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September 6, 2006

Station trial update: Fire victim kin threatens Derderian

WARWICK -- Michael Derderian was threatened by a man this morning as he left the Kent County Courthouse on the second day of jury selection in his trial stemming from The Station nightclub fire.

"I’ll get him later, I’ll get him," said Joseph DiBona Sr. as Derderian entered the parking garage elevator.

DiBona was identified by a sheriff on the scene as the father of one of the many people badly burned in the disastrous fire that killed 100 people at the club. (He was incorrectly described earlier by the sheriff as the father of one of the victims who died.)

Club co-owner Derderian has been accompanied by a sheriff and capitol police officer since the jury selection process in his high-profile manslaughter trial began yesterday.

DiBona attended a brief hearing inside the court house and followed Derderian and his wife as they left the building at about 11 a.m. DiBona later said that he thought Derderian "smirked" at him during the proceeding.

DiBona first confronted Derderian outside the court house, yelling obscenities at him while Derderian, his wife, and two officers walked to the adjacent parking garage.

The officers kept DiBona from touching Derderian, but did not physically restrain the man or move to arrest him.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Paul Edward Parker

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 6:50 PM | Permalink

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