- Aug 17, 2006
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This is quite a controversial case and good, objective analysis is difficult to find on the internet. This transcript from the Supreme Court of Rhode Island is easily the best and least emotive source of information I was able to find, while refreshing my memory on the case. I'm not trying to make any sort of statement by posting this thread; I just think it's a really interesting and confronting case and since I just stumbled on it a few years back, presumably many others have never heard anything about this.
On April 16, 2005, Carpio stabbed 84-year old Madeline Gatta while robbing her. A neighbour saw the robbery, noted the licence plate of the van Carpio was driving and reported it to police. The police arrested Carpio at his girlfriend's apartment without incident.
At the beginning of Carpio's interrogation, while waiting for the lead investigator, Detective James Allen, the other detectives asked Carpio a series of routine questions. For each question, Carpio either didn't respond, or repeated the question before providing a response (almost all of which were untrue, including his name and his record of arrests). As Detective Allen arrived and began asking similar questions, Carpio maintained that his name was Boselino Carr and that he didn't have a criminal record. The police knew who he was; as he was listed as an authorised driver of the van he was driving when he committed the robbery. Allen told Carpio: 'We know who you are and you are in serious trouble.'
Shortly after, Carpio asked to be given a drink of water (the transcript says 'glass of water', though I find it hard to believe the suspect in a stabbing earlier that day would be given a glass). Detective Timothy McGann left the interrogation room to get the water, leaving Carpio alone with Allen. McGann returned to hear shouting, a struggle and gunshots. The door was locked from the inside. After finally breaking into the room, McGann and the other detectives found Allen dead and no sign of Carpio. They soon found his escape route: an adjoining room with the window shot out. He had jumped from a third-floor window. A witness saw this unfold, saying that despite the big drop, Carpio sprung to his feet quickly and ran off.
Carpio fled to the home of a female friend. He refused to tell her what he had done, but asked her to call him a taxi to take him to New York. The cab driver who picked up the call, offering $500 for the ride, was suspicious and notified police, who followed him. As Carpio walked out to get the cab, he saw the police and tried to flee. He was caught and a violent struggle ensued, with Officer Christopher Zarrella testifying that he punched Carpio with a closed fist to the face three times, in an attempt to subdue him, as Carpio was kicking and flailing at the officers, despite being severely outnumbered.
The defence pleaded insanity and had psychiatrists testify that Carpio was suffering from a schizophrenic psychosis. The state had its own psychiatrists, who believed that Carpio was mentally fit to understand his actions and whether they were right or wrong, as well as testifying that they believed Carpio was faking his responses.The state noted that Carpio's multiple attempts to escape and his request for water to leave him alone with Allen as calculated efforts to evade capture, inconsistent with someone making an insanity plea.
Carpio's mother and girlfriend testified about his increasingly strange behaviour in the weeks leading up to the killing. Yvonne Carpio testified that she even called an ambulance to pick Esteban up on April 2 (two weeks before the killing). He was later released from hospital, with five Ambien pills. The jury found him guilty on all counts. No pre-sentencing motion for a new trial was filed by the defence. All later avenues for appeal failed. Esteban Carpio will die in prison.
On April 16, 2005, Carpio stabbed 84-year old Madeline Gatta while robbing her. A neighbour saw the robbery, noted the licence plate of the van Carpio was driving and reported it to police. The police arrested Carpio at his girlfriend's apartment without incident.
At the beginning of Carpio's interrogation, while waiting for the lead investigator, Detective James Allen, the other detectives asked Carpio a series of routine questions. For each question, Carpio either didn't respond, or repeated the question before providing a response (almost all of which were untrue, including his name and his record of arrests). As Detective Allen arrived and began asking similar questions, Carpio maintained that his name was Boselino Carr and that he didn't have a criminal record. The police knew who he was; as he was listed as an authorised driver of the van he was driving when he committed the robbery. Allen told Carpio: 'We know who you are and you are in serious trouble.'
Shortly after, Carpio asked to be given a drink of water (the transcript says 'glass of water', though I find it hard to believe the suspect in a stabbing earlier that day would be given a glass). Detective Timothy McGann left the interrogation room to get the water, leaving Carpio alone with Allen. McGann returned to hear shouting, a struggle and gunshots. The door was locked from the inside. After finally breaking into the room, McGann and the other detectives found Allen dead and no sign of Carpio. They soon found his escape route: an adjoining room with the window shot out. He had jumped from a third-floor window. A witness saw this unfold, saying that despite the big drop, Carpio sprung to his feet quickly and ran off.
Carpio fled to the home of a female friend. He refused to tell her what he had done, but asked her to call him a taxi to take him to New York. The cab driver who picked up the call, offering $500 for the ride, was suspicious and notified police, who followed him. As Carpio walked out to get the cab, he saw the police and tried to flee. He was caught and a violent struggle ensued, with Officer Christopher Zarrella testifying that he punched Carpio with a closed fist to the face three times, in an attempt to subdue him, as Carpio was kicking and flailing at the officers, despite being severely outnumbered.
The defence pleaded insanity and had psychiatrists testify that Carpio was suffering from a schizophrenic psychosis. The state had its own psychiatrists, who believed that Carpio was mentally fit to understand his actions and whether they were right or wrong, as well as testifying that they believed Carpio was faking his responses.The state noted that Carpio's multiple attempts to escape and his request for water to leave him alone with Allen as calculated efforts to evade capture, inconsistent with someone making an insanity plea.
Carpio's mother and girlfriend testified about his increasingly strange behaviour in the weeks leading up to the killing. Yvonne Carpio testified that she even called an ambulance to pick Esteban up on April 2 (two weeks before the killing). He was later released from hospital, with five Ambien pills. The jury found him guilty on all counts. No pre-sentencing motion for a new trial was filed by the defence. All later avenues for appeal failed. Esteban Carpio will die in prison.
