'Thrill' killer remains behind bars for now

CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) – The Rhode Island Parole Board has decided to keep convicted "Thrill Kill" murderer Alfred Brissette behind bars for now and revisit his case again in January.

The board met with Alfred Brissette Monday at the medium security building on the campus of the Adult Correctional Institution, according to parole board administrator Matthew Degnan.

"Following the Parole Board’s June, 2012 decision regarding inmate Alfred Brissette, Jr., new information has emerged concerning Mr. Brissette's ability to satisfy the Board's release criteria at this time; this information was not available at the June, 2012 hearing," Degnan said in a statement. "The Board agreed to gather additional in-depth information about Mr. Brissette’s parole plan, including, as required by law, documentation of the location of Mr. Brissette’s residence and availability of needed special services."

The board first voted in June to release Brissette from prison, then voted last month to set him free in December after serving 13 years of a 35 year sentence.

Target 12 first reported about Brissette’s pending release in November.

In 2004, Brissette pleaded no contest to murder charges for his role in the beating death of 38-year old Jeanette Descoteaux of Woonsocket.

Monday’s meeting was closed to the public and the parole board did not hear testimony from any family members or friends of Brissette’s victims at the meeting.

One of Descotueaux’s cousins said they weren’t aware of Brissette’s pending release until they learned about it from news reports. Linda Manory said she plans on testifying before the parole board if she is given the opportunity.

“First I would like to thank them for reviewing this again,” Manory said. “I just want them to please reconsider and I beg them not to let him out early for good behavior or to continue his education.”

Manory described her cousin as a “loving” woman who cared deeply for her elderly mother.

“We were all in shock,” Manory said recalling Descoteaux’s killing. “It was devastating for everybody especially for her mother who depended on her so much.”

While the family was never contacted by the parole board regarding its initial decision to release Brissette, Manory said she doesn’t harbor any ill will because the family spread out after Descoteaux’s mother died.

“We probably weren’t on the list,” Manory said adding that they will now follow the case closely.

Learning of his pending release was shocking, she said.

“I was appalled. I was scared, because he killed a human being,” Manory said. “He plotted, to see what it would feel like.”

Court records reveal Brissette and his co-conspirator, Marc Girard, lured Descoteaux to the woods of Burrillville with a promise to supply her with cocaine.

According to court documents, Brissette and Girard "had conspired to kill and bury a random female victim" 18 months prior to the murder, even going so far as to purchase a shovel with the intent of digging a grave.

According to a graphic description of the crime, Girard left the vehicle to relieve himself when the three arrived at George Washington Park in Burrillville. Brissette then demanded Descoteaux have sex with him in exchange for cocaine.

"After that, Brissette reached into the back of the Blazer for a plastic bag containing a lug wrench and smashed it into Jeanette's head," according to court records. "Jeanette was stunned and asked Brissette what he was doing, to which he responded by again striking her head with the lug wrench."

Still naked, Descoteaux ran from her attackers through the woods, but the men eventually caught up and began beating her with a lug wrench and a shovel.

Court records say Girard confessed to police that he dealt the fatal blow: "I was just trying to put her out of her misery. I didn't want her laying out there for days still alive, bleeding."

Girard was sentenced to life behind bars and lost a bid for another trial.

Brissette was sentenced to 60 years with 35 to serve and was scheduled to be released in 2034, but he earned more than 1,600 days of "good time" credit, moving his release date up to 2028, according to the R.I. Department of Corrections.

“The good behavior should have started before he killed someone,” Manory said. “[Before] he had that person pleading with her last breath to go home to her mother.”

Tim White ( twhite@wpri.com ) is the Target 12 investigative reporter for WPRI 12 and Fox Providence. Follow him on Twitter: @white_tim