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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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quagmirething

quagmirething

I'm lost
June 2005

AUG 17, 2005 05:42 PM

Most people seem to be saying that it looks like what this person really needs is help, rather than a long prison term. So is it one law for "us" and one for the people we're not so fond of, let's call them "them"? Or a call for a justice system which more about trying to turn offenders back to a lawful path, ahead of "giving 'them' what they deserve"?

If this had been a pizza delivery guy instead it would still be perfectly possible that he just needs some sort of help.

FreakPirate

FreakPirate

Canada
November 2002

AUG 17, 2005 05:48 PM

Phoebus said:

Agreed. And I think that's as much as we can surmise until a court of law rules on his being fit to be tried for what he did.

[Edited on Aug 17, 2005 by Phoebus]



See. We can agree. We can get along!! biggrin

Lemonkid

Lemonkid

Canada
May 2003

AUG 17, 2005 05:50 PM

FreakPirate said:

Phoebus said:

Agreed. And I think that's as much as we can surmise until a court of law rules on his being fit to be tried for what he did.

[Edited on Aug 17, 2005 by Phoebus]



See. We can agree. We can get along!! biggrin



Until doomsday...

duh duh duh!!!!!!!!

Phoebus

Phoebus

Italy
OLD SKOOL

AUG 17, 2005 05:55 PM

FreakPirate said:
See. We can agree. We can get along!! biggrin


Uh... I mean, FUCK YOU!!! kiss

FridgeMagnet

FridgeMagnet

Chicago, IL
November 2004

AUG 17, 2005 09:26 PM

1) What was a 15 year old doing at a nightclub.

2) Next time you're leaving a bar in a residential area, think about this story and shut the fuck up.

3) Don't shoot shotguns into crowds of people.

4) I'm pretty sure it's a bad idea to let returning combat soldiers possess weapons in their homes.

5) If you disagree with 4 that's cool, but just accept the fact that there are gonna be some dead people as a result.

a548456

a548456

United Kingdom
OLD SKOOL

AUG 18, 2005 12:41 AM

FreakPirate said:
It certainly sounds like he went batshit and based on the general life of a marine that doesn't some as a huge shock. However, people's expectations of marines (as well as firefighters, cops, etc) are much higher than their expectations of everyday citizens (ie: pizza men). They're expected to perform in a certain manner and this guy certainly didn't. I think that's why the "marine of the year" was added to the headline. His actions are a rapid departure from the public's expectations of his behaviour.


Okay, you realize that the guy is probably mentally ill, that is good. Because that then answers your following comment:

FreakPirate said:
Especially when he's clearly not in any kind of war zone or armed confrontation.


If the guy is suffering from PTSD, the fact he was arguing with his wife, would've meant he was pretty stressed at the time. Then an unknown object comes flying through his window late at night.... Is it any wonder that he might have some kind of 'flashback' or snap back into his millitary trained 'fight' responce to the normal fight or flight reaction? For that split second, he probably thought he was in war zone.
You can't accept one scenario (him needing psychiatric help) without accepting the consequences (flashbacks etc) it would have on the other (him discharging a weapon towards someone that threw something through his window)

FreakPirate

FreakPirate

Canada
November 2002

AUG 18, 2005 07:17 AM

Spike said:

If the guy is suffering from PTSD, the fact he was arguing with his wife, would've meant he was pretty stressed at the time. Then an unknown object comes flying through his window late at night.... Is it any wonder that he might have some kind of 'flashback' or snap back into his millitary trained 'fight' responce to the normal fight or flight reaction? For that split second, he probably thought he was in war zone.
You can't accept one scenario (him needing psychiatric help) without accepting the consequences (flashbacks etc) it would have on the other (him discharging a weapon towards someone that threw something through his window)



If you go back to the post and read the sentence before that (which you cut out) you'll notice I said "assuming the best". So if he's sane and rational he should know that he's not in a war zone and that he shouldn't be shooting people. If he's nuts (which I've accepted may be possible) that changes things.

But thank you for quoting me out of context anyways.

a548456

a548456

United Kingdom
OLD SKOOL

AUG 19, 2005 01:56 AM

FreakPirate said:
If you go back to the post and read the sentence before that (which you cut out) you'll notice I said "assuming the best". So if he's sane and rational he should know that he's not in a war zone and that he shouldn't be shooting people. If he's nuts (which I've accepted may be possible) that changes things.

But thank you for quoting me out of context anyways.


Well, seeing as you did admit either scenario was a possibility in the previous post, there seemed no need to include that in the other comment I was replying too, sorry if you feel you were quoted out of context, that wasn't my intention, I just couldn't see the point in saying the same thing twice.
I don't think the guy is 'playing with his feces while wearing a frilly pink dress' insane, but definitely suffereing from PTSD, and as such, would probably appear to be able to function normally until something triggered an episode. I'm not saying what he did was right, but as Marines are trained to fight, not run, it's no surprize that the combination of his training and PTSD led to him acting the way he did when reacting to a situation that would likely trigger not only an attack, but evoke wartime reactions.
[Edit for spelling]

[Edited on Aug 19, 2005 by Spike]

FreakPirate

FreakPirate

Canada
November 2002

AUG 19, 2005 06:45 AM

Spike said:

Well, seeing as you did admit either scenario was a possibility in the previous post, there seemed no need to include that in the other comment I was replying too, sorry if you feel you were quoted out of context, that wasn't my intention, I just couldn't see the point in saying the same thing twice.
I don't think the guy is 'playing with his feces while wearing a frilly pink dress' insane, but definitely suffereing from PTSD, and as such, would probably appear to be able to function normally until something triggered an episode. I'm not saying what he did was right, but as Marines are trained to fight, not run, it's no surprize that the combination of his training and PTSD led to him acting the way he did when reacting to a situation that would likely trigger not only an attack, but evoke wartime reactions.



Yes it's possible the guy is suffering from PTSD. If that's the case, he may have thought he was justified in firing at the crowd. But if he isn't, which is also quite possible, his training as a Marine should dictate that he has no business unloading a shotgun at strangers in the night.

I don't really know why we're arguing since we both seem to agree that the guy may have a couple bolts loose. We're just waiting for proof.

a548456

a548456

United Kingdom
OLD SKOOL

AUG 19, 2005 08:06 AM

FreakPirate said:
I don't really know why we're arguing since we both seem to agree that the guy may have a couple bolts loose. We're just waiting for proof.


That's a very good point... It'll be interesting to see what the answer is... If it's alcohol-fueled stress from arguing with his wife, then the charges should be severe (although I still don't think it should be classed as attempted murder... Seeing as he was a trained marine, if he'd meant to kill someone, he would have done) I think assualt with a deadly weapon is a more appropriate charge. If it's a case of PTSD then maybe be more lenient on a custodial sentence. It'll be interesting to see the outcome.

Bastardo

Bastardo

Boston, MA
January 2005

AUG 19, 2005 08:22 AM

FridgeMagnet said:
1) What was a 15 year old doing at a nightclub.


It's Lawerence man, the feel good city of the north shore!


2) Next time you're leaving a bar in a residential area, think about this story and shut the fuck up.


Yes. Especially by my house you fucking fucks.


3) Don't shoot shotguns into crowds of people.


This is just good policy


[Edited on Aug 19, 2005 by TheBastard]

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