By John Lynds
State Senator Anthony Petruccelli.
Senator Anthony Petruccelli has lead a delegation of Senate colleagues in asking the Massachusetts Parole Board to place a moratorium on all future parole hearings until a full, comprehensivereview of the Board’s policies and procedures could be conducted.
In a letter to Parole Board Chairman Mark Conrad, Senator Petruccelli and his colleagues urge Conrad to halt all scheduled hearings in light of the tragic shooting death of Woburn Police Officer John Maguire.
“In the wake of the senseless shooting death of Officer Maguire, it is incumbent upon the Parole Board to fully investigate how a violent career criminal like Dominic Cinelli could be paroled and allowed to walk our streets,” said Petruccelli. “I strongly urge them to take any and all measures to ensure that a tragedy like this never happens again.”
The letter, a bi-partisan effort aimed at ensuring the safety and security of the residents of the Commonwealth, was mailed on January 6, 2011. The Senators are currently awaiting a response.
Maguire was shot by former Eastie resident Dominic Cinelli. Cinelli also sustained fatal wounds in the shootout.
Cinelli, who grew up in the Maverick Projects, began his criminal career to feed an escalating addiction to heroin.
One of Cinelli’s first crime sprees began at the former Woolworth’s at Liberty Plaza in Central Square.
He went on to pull of a heist in Chelsea and Everett where he disarmed an officer. Two days later he robbed Homer’s Jewelry Store, shooting the security guard in the chest as he fled.
His mother, a longtime Eastie resident, helped police identify her son from the security tapes from the Woolworth’s robbery.
Jail did nothing to stop Cinelli’s appetite for crime. In 1986 he pled guilty to the Woolworth robbery and four others, was sentenced to 25 years but was able to escape. Cinelli had cut his wrists, was transfered to Mass General, used a toy gun to disarm his guard and took off in a stolen car.
He was found in the North End 10 days later with a .32 caliber in his pocket but he surrendered quietly and without incident.
He was returned to prison and sentenced to three life sentences.
He got out last year.
During the blizzard last month, Cinelli robbed Kohl’s in Woburn and shot and killed Officer Maguire, a married father of two.