Benjamin LaGuer Papers

Background on Benjamin LaGuer

LaGuer was born May 1, 1963 in the Bronx, New York. Growing up, he lived in Puerto Rico with his mother and then in New York state and Leominster, Massachusetts with his father. From 1980 to 1983, LaGuer served in the US Army until he was discharged under honorable conditions.

In 1983, when he was twenty years old and soon after being discharged, LaGuer was arrested of aggravated assault and rape of a neighbor in Leominster. LaGuer maintained his innocence, rejecting a plea deal that could have sent him to prison for a few years. In 1984, LaGuer was convicted by an all-white jury of aggregated rape, breaking and entering, and unarmed robbery. The rape charge carried a life sentence.

LaGuer was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole. He was first placed in Massachusetts Correctional Institution (MCI) Cedar Junction, then was transferred to North Central Correctional Institution (NCCI) in Gardner in 1985. In 1994, he was transferred to MCI Norfolk, and in 2005, he was transferred to Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center (SBCC) maximum security prison in Lancaster. In 2007, he was transferred again to NCCI Gardner.

While incarcerated, LaGuer continuously built the case for his innocence. Through his efforts and the efforts of his legal team and supporters, evidence was unearthed supporting his innocence. A jury member admitted that racial slurs were used during jury deliberation, this racism creating an unfair process. The survivor of the attack had previously been institutionalized for mental illness and had to be coached through her testimony, casting doubt on her reliability. Furthermore, there were questions over tainted and illegally-obtained evidence.

Despite these legal efforts, LaGuer was consistently denied the attempts at parole throughout the years. LaGuer’s refusal to admit guilt and undergo a sex offender treatment program (which officially required him to admit guilt) contributed to the Parole Board’s decisions.

While incarcerated, LaGuer earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies, graduating summa cum laude, from Boston University. He also earned credits at UMass Amherst. LaGuer enjoyed writing and had pieces published in multiple periodicals—he even won a PEN award for an essay titled “A Man Who Loves his Mother Loves Women.”

LaGuer was an avid epistolary and telephone correspondent. He corresponded with well-known figures including John Silber, president of Boston University, Leslie Epstein, Elie Wiesel, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Noam Chomsky, Deval Patrick, and Michael Dukakis. Deval Patrick’s correspondence and support of LaGuer (Patrick helped pay for DNA testing in 2002 in hopes of proving LaGuer’s innocence) a role in the 2006 gubernatorial race.

In February, 2020, LaGuer was granted compassionate release due to liver cancer but was again incarcerated a month later. LaGuer died alone in the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Boston on November 4, 2020. He spent over thirty-five years of his life in prison.