State wants to charge twins with murder


AYER -- A 19-year-old football star crawled under a sport utility vehicle in a failed attempt to escape the two 21-year-old twins who repeatedly punched and kicked him, then left him there, dying in a pool of blood, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
"The one time he was able to get up, there was a direct kick to the stomach," Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall said during an arraignment hearing at Ayer District Court.
"He crawled under an SUV to get away from the defendants," she continued. - College Football -
Daniel and Peter McGuane of 18 Third St., are charged with manslaughter for allegedly beating Kelly Proctor, of 15 Hatch St., to death after a fireworks display at the town's Pirone Park Saturday night.
Proctor, who graduated from Nashoba Valley Technical High School, had watched the fireworks with his girlfriend and was on his way home when the fight began.
"They (Proctor and his girlfriend) decided to leave a few minutes early to avoid the rush," MacDougall said. - College Football -
The prosecutor said one of the twin brothers slapped a straw out of Proctor's mouth, which started the fight.
Neither the defense attorneys nor the prosecutors have stated what the men said to each other.
But MacDougall said Proctor and the McGuanes -- who played football on opposing teams in high school -- have had problems getting along in the past.
"It's apparent there is a history of some animosity," she said. - College Football -
MacDougall noted that the twins, who stand 6 feet 3 inches and 6 feet 4 inches tall, respectively, both weighing 200 pounds, ganged up on the 5-foot-7-inch, 140-pound Proctor.
The alleged attack lasted only 30 seconds, she said.
Proctor's girlfriend attempted to defend him by using her fingernails to claw at the two men, then called 911 when the twins fled.
Police were working nearby at the fireworks, and Officer Terence J. McSweeney arrived within minutes and found Proctor lying unconscious, breathing laboriously, according to court documents.
Rescue crews rushed Proctor to Nashoba Valley Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. - College Football -
The prosecutor said the twins beat Proctor so badly there were footprints on his head and torso, and the prints match the shoes worn by Peter McGuane.
MacDougall wants to charged the suspects with murder, not manslaughter.
Medical examiners are scheduled to perform an autopsy on Proctor's body, and MacDougall believes the results will support the more severe charge.
The courtroom was filled with Proctor's friends, family and neighbors.
A court officer had to warn the crowd to "keep your emotions in check" before the hearing began. Some of Proctor's supporters stared coldly at the tall, athletic-looking suspects, while several others sat with tears streaming down their faces.
The twins appeared in court wearing dress shirts, with their hands bound by handcuffs.
They each had short, neatly-cut hair. They showed no expression and did not speak as MacDougall stated the allegations.
Peter McGuane's attorney, Edward P. Ryan of Fitchburg, claimed Proctor started the fight by using the straw to spray his client with saliva.
"The victim spit in Peter's face," Ryan said. - College Football -
Ryan said Peter McGuane and Proctor then got into a "face-to-face confrontation of some sort," and Daniel only stepped in to aid his brother.
He said he has interviewed a nurse from Gardner who witnessed the incident, and she said all three men were fighting.
"Her statement is 'There was no stomping, there was no beating,'" Ryan said. "It was not a vicious attack."
Ryan said Peter McGuane has never been convicted of a crime during his adult life.
Daniel McGuane's attorney, Elliot Weinstein of Boston, did not say anything about his client's criminal history. - College Football -
MacDougall requested that District Court Judge Paul L. McGill order a dangerousness hearing in which both sides will be able to present witnesses.
McGill entered not guilty pleas on behalf of both men, and scheduled the dangerousness hearing for Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
He ordered the suspects held without bail until then.
Ryan said the twins, who are white, didn't attack Proctor because he's black.
"That is absolutely not true. There was no racial motive," he said.
Weinstein said Proctor started the fight.
"The deceased was the initial aggressor," he said. "The two brothers tried to prevent this situation from escalating. There is a lot of misinformation, there is a lot of anger ... Their first reaction was to defend themselves."
Several of Proctor's supporters who attended the hearing said they didn't believe attorneys' accusations that Proctor spit in Peter McGuane's face.
"That's not Kelly at all. He'd use words before he would do anything like that," Proctor's neighbor, Jill Lavallee, said while standing outside the courtroom.
Amy Lombardo, who also lives on the same street as Proctor's family, said Proctor was a role model who played sports with the local children. - College Football -
"I have two little boys that looked up to him. He taught my youngest to play football," Lombardo said.
Lavallee said Proctor had a long-standing rivalry with the twins.
"It goes all the way back to Pop Warner," Lavallee said. "It was kid stuff, you know. But it has been a long feud. We've never had to deal with anything like this. We don't know what the boys were thinking at the time."
Lombardo said Proctor's death has rocked this normally quiet town.
"I'm numb. I just can't believe that he's gone," she said. "It's not supposed to happen this way."
Mark Hardgraves, 19, went to Ayer High School -- the same high school the twins attended -- but said he didn't know the twins well because they are older than him.
Hardgraves said he was childhood friends with Proctor, even while they played football against each other in high school.
"He was very tough. He got up from everything, nothing could keep him off the field," Hardgraves said. - College Football -
John Arnold, 24, met Proctor in 1995 when Proctor befriended Arnold's younger brother, Ryan.
Arnold said the youth in the town are divided among economic lines, because the wealthy kids are popular, and lower-class kids get picked on.
Proctor's father, Jeffrey Paul Proctor, an army soldier, died in 1999 when he was struck by a car while crossing the John Fitch Highway in Fitchburg.
Arnold said Proctor worked two jobs to help support his mother, who has been having a hard time financially.
"They were really struggling," Arnold said.
The twins are from a prominent family in town.
"The McGuanes are known as the 'popular crowd,'" Arnold said. "People that are richer, they have the clothes, the shoes, all the equipment to play football. If you don't have that, then, you need to expect to be picked on."
The twins attended Fitchburg State College in fall 2002 and spring 2003, as well as fall 2003, according to FSC spokesperson Azure Collier.
They completed the fall 2003 semester, which was the first half of their sophomore year, but did not return in the spring, she said. - College Football -
They majored in exercise and sport science, according to Collier.
They both played on the school soccer team in fall 2002 and fall 2003, she said.
Both twins have tattoos, according to court documents. Daniel McGuane has a tattoo of the Virgin Mary and Peter McGuane has a Jesus tattoo.

J.J. Huggins