Police Log

Beauregard found guilty of girlfriend’s murder

A woman with a last known address in town has been convicted of murder.

The office of Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin announced the verdict in the case of Sendra Beauregard, 43, with a last known address of 330 Simmonsville Ave. She was charged in the death 50-year-old Pamela Donahue, with whom she was in a relationship.

The Providence Superior Court jury spent three days deliberating following a six-day trial, according to Kilmartin’s statement, and Beauregard was also found guilty of discharding a firearm during a crime of violence, resulting in death.

During the trial, Walter Woodyatt testified that he, Beauregard and Donahue were hanging out at the Providence apartment he shared with Donahue. At one point, Woodyatt testified, Beauregard gave him $40 to purchase cigarettes and soda at a nearby convenience store. He testified that as he exited the store, he saw Beauregard driving away from the area. Upon returning to the apartment, he found Donahue unresponsive.

It was initially thought Donahue had overdosed, but emergency responders found a small gunshot wound to her upper chest. She was transported to Rhode Island Hospital, where she was pronounced deceased.

According to Kilmartin’s statement, a Providence police search of phone records “found numerous hostile and threatening text messages” send by Beauregard to Donahue in the days leading up to the killing. Police also located a spent shell casing on the floor of Beauregard’s car, and a .38 Derringer pistol was found in a wooded area in Scituate. An expert testified that the casing and the gun matched, as did the bullet recovered from the victim.

Sentencing has yet to be scheduled. Beauregard remains held at the ACI, where she has been held since her arrest.

Man arrested on DUI charge

Sgt. Stephen R. Altomari reports being on patrol shortly after 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 21 when he observed a vehicle execute a left turn from Winsor Avenue onto Greenville Avenue erratically and at a high rate of speed, nearly striking a curb. The vehicle overcorrected a crossed the double yellow line before swerving back into the correct lane, he reports.

Altomari activated his lights, and reports the vehicle initially sped up to approximately 45 mph in a 25 mph zone before slowing to 5 mph. It finally stopped after roughly a quarter-mile.

Altomari reports he “detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage” on the operator’s breath, and “observed him to have slurred speech, poor coordination, and difficulty focusing on my questions and directions.” He notes that he had drawn his service weapon upon approach to the vehicle because of the operator’s initial refusal to stop, although the driver was secured in the rear of his cruiser without incident pending the arrival of backup.

Altomari reports the driver consented to field sobriety testing, which he failed. The driver was placed under arrest, and a search of the vehicle revealed partially filled bottled of vodka and whisky, along with an empty beer can. The driver was transported to Johnston headquarters, where he reportedly refused to take a chemical breath test.

Bradley E. Bellem, 50, of 22 Magnum Court, Apt. 22, in Smithfield, is charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol (first offense), refusal to submit to a chemical test, and driving after denial, suspension, or revocation of a license. He was held as a probation violator, and bail was set at $1,000 personal recognizance on the new charges.

Woman charged with using fraudulent check

Patrolman Adam M. Parkinson reports responding to a business for a complaint of a fraudulent check on Oct. 27.

The owner of the business told the patrolman a woman had used a check from Webster Bank to pay for repairs to a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee totaling $2,662.79. Several days later, the owner said, the check was returned due to insufficient funds.

The owner told Parkinson he contacted the woman by phone, in person, and through an attorney, and she repeatedly refused to make restitution. He told the patrolman he wished to pursue a criminal complaint.

An arrest warrant was issued, and on Nov. 18, Detective Thomas M. Dwyer reports responding along with Detective John DeAngelis to a home on Elton Circle in Cranston and taking the suspect into custody.

Vanessa Theodore, 33, of 58 Elton Circle in Cranston, is charged with use of fraudulent checks (over $1,500). She was arraigned Nov. 19 and released on $10,000 personal recognizance bail, with a January court date.