Big Dan's Rape Case

Suzanne: Warning. This episode may contain graphic and disturbing content listener discretion is advised.

June: Hi, y'all and welcome to crown with my coffee. I'm your fabulous hostess with the mostess June. 

S: And I'm Suzanne, we're gonna tell you some stories you've heard. 

J: Some you haven't.

S: And some you wish you hadn't 

J: All with a Texas twang. 

S: So, today I'm drinking water because I'm thirsty. No seriously though. 

J: Oh, I am. I got finished with my coffee and for some reason it made me really thirsty. So now I'm just trying to guzzle a bottle of water.

S: So, into today's episode, I wanted to note that even though you can do like a super quick little Google search and find the name of the victim in this case, I will not use her actual name. I'm gonna call her Maria. Even though her name was released to the public when the trial started, the judge has stated even as recently as 2009, that that is one of his biggest regrets. Ever. 

J: Good. Good for him for realizing it. Unfortunately, it's too late. 

S: He - that is true. Unfortunately, it is too late. But you know it, it happened and he owns up to it. He was like, you know, I regretted it instantly. And still he regrets it. So Maria was a 21 year old mother of two. She was living with her boyfriend and the father of her children in a neighborhood of New Bedford, Massachusetts. So New Bedford, Massachusetts had had a really large Portuguese and Portuguese American population. It's where they immigrated to and ended up in New Bedford, Massachusetts. On March 6 of 1983, Maria had a birthday party for one of her children. And after she put the kids to bed, she left to go buy cigarettes. Well, the two closest convenience stores to her house, they were already closed. It was kind of late at night. And so she went to the first place that she could to buy the cigarettes at, which happened to be Big Dan's Tavern. So others of note that were present in Big Dan's that night we're, I'm probably gonna butcher all of these names, and I apologize for that. But I'll do my best. Victor Raposo. He was 23 years old. He had moved to New Bedford when he was five years old. He was a handyman and had previous convictions in 1979, for assault with a dangerous weapon and assault with intent to commit murder in a gang fight.

J: Doesn’t sound like the best kind of guy.

S: Yeah, sounds a little rough around the edges for me. He also had a 1982 conviction for indecent exposure, which resulted in a $250 fine, which roughly translates to about $665 in today's money.

J: Not enough.

S: Agreed. There was also John Cordeiro. He was a 24 year old who had immigrated to the US 12 years previously. He was unemployed. Jose Medeiros was 23 years old, an unemployed landscape worker, and had previously been charged for drunk driving and driving to endanger. 

J: Hmm. 

S: And he was at a bar. Imagine that.

J: Yes.

S: And then there was Virgilio Medeiros. He was not related to Jose Medeiros. So just for the record, he and the drunk driver were not related. 

J: Okay.

S: He was an unemployed 24 year old boat builder. He was brought to the US with his by his parents at the age of nine. Funnily enough, he had some previous arrests, also for drunk driving and assault and battery. 

J: No. All these guys sound like total upstanding citizens. 

S: So there was also Daniel Silvia. He was a 27 year old factory worker who had resided in the US for six years at this point. And then last but not least, Joseph Vieira He was a 28 year old dairy farm worker. He was a former Portuguese soldier. And he had been in the US for less than five years. Maria is at the bar buying some cigarettes, and she sat down and had a drink with another woman that was at the bar while, while she was there; it was a waitress that was getting off work. They sat and had a drink together. The bartender claims that he served Maria three drinks. Maria says she only had one.

J: One, three, 15. Does that even really matter? No. 

S: I agree with you, however, the community later on, we'll get there. She's having a drink with this, this woman friend of hers, and she was they were watching a couple of guys that were shooting pool over in the corner. And she started towards the door to go home. She had her cigarettes, had her drink, she's ready to go home to her live in boyfriend and her children, call it a night. As she's walking to the door. She is grabbed from behind by a guy. Turns out it was Daniel Silvia. Joseph Vieira grabbed her feet. She fell to the floor and was dragged literally kicking and screaming across the floor to the pool table, where she was restrained and raped by multiple men.

J: Nobody else did anything?

