I think what we have here is unfortunately another tragic case of domestic violence.”

Portsmouth Police Chief Thomas Lee

PORTSMOUTH — Police on Tuesday identified the victim of Monday night’s fatal shooting as Manuel Laureanno, the suspect’s 69-year-old husband.

Lisa Almeida-Laureanno, 57, of 3028 East Main Road, was charged with domestic murder following the incident and was scheduled to be arraigned today in Newport County District Court. 

“I think what we have here is unfortunately another tragic case of domestic violence,” Police Chief Thomas Lee said at a press conference outside Portsmouth Police headquarters Tuesday morning. “And it shows that a lethal mix of a past history of domestic violence, alcohol and easy accessibility of firearms can result in murder.”

The Laureanno family is familiar to many Portsmouth residents, as members have had their hands in companies involved in construction, oil delivery and real estate. 

“It’s a fair statement to say that it’s a well-known family,” Chief Lee said.

Chief Lee said although there “was no recent history” of domestic violence reported at the residence, police did respond to the same apartment back in 2009, when they arrested Mr. Laureanno for simple domestic assault against Ms. Almeida-Laureanno. (The two were married in 2013 but were a couple for several years previously, the chief said.)

“We haven’t been there for this type of situation since 2009,” said Chief Lee. “We haven’t found any other (incidents) involving the victim or the suspect, at least in Portsmouth. There’s not any outstanding no-contact order or anything like that at this time, either.”

Suspect called 911

Police responded to the couple’s apartment — located adjacent to the North End Pizzeria plaza — at 7:17 p.m. after receiving a 911 call placed by Ms. Almeida-Laureanno, “stating that she had shot her husband,” Chief Lee said.

When they arrived, police found Mr. Laureanno in the “living room/family room” area and shot “in the center chest area,” Chief Lee said. 

Mr. Laureanno was pronounced dead at the scene. His wife, who was still in the apartment, was charged with domestic murder.

More than one round had been fired from the weapon, but Mr. Laureanno was struck only once. “The medical examiner will make a final determination, but that’s what we believe,” the chief said.

Police obtained a search warrant for the apartment and seized several other guns, but police believe a snub-nosed revolver was used in the shooting. 

“There were several other firearms seized, but I believe they were all rifles. I think this was the only handgun, but again I don’t want to speculate on that,” said Chief Lee. “In Rhode Island we don’t register weapons, but the firearms we believe belonged to the husband. The husband had kind of left out a revolver just in case somebody tried to get into the house or something, is what we understand.”

When police arrived, Ms. Almeida-Laureanno did not have the gun in her hand, said the chief. “She had left it on a credenza inside the house.”

Asked why police arrested Ms. Almeida-Laureanno, Chief Lee responded, “She made the 911 call — she admitted it — and also made several other statements in custody. I don’t want to get into all the statements that were made by the suspect, but she was the only other person involved.”

Motive unknown

Chief Lee would not speculate on a motive for the shooting, but said there was no evidence of a physical assault prior to Mr. Laureanno’s death. “It’s not like there were any injuries on the suspect and the carpet was clean and tidy. It’s not like things were knocked around,” he said.

Ms. Almeida-Laureanno had been drinking, said the chief, who didn’t want to speculate on her level of intoxication.

As to whether the shooting could have been committed in self-defense, Chief Lee said that will be addressed by the R.I. Attorney General’s Office.

“But as I did mention, the suspect had no evidence of an assault on her person and there was no assault reported to us,” the chief said.

Asked whether Mr. Almeida-Laureanno expressed any remorse, Chief Lee replied, “I think it’s fair to say she expressed regret; she didn’t want to do it. In a domestic situation, I think sometimes people act and maybe regret it afterwards.”

‘Isolated incidents’

This is the third domestic murder that’s taken place in Portsmouth since 2013. Previously to that, the last murder of any kind in Portsmouth happened in 2002, when the manager of the Founder's Brook Motel and Suites was killed in a murder-for-hire plot.

Asked whether Portsmouth residents should still feel safe, Chief Lee pointed out that the last three domestic murders were all isolated incidents. Still, he understands why people would be concerned.

“Domestic violence incidents, murders, are tough to predict. You would expect a town of our size to have a murder once every 10 years — certainly not three within three years,” he said.

“On our side, we are participating in a program where we’re going to have a domestic violence advocate come into the station now. We are looking at doing something proactively.

“But again, some you can predict that something’s going to happen, where there’s been a real history of multiple no-contact orders and police are there all the time. This wasn’t like that. From our records we’ve had one previous incident, and that was seven years ago. It’s tough to predict and it’s also tough to prevent.”

The homicide remains under investigation by Portsmouth Police, the Attorney General's Office and the R.I. Medical Examiner's Office.