How a Hero was Killed
and a Killer Went Free
A
Tribute to Slain Lawrence Police Officer
Tom Duggan, Sr.
(March 7, 1943 - March
16, 1990)
TOM DUGGAN
Lawrence police officer Tom Duggan Sr.,
was a police officer for 18 years.
He was my father.
It wasnt always easy
being the son of a cop and the family
member of many cops growing up.
At a very young age, I learned to accept
the fact that every time my father put on
his uniform there was a real chance he
might not come back.
It was an awareness and a reality that
most people cant relate to.
And though that awareness never went away
as I got older, I also learned to have
faith that my father was a great cop and
he was smart enough (more importantly,
wise enough) to handle whatever came his
way. There was also a bizarre comfort in
the thought that if he ever did lose his
life on the job that, it may be
protecting the lives of innocent people.
March 13, 1990
Two blocks from the Lawrence Police
Station, shortly after 2pm, Lawrence
police officers arrived at the corner of
Lowell and Broadway to find a man covered
in blood laying in a dirt parking lot.
Because of his condition, they didnt
even recognize who they were standing
over when the officers tried to revive
him and piece together what had happened.
Before an ambulance could arrive, one of
the officers commented Im
surprised Tommy Duggan isnt here,
he must have heard the call go out.
Duggan was known as an aggressive cop who
never passed up an opportunity to respond
to an emergency whether on or off duty
and had earned a reputation in the
community (and especially among his
fellow officers) as a cops
cop.
Wait, thats Tommys car,
he must be around, one officer
said. It didnt take a second or two
for them to realize however, who it was
laying at their feet fighting for his
life. Officer Duggan wasnt chasing
down the suspect or in just the area
trying to help, he was the unidentified
man laying on the ground with multiple
head and chest wounds from an apparent
baseball bat attack.
My God, thats Tommy Duggan,
Officer Samataro said out loud. Within an
instant the call went out over the police
radio Officer down.
According to witnesses and those who
investigated the case, just a few minutes
prior, Officer Duggan was taking a right
hand turn from Winter Street onto Lowell
St.. A car being driven by William
Rodriguez of Lowell nearly hit him,
continuing toward Broadway and finally
came to a stop at a red light at the next
corner.
Officer Tom Duggan, Sr. was
on his way to court that afternoon and in
civilian clothes. He was driving his own
car when he pulled up behind Rodriguez
and his girlfriend Doris Ortiz of
Lawrence.
Witnesses said Duggan got out of his car,
identified himself as a police officer as
he approached them, but before he could
say anything more, Ortiz jumped out of
the passengers side of the car and
advanced on him, hitting and pushing him
in the middle of Lowell Street.
Within seconds, Rodriguez also jumped out
of the car brandishing a metal softball
bat. He advanced on Officer Duggan
slapping the bat in his hand over and
over.
Because it was broad daylight, and on a
busy downtown street where kids were
walking home from school, and pedestrians
were walking close by, Officer Duggan
pulled out his gun and ordered Rodriguez
to put down the bat while backed up into
a the vacant lot. Duggan matched every
advancing step by the perpetrators with a
step back, luring them away from from
innocent bystanders and into the vacant
lot in case he had to shoot his weapon.
But as Duggan reached the edge of the
lot, Ortiz jumped on him, grabbed at the
gun, and held his hands, just long enough
for Rodriguez to beat him in the head
with the bat. As Rodriguez came down with
the first blow to Duggans head, he
fired his weapon, but the bullet only
grazed the neck of Ortiz while Rodriguez
began beating him repeatedly. Police
would later learn that Duggan tried to
fire again but his gun had jammed.
Witnesses said that Rodriguez continued
beating him even after he fell to the
ground and the two killers eventually
fled the scene leaving Duggan in the dirt
to die.
As Officer Duggan was rushed to Lawrence
General Hospital and while doctors were
frantically working to save his life,
Rodriguez pulled into the parking lot to
drop off his girlfriend to get treatment
for her superficial gun shot wound.