S: Well, there, it wasn't a very busy night at the bar there. There weren't very many patrons there. The bartender did testify that, you know, he he was gonna leave and you know, get out from behind the bar and go to the office and get his phone and call the cops. But one of the guys previously mentioned wouldn't let him out from behind the bar. 

J: So all these all these guys, they're all friends that are there at the bar? 

S: I don't really know for sure if they were all you know, like good friends or just kind of acquaintances or just knew each other from the bar or what, but because they were all Portuguese immigrants, and this is a very densely Portuguese populated town. 

J: Right. 

S: I'm sure they knew each other. I don't know how close they were. I couldn't find that out. So Maria said that when the first man was done raping her, he grabbed her hair while the second man raped her. And she testified that she could hear yelling and laughing down near the end of the bar. She said her head was hanging off the edge of the pool table. She was screaming and pleading and begging. "And one man held my head and pulled my hair. The more I screamed, the harder he pulled." I just can't imagine. 

J: Me, neither. 

S: The bartender said that he saw four men rape and sodomize Maria, while two others were cheering them on. He said that Silvia and Vieira definitely raped her while Cordiero and Raposo tried to get her to perform oral sex on them. 

J: Oh, yeah. You want to try to rape somebody and then have them do that? My first thought would be no, I don't want to put anything in your mouth because we're being mean to you. You might bite something off. 

S: My instinct would be to bite whatever you put in my face off. I'm just saying.

J: Exactly.

S: So and it was the bartender reported that it was Virgilio Medeiros that wouldn't let him leave from behind the bar to call for help, and that it was Virgilio and Jose Medeiros. Who were both yelling, "Do it, do it. That's it," like they're cheerleaders over here. I think they're douchebags.

J: Hmm. Big douches.

S: So Maria said that at the first opportunity that she had, she jumped up from the table and ran out of the front door of the bar and into the street for help. As it happened at the same time, she's running out into the street, there was a truck of guys headed home. They were out drinking in another bar. One man said, "Naked woman in middle of street! Naked woman in middle of street!" because she's just running out in the middle of the road. They said that she was wearing a sock and a jacket. That's all she had on. 

J: Oh, wow. 

S: Obviously they stopped and they're like, Hey, what's going on lady, you know? And she grabbed onto one of the men that got out of the truck to check on her and would not let go. She had to eventually be pried off about the time the cops showed up.

J: Wow. I can't imagine.

S: I can't either. So these guys that were in the pickup truck, one of them called cops. The cops showed up and one went inside the bar to get her clothes. She eventually did go with the cops back into the bar to point out her attackers to the officers. 

J: Good for her. 

S: That’s what I'm thinking. Silvia, Vieira, Cordiero, and Raposo were all arrested that night. Cordiero reportedly said hours later at the police station, according to a detective, that quote, he didn't know why he hadn't helped the victim but wished he had end quote, I'm thinking too little too late bud. 

J: Yeah, my thing, my thing is what prompted these guys just to? I mean, is this something they think? double dog dare ya to do? 

S: I have no idea. I was just floored by this entire - and it gets worse. It gets worse.

J: Oh, God.

S: Yeah, it's it's insane. So word of the gang rape got out to the public, and local residents were absolutely outraged by both the rape and the release of these four defendants out on $1,000 bail.

J: Oh, I don't blame them for being mad.

S: And the thousand dollar bail is only equal to about $2,500 today.

J: Nope.

S: Not long after they were originally bailed out their bail for five of the defendants was raised to $50,000, which is about equivalent to $126,000 today. And for the sixth defendant, Daniel Sylvia, it was raised to a double surety bond of $200,000 in 1983 money, which is equivalent to over half a million dollars today. 

J: Good because it sounds like he started it anyway. 

S: Not only that, but his bail was raised up to the double surety bond of $200,000 after he attempted to flee the country five days after his arrest.

J: Oh, yeah, I'm not guilty at all. No. 

S: I didn't know what a double surety bond was. Do you happen to know?

J: I do not.

S: Okay. Well, I already looked it up. I did your homework for you. 

J: Oh, yay! 

S: A double surety bond is when two separate owners have to post two separate properties to secure the release of one defendant. 

