In front of Oddo Printshop, the Torrington business that financed the attempted escape of mass murderer Brian Nichols according the Associated Press in 2008 is a hot dog stand. On that hot dog stand is a picture of me and an article by the Torrington Register Citizen which correctly states that I was arrested due to statements made by Lisa Meneguzzo who runs the Torrington business, the same Lisa Meneguzzo whose sanity was questioned by news analysts nationwide.
We all know intellectually that a newspaper article does not tell a complete story. In this case the newspaper made no pretense of trying. Not the Register Citizen nor the police nor anyone else (except the Waterbury Republican) ever asked me what happened, though they ran my picture and Lisa Meneguzzo’s version of events. For links to news stories, pictures of Lisa Meneguzzo and support for all I say visit my blog site www.againstgoliath.com
Many Torringtonians have no idea the colorful personalities we have in our little town. Generally people don’t know or care what is printed in the newspapers or plastered on hot dog stands. We don’t read who gets arrested, and if we happen to hear about something in the paper we almost certainly don’t read past the charges. And if someone’s name is cleared in a jury trial or by judge’s ruling those events won’t appear in the Register Citizen.
But the arrests are. And sometimes the police and the newspaper want to malign and shock the community and put in a picture of those arrested. But when a Torrington native tries to break a man out of prison then wins immunity from prosecution by testifying, for example, that she smuggled a telephone with naked pictures of herself into prison, as reported by WSBTV, that story escapes the Register Citizen. When the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that she bribed prison guards with money earned in her Torrington business and traveled to visit the rapist and murderer in prison at least seven times our local news is silent.
Newspapers can be laminated and displayed on hot dog stands in all their inaccuracy. I have all the documents and explanations of my actions on this web site and honestly don’t know what I could have done to avoid this situation. I don’t expect people to read all the details even though I find the situations here are extraordinary and handled very badly by the police and the Register Citizen newspaper. As Officer B. Johnson of the Torrington Police Department suggested, I should be the bigger man.
Brian Nichols killed a Judge, an FBI agent, a Sheriff Deputy, a court reporter and a bystander in his escape from his rape trial in Georgia. Lisa Meneguzzo must have decided that was a reason to befriend him and become his “girlfriend” which is what happened according to several news sources. But when television news sources were covering Meneguzzo’s testimony that she did not remember hours of phone conversations recorded by the FBI detailing the outside of the prison we heard nothing from our local news.
The police either have no coherent policy or they were consciously trying to punish me for being accused of wrongdoing by Lisa Meneguzzo, the cop killer’s girlfriend according to Fox News. Only a judge and jury care at all about the facts or the background, or the stupid situation. I believe Officer B. Johnson has no idea how his own department works in cases like mine. But if he does know he also is trying himself to be the bigger man hoping someday he will have his chance to change policy. I so hope this is what will happen.
In the mean time I need to decide if Torrington deserves to know more about what the Associated Press reported about our native daughter: “Nichols’ girlfriend, Lisa Meneguzzo, played a key role in the plot, coming up with cash, writing letters to Nichols and doing research for him”. Does Torrington benefit by knowing more about Oddo Printshop? Should we ask to hear the story of the soft side of mass murderer Brian Nichols from the woman who accused me? Does anyone benefit by any of this?
