Goudreau pool this summer.
One Graniteville resident recalled a party celebrating the graduation of Gina Goudreau and Shauna Pascuiti from Nashoba Valley Technical High School. "Doc" Pascuiti's friends brought about 150 lobsters, she said, and were cooking them up in small containers. She offered a big lobster pot, and received heaping thanks anf extra lobsters from one Hell's Angels who was acting as chef.
He was a big guy. I couldn't see his skin for all the tattoos, and he was nice as can be," she said.
This woman remembered the gentleness of the same man when he spent time amusing her 3-year-old handicapped son.
That is consistent with the Hell's Angels behavior noted by Bill Gannon, on the Board of Directors of the Modified Motorcycle Assocciation, Gannon said Angels members have made substantial contributions to a "Child's Wish Come True" charity, the Special Olympics and "toys for Tots". They have made emergency donations of blood.
Gannon paraphrased Sonny Barger, president of the National Hell's Angels, saying "When we do right nobody remembers. But when we do something wrong, nobody forgets.
The people interviewed in connection with this story did so under the condition of anonymity.