Rodriguez never made it out of the
parking lot as police cornered him and
took him into custody, covered in Duggans
blood.
When Rodriguez was arrested, police
recovered the bloody bat still in the
back seat of the car, but Duggans
badge was no where to be found. He was
brought to the Lawrence Police Station,
booked and questioned while word spread
through the city and news crews rushed to
Lawrence General hospital to report the
story.
Rodriguez confessed, admitting he had hit
Duggan but denied hitting him in the head
saying that he knew a strike to the head
would be fatal. He did admit to hitting
him in the chest and side with the bat
and Rodriguez even signed a confession.
For three days, Officer Duggan was kept
in a drug induced coma to keep down the
swelling in his head form the multiple
blows he took from Rodriguez. Doctors
worked around the clock to keep him
alive, but said in the first 24 hours
that there was little chance he would
make it.
Though the incident happened shortly
after 2pm, It wasnt until I turned
on the evening news that night when I saw
Channel 7s Gerry DAmico
standing outside Lawrence General
Hospital, reporting that a Lawrence
police officer was fighting for his life.
Two days earlier the local newspaper had
mistakenly identified my father as a
police officer who had been wounded in an
attack, so I dismissed the report
allowing me one more minute of sanity
before my life, and the life of my family
would be shattered forever. When the
photo of my dad filled the television
screen and DAmico repeated his name
three more times, reality set in. This
time, it really was him and the
television reporters were painting a very
grim picture of his chances of survival.
Friday, March 16, 1990.
After
three days of multiple surgeries,
Lawrence Police Officer Tom Duggan
succumbed to his injuries and was the
first police officer to be killed in the
line of duty since 1953 When officer
Peter Manning was hit by a drunk driver.
The whole city came to a standstill. It
was all anyone could talk about. Everyone
knew who Officer Tom Duggan was.
In a small city like Lawrence, his 18
years on the force had earned him a
popularity and respect that was unmatched
and still is, even today. I knew the loss
my family was going through was
unbearable. And so did the people of the
Merrimack Valley.
When they called out the name William
Rodriguez in Lawrence District
court at 10am that morning the entire
courtroom, in fact the entire court house
came to a complete stand still. He was
big, muscle bound, and young. The clerks,
the judges, the parole officers even some
of the criminals waiting to be arraigned
on other charges had tears in their eyes,
which was puzzling but something I
dismissed as I tried to focus on trying
to keep my composure in front of
everyone.
As the District Attorney read the charges
and Rodriguez attorney plead not
guilty on his behalf I caught him
winking to his family members siting just
a few feet away from me. It seemed like
every cop in the city was there, and
every television news station was crowded
outside the courthouse waiting for the
arraignment to be over so they could do
their report.
When it was over, Officer Justin Hart
came over to me put his arm around me.
Can I tell you something? he
asked. Your dad and I never got
along, he said nervously. But
I can tell you Tommy as god is my
witness, if I was ever in trouble and had
to call for backup, I would pray that
your dad would be the guy answering my
call. He was great cop, and he loved this
department. He was not going to let
anything happen to me or any other cop in
trouble. He was a cops cop, and
thats no lie.
I was numb from what was happening but
Justins words spoke volumes. Oddly
enough, it was the mere fact that I knew
he and my dad had issues with each other
that made his words ring truer and more
powerful than if he had been a friend. He
had said it all. Like him or not, Officer
Duggan was the go-to-guy and within days
I was about to find out exactly how true
his words were.
Superintendent of Schools Jim Scully
announced that morning that schools in
Lawrence would be closed the following
Monday for dads funeral. Shops on
Essex Street closed, a large black cloth
was draped over the entire police station
as the flag was lowed to half mast.
There was even talk of canceling the
annual Saint Patricks day parade
scheduled for Sunday, but dad was a
staple at the parade every year, working
a detail and usually on hand afterward to
quell any rowdiness from revelers
drinking at the many city pubs along the
parade route. He would want the
parade to go on, I told one of the
parade organizers. And though I couldnt
even imagine that it would, I am so
incredibly grateful today that it did.
