Page 56 of The First Gentleman

CHAPTER 52

P artial transcript of interview of HERBERT LUCIENNE by Detective Sergeant MARIE GAGNON, New Hampshire State Police, Major Crimes Unit

GAGNON: I want to again confirm that you’ve been read your Miranda rights, that you have not requested an attorney, and that you are aware that we are recording this conversation.

LUCIENNE: Yeah, I want to get this shit over as soon as possible.

GAGNON: Good. So do I.

Please state your full name and address.

LUCIENNE: Herbert Lucienne, fifteen Mast Lane, apartment four, Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.

GAGNON: And your age?

LUCIENNE: Forty-three.

GAGNON: What is your current employment status, Mr. Lucienne?

LUCIENNE: I’m on disability from a construction accident three years back.

Cheapskate cousin of mine owns the building I live in, and basically, I got a room, a bed, a minifridge, and a hot plate.

GAGNON: According to state records, Mr. Lucienne, you’ve supplemented your disability income by other means.

Including burglary, drug peddling, and shoplifting.

[ Pause in audio ]

LUCIENNE: Sorry, was that a question?

GAGNON: My question is this, Mr. Lucienne.

Can you explain to me how you came to be driving a vehicle with skeletal remains in the trunk?

LUCIENNE: I have no idea.

It’s not my car.

GAGNON: The vehicle is registered to Ken MacDonald of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Do you know Mr. MacDonald?

LUCIENNE: No, I don’t.

I don’t know who that is.

GAGNON: If you don’t know Mr. MacDonald, why were you driving his car?

[ Pause in audio ]

LUCIENNE: Look, this is what happened, God’s honest truth: Three days ago, I found an envelope under my door.

Note inside said if I wanted to make five hundred bucks, go to the far end of the Walmart parking lot and pick up a red Sentra.

It gave me the plate number and time—last night at eleven forty-five.

GAGNON: And you didn’t question why you were being asked to undertake this task?

LUCIENNE: Shit, no. The envelope had five one-hundred-dollar bills, but they were, like, cut in half.

No good by themselves.

The note said that taped inside the right front fender there’d be another envelope with the car keys and directions and a hundred bucks for expenses.

GAGNON: If you were making so much money for such a simple job, why would you risk it by drinking before you started your trip?

[ Pause in audio ]

GAGNON: Mr. Lucienne?

LUCIENNE: Because I was being stupid, that’s why.

I had a couple of cold ones before I left.

GAGNON: How many is a couple, Mr. Lucienne?

Your blood alcohol level was point one six.

LUCIENNE: Maybe more than a couple.

I guess I was celebrating in advance.

[ Pause in audio ]

GAGNON: And where were you taking the car?

LUCIENNE: Up to a cottage on Lake Marie, near Meredith.

GAGNON: And then what were you going to do?

LUCIENNE: I was supposed to drop the car off and walk to a local motel about a mile away.

Come back the next morning to get the other half of the cut-up hundred-dollar bills.

Then drive the car back to where I found it.

GAGNON: And you never saw or spoke to anybody about this little mission?

No phone calls? No texts?

No secret meetings?

LUCIENNE: Nope.

GAGNON: Do you know who gave you the money and instructions?

LUCIENNE: Nope.

GAGNON: Were you aware of the contents of the trunk?

LUCIENNE: No! Why would I look?

Shit, if I’d known there was a bag of bones back there, I wouldn’t have touched that car.

No way.

GAGNON: Mr. Lucienne, you’re being charged with aggravated DUI, which carries a two-month jail sentence.

You’re also going to be charged with New Hampshire statute six forty-four colon seven, abuse of a corpse.

Do you have anything else to tell me?

LUCIENNE: Hell yes! Look.

I got a record. Not proud of it.

And I drink sometimes.

I admit that. But I’m no grave robber!

[ End of partial transcript ]