Great White's Manager Responsible for Detonating 2003 R.I. Nightclub Fire Will Be Up for Parole

Great White

Daniel Biechele, the former manager of Great White, will be up for parole next month after serving sixteen months of his four-year prison sentence.

Biechele pleaded guilty last year to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter related to the February 20, 2003 disaster at the Station, the Rhode Island nightclub that erupted into flames after Biechele illegally detonated pyrotechnics accompanying the band’s show.

According to the chairwoman of the parole board, a four-member panel will meet with Biechele at the Rhode Island prison he is currently housed in and victims’ families will have a separate hearing on September 5. Station co-owners owners Michael and Jeff Derderian — the pair responsible for installing flammable foam in the club — were sentenced to a four-year term and a suspended sentence with community service and probation, respectively, last year.

In addition, lawyers representing the fire’s victims want Biechele to speak about what happened that night in a civil lawsuit. During the time of his criminal trial, a judge ordered that Biechele did not have to undergo questioning under oath in the civil suit for fear he might incriminate himself.

Now the victims’ attorneys are seeking to determine whether members of Great White were telling the truth when they said they weren’t involved in the decision to use the pyrotechnics.