March 18, 1990
With so much to do, so many
things to take care of and a wake that
was sure to be impossible to deal with, I
just couldnt bring myself to think
about the parade. But, dad loved watching
the kids have fun and it was something he
had enjoyed his entire life. It was hard
enough just going to the store to buy
milk or go through the drive through for
some food as it seemed every person I ran
into would either break down into tears
upon recognizing me or would just be
completely speechless not knowing what to
say. Strangers randomly came over and
hugged me and even the paperboy knocked
on my door to say how sorry he was.
I just couldnt see anyone. I couldnt
talk to anyone. I couldnt even
leave the house because of the affect my
mere presence was having on other people.
But, as I sat in my living room that
night, still trying to figure out if all
this was real, in shock by what was
happening and what was surely to come, my
grief turned to utter amazement and even
joy as I flipped on cable access. A
replay of the Saint Patricks day
parade was running and it was far better
than watching more news reports about
Rodriguez and endless recounting of the
beating that lead to dads death.
Looking at the tv screen, I instantly
noticed almost every float in the parade,
nearly every marcher, and the thousands
of parade watchers on the side of the
road were holding hand made sings saying,
we love you Tommy Duggan,
Rest in Peace Tommy Duggan
He died for us, A real hero,
Officer Duggan.
The spontaneous nature of thousands of
people in such a short period of time, on
their own with no organized effort to
publicly reach out to me and my family to
express their love and respect for my
dad. It is an image that will be seared
into my mind for the rest of my life. It
was at that very moment that I realized
the magnitude of what Justin Hart had
said just a few days before. The man I
had only known as dad, was a hero and a
mentor to more people than I could have
ever realized.
Tears of joy ran down my face as I
thought about him watching this surreal,
almost twilight zone-like scene from
above. Could he ever have imagined that
he had touched the lives of so many? Did
he ever realize how many people he had
helped, how many families he had saved,
how respected he was, not just among his
colleagues but by the very citizenry he
put his life on the line for during his
18 years on the force?
Could he believe it? I could barely
believe it. It was as if the whole world
knew how I and my sisters and my aunts
and uncles were grieving. It was as if
they too felt the enormous weight of what
was going on. Like our grief was shared
by the rest of the community. This was
what he had lived his life for. These
were the people he was willing to
sacrifice his life to protect. And now
that he had lost his life in that
endeavor, they were all reaching out to
say thank you. It was a more fitting
tribute than anything I, or anyone else
could have orchestrated.
March 19, 1990
During the wake and the
funeral thousands of people crowded
Lawrence and Lebanon Streets outside and
down the street from Saint Marys
Church. Cops I had known growing up,
their wives, their children, shop owners,
crossing guards, even men my dad had
arrested showed up to pay their genuine
respect.
He kicked my ass more times than I
can remember, one man told me,
dressed in a leather vest with tattoos up
and down his arms and looking at least
double my dads size. But if
it wasnt for your dad setting me
straight, I would be dead or in jail
right now. Hundreds of people told
similar stories without a hint of
exaggeration in their voices.
When word of a news report that the
killers, Rodriguez and Ortiz, were
claiming racism and that my father had
targeted them for being Latino,
a group of young Dominican men came over
to me just an hour before the funeral was
to begin.
We heard the reports, one
said indignantly. Benny might have been a
lot of other things, but he aint no
racist and if you dont believe me
you just watch. Dad had a special
relationship with the Latino community
and had, on several occasions reported
other cops for acting out on their own
racial bias. They called him Benny
because they said he reminded them of
Benny Hill, the English comedian.
I had no idea what they meant and I didnt
care. I hadnt heard the report but
the very thought of my dead father being
used for race baiting so the killer could
pretend to be the victim was enraging.
But as the funeral procession made its
way from Saint Marys Church to the
cemetery I witnessed first hand just
exactly what those Dominican young men
were trying to tell me.
