PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Prosecutors in the Station nightclub fire case said in court papers that they intend to present a digital audio recording made by one of the victims of the blaze.
Prosecutors plan to present audio captured by Matthew Pickett, 33, of Bellingham, Mass.
Pickett apparently he brought the recorder to the club to tape the show. It was found with his body, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives retrieved the recording from the device.
Pickett and 99 others were killed by the Feb. 20, 2003, blaze, which began when a band’s pyrotechnics ignited flammable foam placed on the West Warwick club’s walls as soundproofing.
The club’s owners, Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, and the band’s former tour manager, Daniel Biechele, each face 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the deadly fire.
Prosecutors did not reveal the audio recording’s contents, saying they believe that would violate a court directive not to discuss the case publicly. But a spokesman for the attorney general’s office did tell The Providence Journal the recording “captures Matthew Pickett’s dying moments.”
Prosecutors and other investigators probing the fire said they were also using amateur video and still photographs in their work.
AP-ES-03-05-05 1604EST
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