Pittsfield — In a stunner, Berkshire County District Attorney David Capeless announced this afternoon that he will resign his post effective in two weeks.
Capeless broke the news in a brief announcement this morning in his Pittsfield office with Sheriff Thomas Bowler and his hand-picked successor, Berkshire First Assistant District Attorney Paul Caccaviello. He offered no explanation as to why he was leaving his post before his term expires at the end of the year, rather than staying on and simply not running for re-election.
“It’s time,” he reportedly said.
In a news release from Capeless’s office, spokesman Fred Lantz said that Gov. Charlie Baker will announce the appointment of Caccaviello as Capeless’s successor. Caccaviello will be sworn into office Thurday, March 15, in a ceremony at Berkshire Superior Court.
“I had determined some time ago that I did not wish to seek re-election in the fall, and when I confided this to Paul, I was pleased when he said he would take on the campaign to succeed me,” Capeless said in the statement.
“I have great respect for Paul’s character and abilities, and he has the experience and trust of our colleagues in law enforcement to give me the confidence that the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office’s legacy of fair and even-handed justice will continue under his watch. Public safety in Berkshire County will remain in safe and capable hands, I assure you.”
Lantz said Caccaviello is a veteran prosecutor with 28 years experience, serving the last 13 as first assistant. In 2008, Caccaviello was honored as the prosecutor of the year by the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association.
Capeless was appointed Berkshire District Attorney by then-Gov. Mitt Romney in 2004 to succeed Gerard Downing, who died unexpectedly in December, 2003. Capeless was subsequently elected district attorney in a special election in November 2004. Since then, Capeless has been re-elected to consecutive four-year terms in 2006, 2010 and 2014, running unopposed in the last two elections.
Lantz said Capeless has been a prosecutor for his entire 35-year legal career, having previously served as the Berkshire First Assistant District Attorney from 1991 to 2004 and, before that, as an assistant district attorney in Middlesex County from 1982 to 1990.
Capeless has also prosecuted several high-profile cases, including serial child-murderer Lewis Lent, who kidnapped and murdered 13–year-old Jimmy Bernardo of Pittsfield.
In addition, Capeless prosecuted one of the earliest school shooting incidents in the U.S., the 1992 murders at Simon’s Rock College in Great Barrington by student Wayne Lo, in which a student and faculty member were murdered and several students wounded. A jury found Lo guilty on all 17 charges against him and sentenced him to two consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole.
Lantz said Capeless also successfully prosecuted the murder of 17-year-old Krystal Hopkins of Pittsfield by Adam Rosier, which resulted in a 1997 landmark decision by the state Supreme Judicial Court. That was the first appellate decision in the nation recognizing the use of the short tandem repeat method of DNA testing, the method which remains the industry standard for forensic testing of evidence.
Capeless is a native of Pittsfield, the son of former Pittsfield Mayor Robert Capeless and the grandson of former state Rep. Matthew Capeless. Capeless, 65, is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Boston College Law School. He lives in West Stockbridge with his wife Betsy and his two sons: Charlie, 22, and Sam, 20.
