News > Politics > "Marine of the Year" Charged With Attempted Murder

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MONDAY AUGUST 15 2005 7:00 PM

"Marine of the Year" Charged With Attempted Murder

Submitted by MissTyrios

Edited by MissTyrios

Last month, Sgt. Daniel Cotnoir was named "Marine of the Year" for his service in Iraq. But today, he faced charges of attempted murder after opening fire on a nightclub crowd outside his apartment in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Early Saturday morning, police said, he pointed a 12-gauge shotgun out the window of his second-floor apartment and fired a single shot at a noisy crowd leaving nearby nightclubs. Lissette Cumba, 15, and Kelvin Castro, 20, were both struck in the leg by fragments. They were treated at local hospitals and released.

Cotnoir, a married father of two daughters, told police he feared for the safety of his family after someone threw an empty juice bottle through his bedroom window.

Cotnoir pled not guilty, saying publicly that his job as a mortician preparing the bodies of dead U.S. soldiers took a severe psychological toll on him during his 10 months in Iraq. He claims he meant to only fire a warning shot.

[Victim Lissette] Cumba's uncle, James Rodriquez, was visibly angry after Cotnoir's arraignment.

"She's been crying all night," he said of his niece. "If this man is sick, why was he holding weapons in his house?"

James Stokes, a retired minister who went to school with Cotnoir's father, said he does not believe Daniel Cotnoir was trying to kill anyone.

"This man is a wonderful person," he said. "Something might have happened when he came back from Iraq. ... He's out there picking up body parts," he said.

Cotnoir will undergo psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. He is charged with two counts of armed assault with intent to murder, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and one count of discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling.

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Comments

Volkov

San Antonio, TX

OLD SKOOL

AUG 15, 2005 10:05 PM

I didn't know it was missing from the original article that you had come across. so the dig, while intended, was erroneous because i didn't know that the article failed to mention it.

so I might instead wonder why that Boston paper edited it out.

PaulNikon

Melbourne, FL

February 2003

AUG 15, 2005 10:11 PM

Thistle said:

PaulNikon said:
To think you can go anywhere in a big city and not get shot at is naive.

Lots of people walk around in big cities every single day magically not getting shot. Where exactly are you from that you don't realize this?

I'm from a place where a lot of people own guns. People don't throw shit through a window when asked to keep quiet.

Another thought came to mind. How many people are killed or injured due to drunks every year. How many are shot and killed or injured. Maybe dude saved someone from getting killed by wounding a drunk.

misstyrios

NEWSWIRE

Allston, MA

AUG 15, 2005 10:13 PM

Volkov said:
I didn't know it was missing from the original article that you had come across. so the dig, while intended, was erroneous because i didn't know that the article failed to mention it.

so I might instead wonder why that Boston paper edited it out.

There's a bug in the link right now. I don't know why it's working in the News page version but not in the Boards version.

And my guess is that the Globe version just isn't as complete as some of the other articles that might be out now. Stories change by the minute in this age of the "interweb" and I doubt it was an intentional ommission. However, it is a paper that I trust and read daily, so I tend to link to it a lot. Again, though, please don't dig at me for things like that. I'm not a journalist, I'm an editor that re-writes and re-reports stories that actual journalists publish.

Thistle

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

AUG 15, 2005 10:14 PM

PaulNikon said:

Thistle said:

PaulNikon said:
To think you can go anywhere in a big city and not get shot at is naive.

Lots of people walk around in big cities every single day magically not getting shot. Where exactly are you from that you don't realize this?

You've gotta be fucking kidding me.

GramNegative

I'm lost

October 2004

AUG 15, 2005 10:15 PM

Volkov said:

GramNegative said:

Volkov said:
I was going off the second story window makes for about 15 feet up at least and out the window across a street. figure...100 feet for across the street to that parking lot. that's out of lethal range given a typical spread pattern.

Look, there are clearly lots of extenuating circumstances to be taken into account by the judge. So hopefully there is no manditory minimum sentance of 20 years involved here.

But if a crack dealer took a 100 foot shotgun shot at a cop, I don't think I'd hear you talking about typical spread patterns.

actually if he specifically targeted that cop. I still would. as in "what a moron. he's trying to kill a cop with a shotgun at that range?"

unless they can prove that was actually aiming at a particular person to kill what you have is a guy firing in the direction of a crowd of people. and given that he hit only two people out of however many would indicate that he wasn't aiming center mass...or maybe he's just a shitty shot.

the guy committed a crime. a serious one. I'm just saying I don't see where the grounds for attempted murder come into play.

please do not presume to know my mind on completly unrelated hypothetical events and extrapolate them to my arguments on this one, thanks.

Well really, I wasn't. I used that hypothetical to criticize your contention that the effective range of the weapon should determine if attempted murder charges are pursued.

GramNegative

I'm lost

October 2004

AUG 15, 2005 10:18 PM

Thistle said:

PaulNikon said:

Thistle said:

PaulNikon said:
To think you can go anywhere in a big city and not get shot at is naive.

Lots of people walk around in big cities every single day magically not getting shot. Where exactly are you from that you don't realize this?

You've gotta be fucking kidding me.

No, really. Mothers against drunk driving: "wing a drunk, save a child"

robosagogo

State College, PA

September 2004

AUG 15, 2005 10:19 PM

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/08/15/war_took_toll_on_decorated_marine_accused_of_op%20ening_fire_on_noisy_crowd/

There's an accidental space where the bolded %20 is in the first link provided in the first post.

misstyrios

NEWSWIRE

Allston, MA

AUG 15, 2005 10:20 PM

robosagogo said:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/08/15/war_took_toll_on_decorated_marine_accused_of_op%20ening_fire_on_noisy_crowd/

There's an accidental space where the bolded %20 is in the first link provided in the first post.

Yes, but when I edit it, the same things happens - the link works fine in the News page, but that weird "%20" pops up in the Boards version. No idea what's going on, but I've edited my link about 12 times now and it still happens.

SirPsychoSexy

Ridgewood, NJ

January 2004

AUG 15, 2005 10:23 PM

Thistle said:

PaulNikon said:

Thistle said:

PaulNikon said:
To think you can go anywhere in a big city and not get shot at is naive.

Lots of people walk around in big cities every single day magically not getting shot. Where exactly are you from that you don't realize this?

You've gotta be fucking kidding me.

Yeah that just crossed the line from simply distrusting your fellow man..

...to that creepy dude with the shotgun at the end of Easy Rider.

elicit77

USA

October 2003

AUG 15, 2005 10:24 PM

SHHH!!! Be QUIET!!! I"m trying to sleep!! You all are making too much noise!! Don't make me get my shotgun!!!