J: Nice. I think they should use that more often. 

S: I couldn't agree with you more. I think that is amazing. And I think it should definitely be used more often than it is. So within three days of the attack on Maria, the owners of Big Dan's Tavern voluntarily closed it down forever. 

J: Wow. I guess they did not want their name associated with these douchebags. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. 

S: So not only did they voluntarily closed this bar down forever, they sawed the bar itself in half. 

J: What? 

S: Yes, they sawed the bar in half. And they completely dismantled the pool table where the rape had occurred.

J: Go them.

S: They were giving a big fuck you to these douchebags. 

J: Yes. Like that shit ain't ever gonna happen in my bar again because it's not gonna be here. 

S: Exactly. So almost a year later, in February of 1984, the men go on trial. There were two separate trials held. Raposo, Cordiero, Virgilio and Jose, the Medeiros guys that are not brothers. 

J: Right. 

S: Their trial was held in the morning. Victor Raposo was charged with aggravated rape because he tried to force the victim to have oral sex. John Cordiero was charged for holding down the victim and trying to force her to have oral sex. Jose Medeiros was charged with joint enterprise for touching the victim and shouting encouragement. And Virgilio Medeiros was charged with joint enterprise which really is just basically guilty by association. 

J: Mmm. 

S: It’s just legalese for that.

J: Okay. 

S: And then Silvia and Vieira, their trial was in the afternoon. Daniel Silvia was considered the instigator and he was charged with aggravated rape, and because he had actually raped her, and Joseph Vieira was charged with aggravated rape, because he actually raped her. Both of these trials were overseen by the same judge. This entire case was the first ever criminal case to be televised across the country. 

J: Wow, wow. 

S: Yes. All of the defendants wore headphones in order to translate the trial and when they testified, they did so through a translator. They didn't speak English. Like I said, they are all immigrants. Once the trials were concluded Jose and Virgilio Medeiros, again, not related, were both found not guilty of the charge of joint enterprise. Victor Raposo and John Cordiero, were both found guilty and sentenced to nine to 12 years.

J: Hope they get the 12.

S: They were the ones charged with trying to force her to have oral sex. And then Daniel Silvia and Joseph Vieira were also found guilty. They were the ones charged with aggravated rape. They were the ones that started this all. Silvia was sentenced to nine to 12 years and Vieira was sentenced to six to eight years. Not long enough, in my opinion. 

J: Definitely not long enough. 

S: It gets worse. 

J: Oh my God, how can it get worse? 

S: So once the verdicts came down, public opinion changed. The community began to rally around the guys. 

J: Why the hell would they do that? 

S: They thought that these guys shouldn't have been charged with rape or even convicted. 

J: Sounds to me like the community is stupid. 

S: It is one of the largest scale victim blaming that I have ever come across. Ever. People were saying she should have been at home instead of at a bar and it wouldn't have happened. 

J: People go to bars. So what? 

S: Yeah. One woman was quoted as saying, "They didn't rape that woman." Another woman shouted, "She's a dead woman. She asked for it, and she got it." 

J: Oh my god. Oh, oh, oh. 

S: Another woman, a teacher, was quoted as saying, "A decent woman would not go into any bar to buy cigarettes." 

J: If it's the only store open available, close to your home, whatever, whatever. Whatever. 

S: There were anonymous calls coming into one of the local radio stations and person after person after person after person repeatedly said that woman got what she deserved. 

J: Bullshit. I call bullshit. 

S: I’m right there with you. There was an unnamed priest, priest, who told the Boston Globe quote, "The girl is to blame. She led them into sin." End quote. 

J: Please tell me he's still not a priest, because? 

S: Well, I couldn't find out because he was unnamed. 

J: Oh, my God. Oh, Hmm.

S: Yeah. So, and of course, because her trial was televised, like I said the judge immediately upon the release of her name to the public regretted it. He did however, during the trial say that when she testified the media could not record her face. They could record her like her hands on that, you know, in front of the chair and the mic and all that, but they could not televise her face 

J: Good. 

