Accomplice Pleads Guilty in Main Murder

A Massachusetts woman admitted her involvement in the robbery and murder of a man at a Woonsocket bank today in US District Court in Providence.

Kelley M. Lajoie, 33, of Chicopee pled guilty for her participation in the September 2010 crime in which Shell Gas Station manager David D. Main, 49 was robbed and murdered while trying to make a deposit at on Diamond Hill Road. Main was followed as he drove from the gas station to a nearby bank, then chased on foot, robbed and shot to death as he attempted to enter the bank.

Lajoie pled guilty to one count each of Hobbs Act conspiracy; aiding and abetting a Hobbs Act robbery; and use of a firearm during a federal crime of violence. Jason W. Pleau, 34, of Providence, R.I., and Jose A. Santiago, 34, also of Chicopee, co-defendants in this matter, are charged with the same crimes. Their cases are pending in federal district court.

Lajoie admitted that on Sept. 20, shortly after 7:30 a.m., she, Pleau and Santiago entered the gas station’s convenience store and purchased some items, using the opportunity to identify Main as the manager and find his car which was parked outside the store.

Appearing before U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith, Lajoie said that she protested her co-defendants’ demands that she participate in the robbery as a lookout, but ultimately gave in and a plan was formulated. The three did a dry run of the robbery and planned escape in whcih Lajoie's role was to park across from the gas station and to alert Pleau when Main left the gas station to travel to the bank.

After the dry run, she drove Pleau to an area near the back of the bank and dropped him off. At the same time, Santiago waited in a nearby cul-de-sac in a white box van to be used by Pleau and Santiago to flee after the robbery.  Lajoie was to reunite with Pleau and Santiago at an apartment in Providence after the robbery.

Lajoie told the court that after having gone into the gas station at 10:43 a.m. to use a bathroom, she returned to her car and waited for Mr. Main to leave the gas station to make the bank deposit. Lajoie admitted that at 11:08 a.m. she called Jason Pleau and reported that she was witnessing Mr. Main leaving the gas station and heading to the bank. She followed him the short distance to the bank and watched as he pulled into the parking lot. Lajoie then departed the area and headed to Providence. At 11:10 a.m., Pleau allegedly chased, shot and robbed Main of a deposit bag containing $12, 542 in cash as he tried to enter the bank.

Lajoie admitted meeting up with her co-defendants later in the day where they spoke about the robbery and shooting, and split the proceeds of the robbery. Lajoie admitted that she and Santiago shared approximately $6,500.

Lajoie’s guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; Woonsocket Police Chief Thomas S. Carey; Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adi Goldstein and William J. Ferland.

The matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Woonsocket Police and Rhode Island State Police, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Rhode Island National Guard.