Bail for suspect in Sept. slaying set at $25,000; Man died after fight in Uxbridge.

Byline: Gary V. Murray

WORCESTER - Bail of $25,000 cash was set yesterday for a Connecticut man charged with murdering another man in a fight outside a bar in Uxbridge.

Randy Rondeau, 43, is awaiting trial in Worcester Superior Court on a murder charge in the death of 42-year-old Nicholas A. Luciano of Northbridge after a Sept. 3 altercation in the parking lot of Kapi's Pub on North Main Street in Uxbridge. Mr. Luciano died Oct. 3 at UMass Memorial Medical Center - University Campus.

Initially charged in Uxbridge District Court, Mr. Rondeau, of the North Grosvenordale section of Thompson, was arraigned Jan. 17 in Worcester Superior Court after being indicted Dec. 15 by a Worcester County grand jury. Mr. Rondeau entered a plea of not guilty.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas E. Landry asked that Mr. Rondeau be held without bail while awaiting trial. Mr. Rondeau's lawyer, James J. Gribouski asked that bail be set at $25,000 cash, the amount posted by his client's family when Mr. Rondeau was facing an aggravated assault and battery charge in the Uxbridge court.

He was ordered held without bail in the district court after Mr. Luciano died and the charge was upgraded to murder.

Judge John S. McCann continued the bail hearing until yesterday after asking the lawyers for more information about the case, including police reports. Mr. Rondeau remained in custody without bail.

Judge McCann set bail of $25,000 cash yesterday and ordered that Mr. Rondeau be monitored with a GPS device while the case is pending. He did so after making findings based on the contents of documents provided him by the lawyers and a review of Mr. Rondeau's criminal record.

The bail order was stayed until Tuesday, when a GPS monitoring device will become available.

The judge found that Mr. Rondeau and several family members were at Kapi's on the night of Sept. 3 and that Mr. Luciano and a cousin arrived later and socialized with the group. Mr. Luciano's fiancee was the best friend of Mr. Rondeau's wife, Lori Rondeau, according to a brief filed by Mr. Gribouski in support of his bail request.

At some point during the evening, Mr. Luciano and a niece of Mr. Rondeau got into a disagreement and words were exchanged, according to the judge's findings. The evidence suggested that Mr. Luciano was intoxicated when he left the bar about 11 p.m. and that he uttered profanities in reference to someone when he passed by Mr. Rondeau and others who had gone outside to smoke, the judge found.

Mr. Rondeau and Mr. Luciano "had words" in the parking lot after Mr. Rondeau was told that Mr. Luciano's comments were in reference to his niece, according to the judge's findings. Judge McCann said the evidence indicated Mr. Luciano was in a "boxing stance" when the two men confronted one another in the parking lot and that Mr. Rondeau punched Mr. Luciano once in the face, causing Mr. Luciano to strike his head on either the ground or a Jersey barrier.

"There is a question of whether the deceased was then kicked while on the ground, which the defendant denies," Mr. Gribouski said in his brief.

Mr. Luciano's cousin, who was from Florida and apparently not familiar with the area, first drove the injured Mr. Luciano to the old St. Vincent Hospital, then took him to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, according to Judge McCann. The judge said there was no evidence that any weapons were used in the altercation or that there had been any problems between Mr. Rondeau and Mr. Luciano inside the bar.

While Mr. Rondeau had 16 entries on his criminal record, he had had no involvement with the courts since 1999, according to the judge.

Mr. Landry said Mr. Gribouski's brief, which was accompanied by 30 letters of support from friends and family members, "certainly paints a rosy picture of Mr. Rondeau's background." The prosecutor, who earlier said a witness told police Mr. Rondeau threatened to kill Mr. Luciano before the altercation, urged the court to consider Mr. Rondeau's criminal record and hold him without bail.

Mr. Gribouski told Judge McCann his client would be staying with his mother in Sutton upon his release from custody Tuesday. Mr. Rondeau's case has been continued to Feb. 15.