2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Families fire back at Seton dorm arsonists
Jesus Ron
Issue date: 2/6/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
"God damn these men!" shouted Michael Giunta as he addressed the defendants responsible for killing his brother John Giunta, as well as two others, in a fire at Seton Hall University on Jan. 20, 2000.
A raging college dorm inferno, death, crippling injuries and a controversial plea bargain all culminated in a dramatic, emotionally-charged sentencing hearing on the morning of Jan. 26 at the Essex County courtroom in Newark.
Aaron Karol and Frank Caltabilota were the two other freshmen killed, and over 58 people were injured, including burn victims Dana Christmas-McCain and Alvaro Llanos.
"God damn their families, god damn their progeny and any that helped them with this horrific act," Giunta said.
The two defendants, Sean Ryan and Joseph LePore, admitted to starting the fire last November and were visibly unshaken as Giunta crumpled the written speech in his hand as the judge asked him to calm down. "He was my brother!" Giunta said, as his voice cracked.
Seconds later, Giunta stormed out of the courtroom in tears, drew his arm back, threatened to throw his crumpled speech, hesitated, and then finally released it while letting out a cry of anguish.
Giunta ran to the bathroom in tears.
Ryan and LePore had claimed their innocence for three and a half years, but faced with 30 years imprisonment, they accepted a plea bargain last November and admitted to starting the fire they said was "a prank gone horribly wrong." The defendants described how they started the fire, by ripping a large banner off a bulletin board in the dorm lounge of Boland Hall, placing the banner on a couch, and lighting it on fire.
The Essex County courtroom, engulfed with a thick atmosphere of grief, produced a harrowing explosion of sorrow, anger, rage and disappointment. Ryan and LePore remained almost indifferent to the emotional shrapnel.
"I am very, very sorry for your losses, I'm very, very sorry," Ryan said. LePore's statement was almost equally as terse. "There is nothing I can say to take away the pain."
They were both sentenced to five years in prison and are eligible for parole in sixteen months.
Families speak out
Fourteen statements were read by friends and family of Caltabilota, Giunta, Karol and Llanos. Joseph Karol even brought a large portrait of his son to show to the courtroom.
Most statements began with nostalgia. "What a wonderful young man Aaron was," read Karol's mother Candace. "He was kind, compassionate, understanding and just loved to have a good time. He lived more in the 18 years he was on this earth than most people do in a lifetime."
Most statements then turned towards intense angst and emotion, "You both have created never-ending pain and ripped out a part of my heart that can never be replaced," said Frank Caltabilota Sr.
"There is no place for you in civilized society," said Tracy, the older sister of Frank Jr., as she ended her speech.
Some statements ended in pure fury. "You will both rot in hell forever," said Frank Caltabilota Sr.
Others, such as Joseph Karol, sought to find a more optimistic end to the bleak and horrifying seven-year struggle.
"...Although Joseph LePore and Sean Ryan took him from us, they can never take from us the greatest legacy of all. And that is the loving memory of what Aaron meant to each and every one of us who knew him…We will carry that never-ending love with us in our hearts until the day we die," Karol said.
Tracy Caltabilota chose to finish her statement with memories of "the amazing stories of heroism that came out of that horrifying night."
Ryan and LePore stay cool
Each family handled the grief in various ways, but almost all of them noted Ryan and DePore's lack of remorse during the whole ordeal in their statements.
"During this whole pre-trial, you both have had smug looks on your faces, and sometimes even joked and laughed," said Frank Caltabilota Sr. during his statement.
"There has been absolutely no show of sorrow or remorse from either of them" stated Candace Karol.
Even at the sentencing, during some of the heartfelt statements they appeared unmoved, unshaken and dreadfully calm. Ryan sometimes allowed himself to crack a smirk during some of the statements.
Disappointed with sentence
"This sentence will bring closure, but not satisfaction," said Judge Harold Fullilove during the sentence. And most of the families were indeed unsatisfied.
Joseph Karol pleaded the court to increase the sentence to a minimum of 36 months and if that was not possible to force Ryan and LePore to attend community service working with burn victims after their release.
"The defective justice system employed by this nation has given you a second chance," stated Thomas Caltabilota, older brother of the Caltabilota Jr.
Even Prosecutor Paula Dow admitted after the hearing that she had only gotten the best possible results using "an imperfect justice system."
"Is justice ever really done in a situation like this?" answered Paula Dow when asked if the prosecution regretted making a plea deal after hearing the statements.
"One person's justice is another person's mercy," stated George Thomas, a Rutgers-Newark law professor and expert in criminal procedure.
Thomas stated that the prosecution may have had a plea deal in mind from the beginning. "Arsons are very hard to prove. It is more than likely they had no eyewitnesses, very little evidence and even what they had was circumstantial," Thomas said.
Dow admitted that the case was "a very difficult challenge" stating that, "It was an Arson case, the evidence was very circumstantial."
But she refuted any accusations that a plea deal was planned from the beginning, "We were prepared for this case." Dow asserted that the state was ready to win if they went to trial and had thoroughly planned their opening and closing statements.
Joseph Karol, still holding his sons portrait after the trial, complimented the prosecution for doing the best they could under the circumstances and stated that, although he was disappointed with the sentence, he did not blame the state, "We didn't see what we wanted to see, but we did see these men manacled and taken away …now we can go on with our lives." Frank Caltabilota Sr. reiterated his comments from the statement after the trial, "There will come a day when they are judged by a higher court than this one and when that day comes they will be rotting eternally where they belong!"
