WHAV (https://whav.net/category/whavinvestigates/)
Editor’s Note: The public has expressed skepticism—or worse—about the slow pace of automobile fatality investigations and the roles of police departments and the District Attorney’s office. One case dates back to last Jan. 25 when Charles Burrill was walking from his home on Groveland Street to the downtown bus station when he was struck and killed at White’s Corner. No charges have yet been brought. This story aims to shed light on what’s involved in investigations.
The City of Haverhill has been ordered to better respond to WHAV’s request for details of a fall police investigation of the city’s Department of Public Works. State Supervisor of Records Rebecca S. Murray issued the ruling last week after the radio station appealed the amount of blacked out—or redacted—sections in an 83-page “Highway Department Investigation,” authored by Haverhill Police Chief Alan R. DeNaro. The city claims it is excused from releasing certain information about employees, but Murray suggested the city may have gone too far. “Despite the city’s response, it remains unclear which redacted portions the city is claiming constitute personnel information,” she said, later adding, “This clause does not protect all data relating to specifically named individuals.”
Mayor James J. Fiorentini ordered the investigation following receipt of two anonymous letters, alleging wrongdoing. DPW employees Steven Allen and Erik Frasca along with former city worker Kevin Moriarty were later arrested last August for drug possession.
DPW employees Steven Allen and Erik Frasca were arrested along with former city worker Kevin Moriarty last August, and as their drug possession case continues in Haverhill District Court, the accused aren’t the only ones frustrated as the case enters its seventh month. At a compliance hearing Monday, Haverhill District Court Judge Stephen S. Abany wondered aloud why the men have had to largely put their “lives on pause”—to attend several hearings about the case, which centers around an alleged drug deal made at City Hall. According to a police report filed Aug. 30, Frasca—a 19-year employee—was found in possession of a broken blue pill believed to be Oxycodone. He is said to have conspired with co-defendant Allen to obtain the pill from Moriarty.
On Friday, Jan. 25, Haverhill’s Charles Burrill was walking from his home on Groveland Street to the downtown bus station when he was struck and killed in White’s Corner in an early morning hit-and-run accident. One month later, charges have yet to be brought against the driver, said to have allegedly driven away only to return to the scene several hours later. While WHAV asked for, and received, a partially redacted Haverhill Police report within 10 days of the accident, the fatal hit-and-run remains under investigation by Haverhill and Massachusetts State Police. “No charges have been filed in the fatal hit-and-run,” Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett’s spokeswoman Carrie Kimball told WHAV.
A secret police investigation of Haverhill’s Department of Public Works appears to zero in on undisclosed “allegations” against its highway superintendent. A heavily blacked out—or “redacted”—copy of the 83-page report was turned over to 97.9 WHAV FM Friday afternoon after the radio station largely won its state appeal to obtain the information. The report, written by Police Chief Alan R. DeNaro last Nov. 9, reveals Highway Superintendent Brian J. Zaniboni at least initially refused to cooperate with police. “…Zaniboni contacted me by phone to state that he had a discussion this weekend with the mayor and his attorney.
A former elected Delaware state treasurer says the murder of a Haverhill teen in 2017 might have been prevented if officials down south acted on his concerns about the Benner family. Instead, former Treasurer Chipman “Chip” L. Flowers Jr. told WHAV Saturday, he was forced into a political battle which forced him not to seek re-election in 2014. Flowers, who now lives in Massachusetts, said the shooting death of 18-year-old Bryce Finn in the doorway of his Rainbow Drive home might have been averted. “I will go to my grave believing that, even though I worked with law enforcement, had the State of Delaware prosecuted them for what they did to me and my family, that young man (Finn) would still be alive today,” Flowers told WHAV. He alleged 21-year-old Joseph Maxwell “Max” Benner, who was charged Friday in connection with Finn’s murder, had a “horrible temper.” Flowers charged Benner threatened him and his future his wife during a 2014 Fourth of July Parade in Dover, Del.
Joseph Maxwell “Max” Benner was charged in connection with the murder of Bryce Finn. (File photograph)
This story has been updated to clarify information about alleged wrongdoing by Erika J. Benner in Delaware, and reflect murder suspect Joseph Maxwell Benner was better known under his nickname of “Max.”
Unexpected ties to the state of Delaware that surfaced over the summer in connection to Bryce Finn’s 2017 murder are now becoming clear on the heels of a Haverhill man being charged with the crime. While Joseph Maxwell “Max” Benner’s alleged role in Finn’s murder remains to be seen, he is the fourth suspect with ties to the state of Delaware to be charged in the case. Nicholas Mandato, Thomas Warner and Kenneth Pitts—indicted for Finn’s shooting death in October—all call the state home. As WHAV has uncovered, Benner’s mother, Erika J. Benner, served as the deputy treasurer for the state of Delaware before resigning amid a scandal in 2013.
Brian O’Connell, rear right, told the School Committee last May of his plan to pre-pay certain expenses with an expected surplus—an amount members said should have been known and disclosed. (WHAV News photograph.)
Brian O’Connell, Haverhill Public Schools’ business manager, appears to be on the verge of losing his job. Depending on who is asked, O’Connell is either someone who bungled the school budget or a victim of the political winds that sidelined the former school administration. O’Connell—a 34-year member of the Worcester School Committee, a lawyer and someone who has worked in school finance since 2002, has served mostly quietly and behind the scenes for a little more than three years. Report: Ouster Plan Takes Shape at Heated, Closed-Door Meeting
Even though his $130,000 contract ended last June, O’Connell is still a city employee and his formal termination may require a two-thirds vote of the School Committee.
The arrest of a 27-year-old man for the murder of Nike Colon ties together a series of events and retaliations seemingly kicked off by the May 2016 shooting at Haverhill’s Swasey Field. Eddy Manuel Almonte was arrested late Tuesday night for Colon’s murder during an unrelated motor vehicle stop in Winchester, Va. As WHAV first reported Wednesday, Almonte was among three arrested and charged during June 2016 with what was suspected to be “gang-related retaliation” for the earlier Swasey shooting. WHAV’s investigation into gun-related arrests paints a picture of two rival gangs bearing responsibility for all or most of the shootings over the past two years. Two people survived gunshot wounds at Swasey two years ago, while no injuries were reported after shots were fired by rival gang members on Temple Street.