S: Unfortunately, he didn't think ahead. And when she sat down and was sworn in, she was asked to say her name and spell her name for the record. And she did and and that's immediately when the judge was like, Oh, shit, I just fucked up. 

J: Mm. Wow.

S: Well, because her name was out in the public, she began getting death threats from the people in her community. Or rather, sorry, not her community. I don't think this is her community anymore. 

J: No. 

S: I just and I wouldn't want to be part of any community like that. But because of the death threats that she began receiving Maria, her boyfriend and their two children left New Bedford, Massachusetts and moved to Miami, Florida. 

J: Good.

S: Unfortunately.

J: Hmm. 

S: Two years after moving to Florida, Maria died in a car crash.

J: Oh my goodness. That's horrible.

S: She was 25 years old. Died in a car crash.

J: Wow. Wow. Wasn't it around Christmas time or something, right? 

S: Yeah. 

J: Which makes it even worse. 

S: Yeah, she was actually taking her children to a Christmas program and ran into a pole. A light pole. 

J: Oh, my goodness. The kids were okay, right? 

S: The kids were fine. So, yes, at least there's that the kids were fine. She, however, did not make it.

J: That’s horrible.

S: Two years after her death, the last of her rapists were released from prison.

J: I think we need to send them all hate mail.

S: Not Attention, Trevor.

J: No, not Attention Trevor.

S: Well, because of this case, new laws were enacted. But Massachusetts passed a law that made it a misdemeanor carrying a $1,000 fine, for a witness to not report a felony.

J: There you go. See something, say something, right?

S: Absolutely see something, say something. Rhode Island made failure to report a sexual assault or an attempted attack by witnesses, a misdemeanor punishable by one year imprisonment or a fine not to exceed $500 or both. 

J: Good. I'm glad there's some changes going on. 

S: Yes. So it may not be much, but it's more than they had before this. 

J: Absolutely. Absolutely. 

S: So this particular case was actually showcased in a Netflix documentary called Trial by Media. It is Episode Five, in case you were wondering. There was also a movie loosely based on this case, starring Jodie Foster. 

J: Who I like. 

S: It came out in 1988. It is called The Accused.

J: Which I'm probably pretty sure we've seen probably more than once. 

S: Yes, yes. I know. I have. 

J: I bet we even rented this movie from Blockbuster. 

S: I bet we did too. There's gonna be people going, "What's a Blockbuster?" Google it.

J: Google.

S: So but for the record, The Accused is currently available to stream on Hulu and on Prime Video. 

J: Wow. Didn't Jodie Foster receive like some kind of award or something? 

S: I think she did for this particular movie. 

J: Seems like I remember seeing that somewhere. 

S: She won an Oscar for Best Actress in 1989 for her role in The Accused. 

J: There you go. I was thinking that that she had gotten some award for that. It was a good movie. I mean, it's a good movie. I like Jodie Foster. She plays in good movies.

S: So but that is the Big Dan's rape case.

J: Wow. Wow. Poor Maria. Poor Maria's kids, poor Maria's husband, family, family. 

S: And shame on all these people that turned it around and tried to make it her fault. For the record, it was not her fault. She didn't do shit. 

J: Exactly. Wrong place, wrong time. And those guys are assholes. That's terrible. Good case, though. Good case. I'm glad you brought that to attention. I'm glad things have changed. You know, it's good. 

S: Thanks for listening today. Be sure to tune in next week for another episode of Crime With My Coffee.

J: And don't forget to subscribe to wherever you get your podcasts so we will automatically download. And if you get us on Apple, go ahead and give us a rating and a review.

S: And look us up on social media to stay up to date on everything Crime With My Coffee. You can find us on Instagram and Twitter, @cwmcpod 

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S: Check out our website at www.crimewithmycoffee.com. You can read full transcripts of our episodes there, and you can even give us case suggestions there.  And please think about giving us support on Patreon at www.patreon.com/crimewithmycoffee. 

J: And if you'd like to send us an email or suggestion, you can send it to crimewithmycoffee@gmail.com.  And don't forget, all hate mail goes to crimewithmycoffee@gmail.com Attention, Trevor. 

S: And remember, if you don't need two hands to hold your mug, it ain't big enough.