Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
Gilbert Delestre, center, sits with his defense lawyer, Robert Mann, today in Providence County Superior Court.

PROVIDENCE -- The murder trial of Gilbert Delestre, who is accused of beating to death 3-year-old Thomas J. Wright in Woonsocket four years ago, began today with a rescue worker testifying the child was so bruised "he appeared like he had been in a boxing match."

Delestre is charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Prosecutor Stacey Veroni said in opening statements in Providence County Superior Court that Delestre and his then-girlfriend, Katherine Bunnell -- the boy's aunt -- beat him severely when they returned to their apartment on Oct. 30, 2004, from a night out. The boy died on oct. 31.

Lt. Edward Bertholic, the Woonsocket Fire Department rescue worker, testified that when he got to the Diamond Hill Road apartment, a fire engine was already there and workers brought the child to his rescue truck.

Bertholic said the boy had facial bruising and swelling and his left arm and legs were bruised and looked like they might be broken.

Bertholic took the boy to Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket and then to Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence. During his time with the child, the boy never gained consciousness.

Veroni told the jury that Delestre and Bunnell tried to blame the babysitter, Kayla Roderick, who was watching the boy while the couple was out. Veroni mentioned that the night of the beating, the babysitter said she turned to see Delestre in the apartment with his arms extended and the boy flying through the air. She said the boy landed with his left leg under his stomach, according to the prosecution.

Bunnell, who is T.J.'s aunt, and Delestre were caring for T.J., his two brothers and the couple's own two girls. T.J.'s mother, Karen Wright, was serving time in an Illinois prison for marijuana trafficking.

In his opening statement today, Robert Mann, Delestre's defense lawyers, told the jury that Delestre admitted that he had hit the boy, that the boy fell down stairs and was badly hurt as a result. But Mann said Delestre denied that he threw the boy across the room and denied that he intended to kill him.

Mann asked the jury to acquit Delestre of murder and conspiracy to commit murder and suggested they convict him instead of manslaughter.

Bunnell has been convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy. She was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Tatiana Pina and The Associated Press

 Tags  Gilbert Delestre Katherine Bunnell murder trial Providence T.J. Wright Woonsocket

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