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When Paul Senecal was incarcerated at Dutchess County Jail, all privileges were revoked because he was violating an order of protection by contacting the victim's mother and employer.  Now that he is in custody of the New York State corrections, he has his rights reinstated and is still tormenting the family from behind bars. The New York State Department of Corrections needs to revoke Paul Senecal's privileges connecting him to the outside world immediately.

Photo and Article listed below courtesy of Mid Hudson News. 

Convicted murderer Paul Senecal, who is serving a life sentence without parole for murdering Melanie Chianese in May 2022, is still terrorizing the victim’s family from prison.

The victim was the daughter of his ex-girlfriend, Cheryl Chianese.

Senecal had violated existing orders of protection that did not prevent Senecal from staying away from his ex-girlfriend or her daughter.

Senecal, at the time of the brutal murder, was also on electronic monitoring through an ankle bracelet. Senecal had traveled outside of the established boundaries of the monitor, allowing him to stab the 29-year-old woman to death.

He blames a mental illness for the murder and asks for everyone to donate to a fundraiser for the victim’s young son.  He has potentially violated the law by encouraging “third-party contact,” by writing “If you or any of Melanie’s family or friends want to express your feelings towards me, you can email me on JPay, my DIN # is 23B2033.”

Senecal was transferred from Elmira Correctional Facility to Auburn Correctional Facility.  When he arrived there, it was discovered that he had managed to include the phone number for Cheryl Chianese on his approved contact phone numbers.  He did so by listing it as the number for his own mother.  When the Department of Community and Corrections was made aware, they removed the number from the approved list.

Cheryl Chianese has been lobbying for “Melanie’s Law” to be put into effect in New York.  At the time of the murder, a “dangerous” loophole in the law prohibited a judge from issuing an order of protection on behalf of the victim or her son.  The order of protection was in place for the victim’s mother and their pets, but failed to cover the victim because she was 29 years old.   Melanie’s law, if enacted, would “close the dangerous loophole and empower judges to issue orders of protection for immediate family or other household members regardless of their age.”

The New York State Senate passed the bill unanimously this year but the bill has stalled in the assembly