Arrest in death outside Silk City tavern

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - A Haydenville man is facing manslaughter charges in the death of John M. Connell outside the Silk City Tap Room in Florence three weeks ago.

James M. Duffy Jr., 26, of 29 S. Main St., was arrested Friday on a warrant issued by Northampton District Court and was being held at the Hampshire County House of Correction on $500,000 cash bail, according to a statement issued by the Northwestern district attorney's office.

Final results on the autopsy of Connell, 35, of Burts Pit Road in Florence, are still pending, but forensic pathologist Dr. Loren J. Mednick has ruled the cause of his death was "craniocerebral trauma due to striking his head on the ground," the statement said. The autopsy was conducted by the western regional office of the chief medical examiner for the commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Connell was pronounced dead at Cooley Dickinson Hospital Jan. 3, less than an hour after an on-duty police officer was notified about an altercation outside the two-floor bar and restaurant, at 99 Main St. in Florence.

Based on interviews with witnesses on the scene, Northampton Police Detective Lt. Kenneth J. Watson reported that Connell and another man were involved in a "disturbance" within the bar earlier in the night, and fought again outside at approximately 2 a.m.

Connell's stepmother, Sharon Connell of Florence, said Friday that Duffy's arrest hasn't made the situation any easier on her or her family.

"We really don't know how to react. This is just bringing everything up again for us, and it is just not easy," she said. "It is just too soon to say how we feel, it just hurts and this whole thing is sad."

Connell, whose two children live in Florida, was a former truck driver for the J.W. Cotton Construction Co. and had been a longtime member of the Williamsburg Fire Department, according to his obituary.

Northampton Police were assisted in the investigation by the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit and Crime Scene Services Unit.

Duffy is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Northampton District Court.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.