Hundreds, if not thousands of Latinos
lined the funeral procession through
North Lawrence all the way to the
cemetery with signs in English and
Spanish, saying We will miss you
Benny. Benny was one of us.
The injustice System.
By October 1st jury selection had begun
for the murder trial of Rodriguez and
Ortiz in Salem Superior court. It was a
media frenzy that dwarfed the death and
the funeral.
Right out of the gate these criminals
were demanding that Latinos
be empanelled on the jury claiming racism
that the jury was all White.
It was a charge that garnered lots of
media attention and again raised the
race card. Adding insult to
injury, Judge John Ronan began to unravel
the evidence against the killers, first
throwing out Willie Rodriguez
confession claiming that it was coerced
because the environment of the Lawrence
police station where he was interrogated
made him feel coerced being
surrounded with officers who had worked
with my dad.
Throughout the trial Rodrigues changed
his story multiple times, contradicting
previous statements and claiming that it
was Officer Duggan who had assaulted his
girlfriend and his assault on my father
was in defense of the woman he loved.
But the myriad of witnesses told a
different story. A story of an enraged
and out of control Rodriguez who wielded
the bat and continued to advance while
being ordered to drop the weapon. Several
witnesses said they watched the brutal
attack from the bay window of a car
dealership right across the street, in
the middle of broad daylight. While other
witnesses said that they had seen parts
of the incident in progress as they drove
down the busy downtown Lowell street, all
recounting how Rodriguez was the
aggressor and Officer Duggan was backing
away.
After 12 days of testimony, unforgivable
mistakes by prosecutor Bob Wiener, and
truly bizarre rulings by Judge John Ronan
it was time to give the matter to the
jury.
Thats when Ronan stunned the
courtroom with his jury instruction.
Ronan told the jury that in order to find
Rodriguez guilty of 2nd degree murder
they had to find that Rodriguez was the
aggressor in the situation. He also told
them that because Officer Duggan was not
in uniform that they had to disregard the
fact that he was a police officer at the
time of the incident. This, despite the
fact that multiple witnesses said he
identified himself as a cop, and that his
badge was never found at the scene left
the courtroom attendees in shock. Ronans
jury instruction also flew in the face of
Massachusetts State Law which says that a
police officer who activates himself in
response to a crime is considered on
duty. Not to mention that according
to the law, police officers are
considered on duty while traveling to and
from work, including going to court.
It didnt take the jury long to come
back into the court, but even with the
bungling prosecutor and a judge who was
clearly trying to skew the verdict we
were all convinced that the jury couldnt
possibly come back with a not guilty
verdict given the mountains of evidence
they had heard.
At about 6pm on the Friday before a long
weekend the jury foreman, Mr. McDonald
stood and read the verdict, not
guilty on all counts for both
defendants. For a minute, it seemed like
nobody in the courtroom even heard what
he had said. There was a long pause for
what seemed like forever before the
killers cried and hugged their lawyers.
Within a few short minutes though,
Rodriguez, Ortiz and both their families
began singing and dancing all the way out
the courtroom under police protection
before our family was allowed to leave.
But not before Rodriguez looked me
directly in the eye and literally laughed
in my face.
I had been on the news every day trying
to correct the misinformation he and his
lawyers were spewing into the community
and I had become a lightening rod for
snide remarks by his friends in and out
of the courtroom during the 12 day trial.
Now it was he was having the last laugh.
It had all come down to this. A stone
cold killer, spitting on the life my
father lived and laughing after getting
away with taking his life after backing
him up on a busy downtown street.
I couldnt help but think, and I may
have even said out loud, he died
for nothing! At least if he had
been convicted and gone to jail, my
fathers death would have resulted
in getting a cold hearted killer with no
regard for the law off the streets. At
least dads death would have
protected other innocent people from this
mans rage and disrespect for the
lives of others.
