Hearing held for Paltrineri

     The case against former Zorn Dining Commons and Sodexo employee, Paul Paltrineri, is mounting in Keene courts.

    Former general manager of dining services at Keene State College, Paul Paltrineri, is still in police custody for his involvement in a stabbing incident on Sept. 23. Paltrineri was also the adviser for the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority at KSC.

    Paltrineri attended an evidence hearing on Sept. 30 at Keene District Court, according to The Keene Sentinel. At the hearing a civilian investigator from the Swanzey Police Dept., Robert Perrot, said Paltrineri stabbed his estranged wife's boyfriend, William Love, with a butcher knife after threatening the couple in their apartment located in Swanzey.

    Perrot said Paltrineri carried a butcher knife and two black bags into the apartment, containing a hammer, screwdriver, rope, telephone cords, duct tape, a camera and “sex toys.” Prosecutors argued that the bags may indicate the act was planned ahead of time. Court documents said Paltrineri saw Love's car in the driveway of the apartment before returning to his home. Paltrineri left his two children in the care of a neighbor before returning to the apartment with the items.

    According to The Keene Sentinel, police arrived at the apartment to find Love bleeding in the hallway of the apartment. Paltrineri's wife was holding a butcher's knife and had bruises and cuts on her arm. Paltrineri also had a cut on his hand.

    “He got cut, she got cut, I don't know what happened,” Paltrineri said to police when they arrived at the scene, according to an affidavit from Swanzey police Capt. Thomas R. DeAngelis.

    The Keene Sentinel reported that the apartment in Swanzey was shared by Paltrineri and his wife. Perrot said the couple had a living arrangement, involving switching off the apartment every week, while the other spent time with their two children in their house in Keene. Perrot was the only witness to take the stand at the hearing. Paltrineri's wife filed a request for a restraining order one day after the incident.

    The Keene Sentinel described the petition as detailing “a pattern of verbal abuse” from Paltrineri. Paltrineri is currently in police custody with a $500,000 bail at Chesire County Jail. The Keene Sentinel also reported that he agreed to suspend visitation rights with his two children.

    Paltrineri faces charges of first-degree assault and two counts of criminal threatening. He faces a possible sentence of 15 years in prison if convicted. In an e-mail sent to the campus on Sept. 25, Vice-President of Student Affairs Andy Robinson alerted students to the incident.

    “The college has valued Mr. Paltrineri's service to our community and is saddened by this incident,” Robinson said in his e-mail.

    Earlier this year on Paltrineri's nomination Delta Phi Epsilon won KSC’s Outstanding Greek Organization Award. The Keene Sentinel also reported Paltrineri won a national award for his “efforts to fight hunger.”

    Paltrineri also served as the chairman of the board of directors at The Community Kitchen in Keene. Dining Services at KSC had no comment on the incident. Operations Manager Bonnie Blanchard is assisting with general manager responsibilities at the current time.
            
Brian Anderson can be contacted at banderson@keeneequinox.com.