February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Joseph Shore, who is 65, and his 39-year-old son, Cord Shore, face up to six months in jail under a plea agreement reached just days before the trial was set to begin in June.
The two men, who admitted to “negligently causing the drowning death of Catherine Kinsella,” were operating a cruise boat in Hyannis Harbor on a Sunday evening in July 2001 when the 20-year-old student and summer visitor fell through a broken railing and drowned in the harbor.
Prosecutors contend that the pilot of the boat, Cord Shore, operated the boat in a negligent manner and failed to notify the Coast Guard about the drowning for 50 minutes while the crew scurried around hiding evidence of alcohol consumption. He and other crew members were said to have been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana during the cruise.
The elder Shore had allegedly served alcohol to minors on the boat despite the fact that the state’s Alcohol Beverage Control Commission had recently refused to grant him a liquor license.
Under terms of the plea deal, the Shores could avoid any jail time. Had the case gone to trial, they could have faced up to 10 years in prison.