Langlais ponders plea deal as January trial dates set

Staff reports 6:30 a.m.


Langlais ponders plea deal as January trial dates set

Eric Langlais

DOVER - The man accused of killing Bang N Jane drummer Jim Unfonak with a single punch to the head outside a Rochester sports bar is headed for a January trial unless a plea deal is reached.

Eric Langlais, 41, of 31 Lincoln Lane, Barnstead, is considering a plea deal in the death of Unfonak, who was taken off life support the day after he was allegedly attacked in the parking lot of Gary's Sports Bar in the early morning hours of Jan. 31.

Langlais, who was in Strafford County Superior Court for a dispositional hearing on Wednesday, is alleged to have punched Unfonak, 44, of Rochester, in the head as he was getting into a car, using his "knockout" hand by Langlais' own admission, according to a police affidavit.

Also charged in the incident were two local women, Mandy Patch, 37, of Old Milton Road, Rochester; and Laurie Henner, 41, of Whitebirch Lane in Farmington; and another man, Forrest Rollins, 42, of Brook St. Rochester.

Patch reached a plea deal with prosecutors earlier this month, receiving two consecutive 12-month sentences, one for rioting and another for assaulting a woman inside Gary's Sports bar earlier the night of Unfonak's death. The second sentence will be suspended for two years after her first sentence is completed.

Henner was charged with one count of felony riot and is free on $10,000 personal recognizance. Henner has yet to accept a plea deal, according to Assistant County Attorney Tim Sullivan. She faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.

Rollins is charged with simple assault in connection with an altercation inside Gary's Sports Bar the night Unfonak was fatally injured. The Lebanon Voice has subsequently learned through a source close to the investigation that the victim of that assault was Unfonak.

Rollins, who is free on personal recognizance, faces an August trial in Rochester District Court. He could get a year in county jail if convicted.

Langlais, meanwhile, could face up to 30 years in prison for manslaughter.