Handwriting expert says fliers pinpoint Mageau

01:00 AM EST on Thursday, February 15, 2007

By Maria Armental

Journal Staff Writer

Charlestown Councilman James Mageau denies writing the envelopes and said he will discuss the matter with his attorney.

CHARLESTOWN — A handwriting expert found the writing on the envelopes of some fliers mass-mailed last month attacking a council member and two town residents was that of Councilman James M. Mageau.

“Numerous idiosyncratic similarities between the questioned documents, which are the envelopes in question, and the known handwriting of JM [James Mageau] have been uncovered and no significant differences have been found,” found Marc J. Seifer, of Seifer Handwriting Consultants of Kingston.

Seifer compared samples of the envelopes mailed to three town residents with Mageau’s recent declaration of candidacy and voter-registration forms.

In his Feb. 2 report, released to the public Monday, Seifer noted there did not appear to be any dissimilarities between the penmanship in the fliers’ envelopes and in Mageau’s official documents.http://www.projo.com/photos/20070215/SC0215_handwriting_02-15-07_484DGNK.jpg

“Both are large block cap writing, both with pronounced right slang, the size, spacing and overall design are also similar,” Seifer found, pointing out similarities in the R, L, T, and Ns as well as in several of the numbers.

“The sum total of resemblances in letter design and in details of structure uncovered by this examination can be explained only on the grounds that the writings are of common authorship,” Seifer concluded.

Mageau denied writing the envelopes and said he will discuss the matter with his attorney.

“This probably is going to end with him being sued,” Mageau said of Seifer.

Mageau questioned the authenticity of the documents Seifer compared noting Seifer never requested any samples of his writing.

“That’s malfeasance,” he said.

“The bottom line,” Mageau said, “[Clifford L.] Vanover and his crowd are using that as a vehicle to distract the people from the real problems in Charlestown,” such as cost overruns in the construction of the new police station and settling an outstanding dispute over the material used in covering the town’s landfill – the town has been cited by the state Department of Environmental Protection over the matter.

The controversy arose over two fliers that were mass mailed late last month ridiculing Council Vice President Harriet A. Allen and town residents James and Marianne Cairns.

At the time, Allen and the Cairns immediately blamed Mageau for the attack and requested copies of official documents Mageau had filed in town.

Vanover, a critic of Mageau, turned copies of those documents to Seifer. Vanover declined to comment on how much Seifer charged him simply saying, “it was a lot of money.”

Called for comment, Vanover, Allen and James Cairs said they were not surprised by Seifer’s findings.

“It was obvious looking at the handwriting on the envelope and Mr. Mageau’s handwriting from the documents he filed in Town Hall that it was a perfect match, but we are not experts,” Vanover said.

“There was no question. It was just an obvious duplication,” said James Cairns.

Allen, who previously acknowledged publishing a satirical cartoon aimed at Mageau last November after he announced he had the votes needed to become the next council president, said yesterday she was upset over a reference on the flier about a family history of mental health.

“It’s really kind of unfunny,” Allen said, “because my father died of Alzheimer’s.”

“He certainly should have remembered that,” Allen said of Mageau. “It certainly shows a lack of sensitivity.”

marmenta@projo.com