Jury acquits city man in manslaughter trial

Alan Klemanchuck cleared of wrongdoing in 2014 death

WOONSOCKET – After an eyewitness recanted on the witness stand, A Superior Court jury on Thursday found a city man not guilty of manslaughter charges that stemmed from an incident outside a Fairmount barroom nearly four years ago.

Alan Klemanchuck, 62, was cleared of wrongdoing in the death of Robert Gordon after a trial that lasted three days in the Providence County courthouse.

Police arrested Klemanchuck after what investigators said was an altercation between the two men outside Charley’s Place, 158 First Ave., on April 18, 2014. Police produced an eyewitness who claimed Klemanchuck punched Gordon before he fell down and struck his head on the ground.

It was months before Klemanchuck was charged with manslaughter because Gordon survived for two days, passing away at Rhode Island Hospital on April 20. Initially he was charged with felonious domestic assault.

After reviewing the evidence, a Providence County grand jury returned a manslaughter indictment against Klemanchuck in December 2014. He had been free on personal recognizance.

During the trial, a key witness in the case – Paul Dumas, the man who claimed to have seen Klemanchuck punch Gordon – recanted, according to Klemanhuck and other sources who were in the courtroom.

The jury deliberated about two hours after receiving instructions from Associate Superior Court Justice William Carnes and closing arguments from state prosecutors and Klemanchuck’s lawyer, Asst. Public Defender Sarah Potter.

“I’m more than relieved,” Klemanchuck said in a phone interview Friday. “Now I just want to clear my name and put my credibility back out there again.”

Klemanchuck, of 422 East School St., said that he testified in his own defense during the trial, telling jurors the truth about what happened outside Charley’s in 2014.

Hours before Gordon fell and struck his head, he met up with Klemanchuck at another location and and asked him if he could have the keys to the house they shared. Klemanchuck said he was letting Gordon live in his house because he had nowhere else to go, but there was only one set of keys.

Klemanchuck said he gave Gordon the keys and the two parted ways. After a few hours, Klemanchuck said, he wanted to go home but he knew he wouldn’t be able to get into the house without the keys. He knew Gordon was over at Charley’s so he went there to get them from him.

Klemanchuck said he found Gordon inside the bar and asked him for the keys. When Gordon told him they were outside in the truck, Klemanchuck said he got a little angry with Gordon.

As the two men left the bar, Klemanchuck said he raised his voice a bit and scolded Gordon for leaving the keys in the truck.

At about the very moment the two were arguing, Gordon stepped off the sidewalk and fell, striking his head on the street.

“I never laid a hand on him,” said Klemanchuck.

Then why did Dumas say otherwise?

Dumas testified that he thought he might be implicated in a crime if he didn’t tell the police Klemanchuck was responsible for Gordon’s injuries, Klemanchuck said.

A physician from the Office of the State Medical Examiner testified that Gordon’s blood alcohol concentration at the time of his death was more than three times the limit for driving, which is .08.

Reached by phone, Potter said it was the policy of the Public Defender’s Office not to comment about cases outside the courtroom.