Episode 46: The 1991 Burger King Shooting
48-year-old Robert Harnois
21-year-old Tammy Petrin
The morning of July 30th, 1991 started with a frantic call to the Woonsocket, Rhode Island Police Department. Officers were sent to a local Burger King, where a manager walked in to discover two of his employees lying in pools of blood, both shot execution style. 21-year-old Tammy Petrin died on the way to the hospital, while 24-year-old overnight custodian Jenner Villeda was dead upon arrival. Confused and concerned, police immediately began to look into why this happened.
When the background of Villeda checked out, police focused on Petrin, and if there was any motive for her murder. Her brother quickly came forward and pointed his finger at one man- Ronald Harnois. Petrin had married Harnois in 1989, which normally would not be a problem, except that he was still legally married to another woman. Harnois married a woman named Joanne in 1983, and they separated when she discovered his affair and “marriage” with Petrin.
In order to avoid legal fees, Harnois and Petrin plotted for Joanne’s death. He attached six pipe bombs to the bottom of her car, hoping to set off several explosions and kill her. When the plan did not pan out as they had hoped and Joanne walked away unscathed, Harnois and Petrin were arrested. In exchange for her testimony, Petrin had her charges dropped and was released on bail.
Harnois, waiting in jail on charges of attempted murder, decided that the only way to get himself out of jail was to get rid of the star witness- Tammy Petrin. After several failed attempts to get a hitman, Harnois managed to find someone to carry out the deed. A man named Steve Wilson was hired as the hitman, and he killed both Tammy Petrin and Jenner Villeda in cold blood on that early July morning. Before he could be convicted, Wilson died of a drug overdose. Harnois was convicted of the initial attempted murder charge, as well as additional murder and aiding and abetting charges.
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usarestaurants.info
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