Update: Witness in Smithfield stabbing death now suspect
6:03 PM Fri, Aug 15, 2008 | Permalink
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SMITHFIELD -- The police said a man who apparently tried to get into an apartment occupied by his former girlfriend and her current boyfriend early this morning was stabbed to death after a struggle in a parking lot behind the East Smithfield Neighborhood Center. The victim, Kenneth J. Wanamaker, 26, of 2 Hill St., did not respond to attempts to revive him after police officers and firefighters were alerted by a 911 call at about 1:45 a.m.. They found him "lying in a pool of blood," in the words of a police statement. He was pronounced dead by an official from the state Medical Examiners Office. An autopsy was scheduled. This afternoon, the boyfriend, Aaron Menard, 18, of 25 Darcy Lane, Burrillville, was charged with murder. Bail Commissioner Patrick Burke ordered him held without bail pending arraignment Monday in Providence District Court. Detective Lt. Michael C. Rheaume said that Nicole Sherman, who lived in a tenement at 11 Esmond St., adjacent to the neighborhood center at 7 Esmond St., was asleep when the couple were awakened by "something rustling at the screen." He said the pair went outside to investigate, and confronted Wanamaker, who was dressed in "dark clothing." A confrontation erupted. "Kenneth was stabbed three times and succumbed," Rheaume said. He added that Sherman was not involved in the fight. Rheaume said that Wanamaker and Sherman were the parents of a 2-year-old child whom the father would pick up for an occasional visit. He said Wanamaker and Sherman were on speaking terms, and that Menard and Wanamaker had met a few weeks ago when Menard showed up to pick up his child. There was no indication of bad blood, Rheaume said. "We don't know if it was jealousy," he said. He said there was no indication that drugs or alcohol were involved. He said a check of Menard's record showed that he had been charged with assault some weeks ago in an unrelated case. Rheaume said that investigators at first regarded the suspect as a witness. Menard then went to police headquarters voluntarily, he said, to answer questions. "Later on it turned out he was involved, more than just having been at the location" of the slaying, he said. The suspect was then taken into custody at headquarters, Rheaume said, and gave a statement in which he told investigators where to look for the knife allegedly used in the crime. He said officers found the weapon where the suspect had indicated. The parking lot where the body was found lies next to petite and scenic Esmond Park, where Esmond Street ends at Waterman Avenue, about a half-mile from Town Hall. By this afternoon there was nothing to show what had taken place, the crime scene having been cleared by investigators. The neighborhood is a quiet one, with sparse pedestrian traffic. A row of nearby 19th-century mill houses runs along Esmond Street. Across the street from the neighborhood center, light manufacturing concerns have taken over space in old mill buildings which stretch along the west bank of the Woonasquatucket River. Crimes of violence are unusual in Smithfield, a placid and well-to-do suburb. The last homicide took place in 1998, when Stephen P. McGinn, deputy public works director, and his wife, Eleanor M. "Ellie" McGinn, deputy town clerk, were found dead at their home. The police said Stephen McGinn killed himself with car exhaust fumes after strangling his wife. 
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The articles on the shooting do not jive with what the News is saying. Actually, who was the person who broke into the apt. There are 2 differnt versions. I think the news media and projo should make the correction
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