PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The band manager who said he could never forgive himself for sparking a nightclub fire that killed 100 people is preparing for a fresh start away from Rhode Island upon his release from prison on Wednesday.
Daniel Biechele, who set off pyrotechnics as tour manager for the rock band Great White that ignited one of the nation’s deadliest nightclub fires, will serve out the final two years of his sentence on parole in his home state of Florida while living with the high school sweetheart he wed just weeks before reporting to prison.
“I actually feel sorry for him because that’s something he has to carry – that burden – for the rest of his life,” said James Gahan, whose 21-year-old son, Jimmy, died in the fire.
Biechele, 31, will be released Wednesday from the state prison in Cranston after serving less than half of his four-year prison sentence. He will live with his wife, Mandy, in a three-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath home in Casselberry, Fla., in suburban Orlando, said JoEllyn Rackleff, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections.
He will be required to stay out of trouble and meet with his parole officer once a month, she said. He will have to check in with the officer within 48 hours of arriving in Florida.
Biechele has been in minimum security at the Adult Correctional Institutions since May 2006 for his role in the Feb. 20, 2003, fire at The Station nightclub, which began when sparks from the pyrotechnics he set off at the start of a Great White concert ignited flammable soundproofing foam around the stage of the West Warwick roadside club. Besides the 100 killed, more than 200 others were injured. Eight of those who died lived or worked in Connecticut.
He pleaded guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter, and was sentenced to four years in prison after tearfully apologizing in court and saying he never meant to hurt anyone. When he became eligible for parole in September, the state parole board unanimously decided to release him early, citing among other things his remorse, letters of support from family members of those killed, his progress in prison and his plan for life after prison.
It’s not immediately clear where or if he will be working, though inmates as a general condition of parole are expected to maintain a steady job, said Tracey Poole, a spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Department of Corrections.
Biechele’s attorney, Thomas Briody, declined to comment Tuesday about Biechele’s plans.
Biechele’s career in the music business ended after the fire, and he had been taking accounting classes and working for a flooring company before he was sentenced. While in prison, he had a work release job as a bookkeeper at an agency that works with the disabled.
Biechele has arranged for a ride from the prison Wednesday, and is expected to be released in the late morning or early afternoon, Poole said.
But he may not be done with the state for good. Lawyers for victims’ relatives and survivors want to question Biechele as they pursue lawsuits stemming from the fire, and it’s possible he will be asked to return to Rhode Island for depositions.
Biechele was indicted along with club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian on 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter, each carrying up to 20 years in prison. He was to have been the first of the three men to stand trial, but instead struck a plea deal with prosecutors that guaranteed him no more than 10 years in prison.
He got four years instead, plus an additional 11 years suspended and three years probation.
Michael Derderian, also serving a four-year sentence after pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter charges for installing the foam, is due out on parole in October 2009. Jeffrey Derderian was spared prison time and sentenced instead to 500 years of community service, a sentence he completed last year.
AP-ES-03-18-08 1823EDT
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