Posts Tagged ‘arson’
Good Guys Arsonist to Be Sentenced Tomorrow
Vasile Graure, the Arizona truck driver convicted of setting fire to Glover Park strip club Good Guys in 2007, will be sentenced tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. The sentencing has been postponed several times already this year. Maybe tomorrow, we’ll finally get it over with.
On November 20, 2008, Graure was convicted of the following charges:
Good Guys Arsonist to be Sentenced Today
Vasile Graure,the 38-year-old Arizona truck driver convicted of setting fire to Glover Park strip club Good Guys last year, will be sentenced today by Judge Robert I. Richter. As I reported in November, Graure was convicted on thirteen counts—including assault with intent to kill, assault with a dangerous weapon, arson, and mayhem. At that time, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia provided some information about the statutory maximum sentences for each of Graure’s charges:
- Assault With Intent to Kill While Armed (three counts): 30 years per count
- Assault With a Dangerous Weapon (four counts): 10 years per count
- Aggravated Assault While Armed: 30 years
- Mayhem While Armed: 30 years
- Arson: 10 years
- Burglary II While Armed (two counts): 30 years per count
- Felony Destruction of Property: 10 years
I’ll update later today with Richter’s decision. Until then, you can read my comprehensive trial coverage here. It was a doozy.
Good Guys Trial: The Prosecution Rests
The government called its last witness this morning in its case against Vasile Graure, the man accused of setting fire to Glover Park strip club Good Guys last year. After listening to the testimony of MPD detective Frank Molina, who detailed the police’s procedures used to identify the suspect, the jury filed out. Then, the defense moved to have as many as eight of the charges against Graure dropped. Among other charges—arson, mayhem, burglary—Graure is charged with eight counts of assault with intent to kill.
Good Guys Trial: The Regular
Frank Raucci, a 59-year-old Takoma Park electronics technician, has been frequenting Good Guys for six to seven years. He knows the waitresses, and is a friend of manager Kathleen Lazorchack. He’s a regular. When he stopped into the club on the evening of Nov. 3, 2007, he sat down in front of stripper Gabriella’s stage and ordered a beer, waiting to speak to Lazorchack. In front of him was another customer he’d never seen before. Gabriella waved to Raucci in between moves. He got up and walked up to the stage to greet her. The other customer turned and watched him watch Gabriella, he says.
Good Guys Trial: The Arrest
MPD Detective Richard Espinosa is currently stationed in Djibouti, Africa, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Last year, he helped arrest Vasile Graure, the defendant in the Good Guys arson case. Graure was arrested in Alexandria’s Days Inn several days after the fire. Espinosa testified today that police had put Graure under surveillance for about a day before he and another detective secured a warrant for Graure’s arrest. When Espinosa arrived at the hotel and entered Graure’s room, he noted what he described as “second degree burns” on his hands. The prosecution entered into evidence police photos of Graure’s arms, handcuffed behind his back. His arms appear bright red and chafed from the wrists up to the elbows.
Good Guys Trial: The Gas Can
Vasile Graure returned to court today as the government continued its case against him. Graure is charged with eight counts of assault with intent to kill, one count of aggravated assault, one count of mayhem, two of burglary, one of arson, and one of property destruction exceeding $200, in connection with a fire in Glover Park strip club Good Guys last year. Graure—who appeared with a freshly shaved head, white shirt, and black polka-dot tie—had suffered an infection of the toe last Thursday but appeared healthy in the court room this morning. [Full disclosure: The Sexist missed trial on Friday].
At 10:30 this morning, the prosecution called Arefaine Berhane, an employee of the Glover Park Chevron station, to the stand. Berhane, who is Eritrean, speaks English at the Chevron station but appeared with a translator in court.