A raging college dorm inferno, death, crippling injuries and a controversial plea bargain all culminated in a dramatic, emotionally-charged sentencing hearing on the morning of Jan. 26 at the Essex County courtroom in Newark.
Aaron Karol and Frank Caltabilota were the two other freshmen killed, and over 58 people were injured, including burn victims Dana Christmas-McCain and Alvaro Llanos.
"God damn their families, god damn their progeny and any that helped them with this horrific act," Giunta said.
The two defendants, Sean Ryan and Joseph LePore, admitted to starting the fire last November and were visibly unshaken as Giunta crumpled the written speech in his hand as the judge asked him to calm down. "He was my brother!" Giunta said, as his voice cracked.
Seconds later, Giunta stormed out of the courtroom in tears, drew his arm back, threatened to throw his crumpled speech, hesitated, and then finally released it while letting out a cry of anguish.
Giunta ran to the bathroom in tears.
Ryan and LePore had claimed their innocence for three and a half years, but faced with 30 years imprisonment, they accepted a plea bargain last November and admitted to starting the fire they said was "a prank gone horribly wrong." The defendants described how they started the fire, by ripping a large banner off a bulletin board in the dorm lounge of Boland Hall, placing the banner on a couch, and lighting it on fire.
The Essex County courtroom, engulfed with a thick atmosphere of grief, produced a harrowing explosion of sorrow, anger, rage and disappointment. Ryan and LePore remained almost indifferent to the emotional shrapnel.
"I am very, very sorry for your losses, I'm very, very sorry," Ryan said. LePore's statement was almost equally as terse. "There is nothing I can say to take away the pain."
They were both sentenced to five years in prison and are eligible for parole in sixteen months.
Families speak out
Fourteen statements were read by friends and family of Caltabilota, Giunta, Karol and Llanos. Joseph Karol even brought a large portrait of his son to show to the courtroom.
Most statements began with nostalgia. "What a wonderful young man Aaron was," read Karol's mother Candace. "He was kind, compassionate, understanding and just loved to have a good time. He lived more in the 18 years he was on this earth than most people do in a lifetime."
Most statements then turned towards intense angst and emotion, "You both have created never-ending pain and ripped out a part of my heart that can never be replaced," said Frank Caltabilota Sr.
"There is no place for you in civilized society," said Tracy, the older sister of Frank Jr., as she ended her speech.
Some statements ended in pure fury. "You will both rot in hell forever," said Frank Caltabilota Sr.
Others, such as Joseph Karol, sought to find a more optimistic end to the bleak and horrifying seven-year struggle.
"...Although Joseph LePore and Sean Ryan took him from us, they can never take from us the greatest legacy of all. And that is the loving memory of what Aaron meant to each and every one of us who knew him…We will carry that never-ending love with us in our hearts until the day we die," Karol said.
Tracy Caltabilota chose to finish her statement with memories of "the amazing stories of heroism that came out of that horrifying night."
Ryan and LePore stay cool
Each family handled the grief in various ways, but almost all of them noted Ryan and DePore's lack of remorse during the whole ordeal in their statements.
"During this whole pre-trial, you both have had smug looks on your faces, and sometimes even joked and laughed," said Frank Caltabilota Sr. during his statement.
"There has been absolutely no show of sorrow or remorse from either of them" stated Candace Karol.
Even at the sentencing, during some of the heartfelt statements they appeared unmoved, unshaken and dreadfully calm. Ryan sometimes allowed himself to crack a smirk during some of the statements.
Disappointed with sentence
"This sentence will bring closure, but not satisfaction," said Judge Harold Fullilove during the sentence. And most of the families were indeed unsatisfied.
Joseph Karol pleaded the court to increase the sentence to a minimum of 36 months and if that was not possible to force Ryan and LePore to attend community service working with burn victims after their release.
"The defective justice system employed by this nation has given you a second chance," stated Thomas Caltabilota, older brother of the Caltabilota Jr.
Even Prosecutor Paula Dow admitted after the hearing that she had only gotten the best possible results using "an imperfect justice system."
"Is justice ever really done in a situation like this?" answered Paula Dow when asked if the prosecution regretted making a plea deal after hearing the statements.
"One person's justice is another person's mercy," stated George Thomas, a Rutgers-Newark law professor and expert in criminal procedure.
Thomas stated that the prosecution may have had a plea deal in mind from the beginning. "Arsons are very hard to prove. It is more than likely they had no eyewitnesses, very little evidence and even what they had was circumstantial," Thomas said.
Dow admitted that the case was "a very difficult challenge" stating that, "It was an Arson case, the evidence was very circumstantial."
But she refuted any accusations that a plea deal was planned from the beginning, "We were prepared for this case." Dow asserted that the state was ready to win if they went to trial and had thoroughly planned their opening and closing statements.
Joseph Karol, still holding his sons portrait after the trial, complimented the prosecution for doing the best they could under the circumstances and stated that, although he was disappointed with the sentence, he did not blame the state, "We didn't see what we wanted to see, but we did see these men manacled and taken away …now we can go on with our lives." Frank Caltabilota Sr. reiterated his comments from the statement after the trial, "There will come a day when they are judged by a higher court than this one and when that day comes they will be rotting eternally where they belong!"
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