It was dark and raining outside when we
finally left the courthouse on October
12, 1990. We were stunned and confused,
outraged and filled with grief all at the
same time. It was like he had been beaten
with that metal baseball bat all over
again. As we got outside I could see
McDonald, the foreman of the jury being
interviewed by a local TV reporter. He
was saying in a very casual tone how he
and the other members of the jury had no
choice but to let Rodriguez and Ortiz go
free because they had to disregard the
fact that officer Duggan was a police
officer at the time of the incident.
He further explained that a man who was
not a police officer, approaching someone
elses car the way my father had
done, showed aggression on his part and,
to add insult to injury, McDonald said
that a gun was a more aggressive weapon
than a bat. To find second degree murder
the prosecution had to prove Rodriguez
was the aggressor and with what we
had to work with, we felt they didnt
do a good job of proving that.
I rushed at him and demanded that he tell
that to my father who was laying in a
box, explain to him that a gun is a
more aggressive weapon than a bat.
Eight months later Rodriguez car jacked a
man in Lowell telling his victim I
just got away with killing a F*ing cop if
you dont do what I say I will kill
you too. Rodriguez served eight
months in prison for that crime. The last
I heard he was still living in Lowell and
according to our sources his former
girlfriend, Doris Ortiz still lives in
the city of Lawrence.
A Hero Remembered
In May of 1991, Lawrence
Police Officer Thomas Duggan, Sr. was
honored in our nations capital at a
ceremony for Police Officers killed in
the line of duty. His name is now
permanently etched on panel 36W of the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial
on Judiciary Square in Washington D.C.
Every year in May, police officers who
had been killed the year before are
honored at a candle light ceremony and
the names of those officers are added to
the national monument.
The memorial was built entirely with
private money after Congress deeded the
land for national monument to our nations
peace keepers who made the ultimate
sacrifice.
In Lawrence, the men and women who served
with my father also erected a memorial to
commemorate the service and sacrifice of
both Officers Tom Duggan Sr. and Peter
Manning, the only two police officers to
lose their lives protecting the people of
Lawrence.
Former Lawrence Mayor Mike Sullivan approved the
naming of a street for both officers,
Duggan Way and Manning Way, the two
streets surrounding the Lawrence Police
Memorial in Saint Marys Cemetery on
Tower Hill.
Officer Duggans name also appears
on the Massachusetts Police Memorial in
Boston.
He is survived by his daughters, Becky,
Kelley, Melissa, and one son. He is also
survived by a sister, Dotti Incropera, a
brother-in-law, former Lieutenant Frank
Incropera (who was his shift commander at
the time of his death), and five
grandchildren.
On this, the 20th anniversary of his
tragic death, and the senseless
incompetence of our criminal justice
system which set his killers singing and
dancing out of a courtroom, it is
important for the community to remember
how he died. But far more important is
remembering how he lived. A father, a
brother, a husband, a grandfather, a man
who was always there to answer the call
when someones life was in danger.
Even today, thinking about how he took
such precautions to back up into a vacant
lot to make sure he was in a position to
fire his weapon without harming an
innocent bystander, instead of just
taking out his attackers as they advanced
on him is a glaring example of how he
cared for other people and always thought
of others before himself.
He wasnt perfect. Nobody is. But he
walked the walk every singe day of his
life. He didnt leave the hard work
for others and he was always the first
guy in the door when someone called for
help.
A piece of our safety and security died
that day on March 16th 1990 when his life
slowly slipped away forever. And a piece
of me died when the people who killed him
were set free as if his life had meant
nothing. But his memory and the cause he
took on every single day, protecting
others, live on in the men and women who
continue to put on a badge and a gun and
carry on without him.
Rest in Peace dad. You are not, and will
not be forgotten.
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Tom Duggan is the President of The Valley
Patriot, Inc. A former Lawrence School
Committeeman, the former political
director for Mass Citizens Alliance and
hosts the Paying Attention! radio program
at WCAP, 980 AM, every Saturday morning
from 10a.m - 1PM. You can email him at valleypatriot@aol.com
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All
pictures and written material are (C)
Copyright, Valley Patriot, Inc., 2010
all rights reserved, Funeral photo by
STAR, used with permission
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