Dec. 06--The passage of nearly 25 years since a fatal fire on Keene's High Street has taken its toll on survivors' memories and affected their ability to recall details from that night in sworn testimony this week.
While there are moments from the 1989 tragedy that former residents of 88 High St. say they'll always remember with clarity, they acknowledged on the witness stand in a Keene murder trial Thursday that time has changed what and how much they recall today.
Within two weeks after the Jan. 14, 1989, fire, authorities named then-32-year-old David B. McLeod in court documents as the lone suspect who purposely started the fire. Several people were subpoenaed that February to testify before a Cheshire County grand jury against McLeod. But he was never indicted.
Only after the N.H. Department of Justice's Cold Case Unit reopened the case in 2009 did an investigation lead to McLeod's arrest in California in the summer of 2010. He was charged with four counts of second-degree murder, accused of recklessly causing the deaths of four members of the Hina family.
Carl R. Hina, his wife, Lori, their 4-month-old daughter Lillian Marie, and Carl's 12-year-old daughter Sara Jean all perished in the blaze. They died of smoke inhalation, according to a medical examiner. Fifteen other residents survived.
Now 57 years old, McLeod, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder charges, is standing trial this month in Cheshire County Superior Court in Keene.
His attorneys maintain the fire could have started accidentally and that McLeod, although drunk that night, had no role in the tragedy.
Thursday, jurors heard testimony from a handful of former High Street tenants left homeless by the fire. And in some cases, their accounts of that fatal night varied from what they had told investigators during recorded interviews in the days following the fire in 1989.
Mark Hilliard and his wife, Michelle Hilliard, both of Winchester, testified they vividly remember High Street tenants and friends of Edward L. Bussieres surrounding his porch, and a man on the porch roof trying to reach through the Hinas' second-floor window. They believe Carl Hina had been standing near the broken window holding baby Lillian, while outside people encouraged him to drop her as a way to escape.
But if that memory they testified to is so vivid today, N.H. Public Defender Meredith V. Lugo, who is representing McLeod, asked why neither of them told police about it in 1989. The Hilliards said they weren't sure.
In response, N.H. Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley asked Michelle Hilliard whether, despite the situation being chaotic, she actually saw the incident happen, or if she was making it up. "Is it a figment of your imagination?" he asked.
Michelle Hilliard replied, "No."
The couple had awakened to noise in the hallway outside their one-room apartment, which neighbored Sandra Walker's place, where investigators say the fire started at about 2 a.m. Each described Thursday how thick, black smoke overcame them when they opened their door to an exterior hallway. But by feeling their way to the stairwell they made it safely outside.
Also living next to Walker was Bruce A. Kennedy and his now-wife, Elizabeth Kennedy, who in 1989 went by Betty LaCourse.
Bruce Kennedy testified Wednesday that he saw McLeod outside the High Street apartment building while it was blazing and that McLeod was rude and drunk. He recalled McLeod singing "Beds Are Burning" by Midnight Oil and at one point asked, "I did a good job, didn't I?" as he gazed at the fire.
Elizabeth Kennedy testified Thursday that she remembers McLeod singing, but unlike her husband she did not share that detail with investigators in 1989, McLeod's attorney Caroline L. Smith pointed out.
She did, however, tell police about what she called inappropriate questions from McLeod as the building burned. "How does it feel to be out in the cold?" and "You gonna call your insurance company?" were two that she recalled Thursday and in 1989. Elizabeth Kennedy didn't have insurance, she testified.
Walker's scream for help is what alerted the Kennedys to the fire in their apartment building that night. Walker had stood outside her doorway in distress as a fire raged in her room, they testified.
While her husband called emergency services for help and took care of Walker, Elizabeth Kennedy knocked on the Hinas' apartment door to alert them to the fire.
Sara Hina opened it, and Elizabeth Kennedy said she took the 12-year-old by the hand in an attempt to guide her to safety. But "Sara let go," she testified Thursday through tears.
Perhaps, the girl had gone to get the rest of her family, she said.
Elizabeth Kennedy said she had gotten to know the Hina family well during her time at 88 High St. and that Carl Hina had asked her to be Lillian Hina's godmother, an offer she happily accepted.
The last witness to take the stand Thursday was Bussieres, who Smith questioned on discrepancies between his 1989 statements to investigators and his recollection today of the fire.
According to a transcript of a 1989 interview with police, Bussieres said he tried to go upstairs a couple of times after the fire broke out, but heavy smoke overcame him.
But during his testimony Thursday, Bussieres, who suffered a stroke in 2002, said he had reached the second floor, where he had grabbed Sara Hina and pulled her toward Wanda Ford, a tenant and McLeod's ex-girlfriend. He testified that Ford lost her grip of Sara Hina and the girl ran back to her family.
Bussieres' testimony Thursday matched what Elizabeth Kennedy told police and The Sentinel in 1989, making the defense question if Bussieres had taken her story and made it his own. Bussieres said he has followed local media coverage about the fire since it was first reported, but was adamant the story was his alone.
Bussieres' testimony continues this morning. The trial could last for another two weeks before the case is given to jurors.
Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1435, or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @ADandreaKS.
Copyright 2013 - The Keene Sentinel, N.H.
