Arlington man headed to jail for Nahant burglary, assault

SALEM – A financial consultant who admitted burglarizing and assaulting his ex-girlfriend in her Nahant home last year will spend four years in jail before being placed on probation for another 10 years.Kevan Fulmer, 56, of 26 Kimball Road, Arlington, pleaded guilty Wednesday afternoon in Salem Superior Court to charges of armed assault on an occupant with a knife, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, knife, and violation of a restraining order before Judge Howard J. Whitehead.Whitehead sentenced him to serve two years in jail on the assault with a dangerous weapon charge and gave him another two years on the violation of the restraining order charge. In essence, Fulmer will serve four years in the Middleton Jail before being placed on probation for another 10 years on the armed assault on an occupant charge.Although the victim, a 56-year-old Saugus school teacher who lives in Nahant, chose not to allocate in court, she was present and agreed to have her impact statement read aloud by Assistant District Attorney Kristen R. Buxton.In it, she expressed her fear of Fulmer and the terror she experienced that evening when he held a knife to her neck.?I started praying,” she wrote, while saying she had no doubt he would hurt her again. “I worry all the time for my safety, and so do my children.”On the night of Aug. 31, 2006, the victim was home in her bedroom watching television when Fulmer entered her Nahant Road home through an unlocked door and went to her room.Wearing blue rubber gloves and holding a knife, he held it over her head as she laid in fear of her life.While smelling alcohol on his breath, she was able to calm him down and convinced him to leave before she called 911.Police arrested him on the Nahant Causeway. The gloves and knife were found inside the vehicle.The couple dated for about a year before she broke it off in May 2006.In June, she went to court for a restraining order, which was extended for a year, after learning he had been stalking her in Nahant.Buxton was seeking at least 6 1/2 years in state prison with 10 years probation based on the case.In asking for that punishment, she pointed out to Whitehead that the victim had sought court protection and “it did not work.”Buxton reminded Whitehead that he went there prepared, wearing gloves and armed with a knife, which he held to her neck and chest, and for whatever reason, he elected not to continue with the attack on her.She also stressed that another ex-girlfriend had sought protection from Fulmer in the past.Defense lawyer Lawrence J. McGuire described his client as educated with somewhat of a prior record, but nothing of this magnitude.He said he suffered a stroke in 2006, which affected him.McGuire explained that Fulmer came into a relationship with the victim, and she abruptly ended it. He had been performing some financial services for her and felt he was “jilted and ill abused.”He downplayed that the incident might have been a premeditated act, saying it was in the “spur of a moment,” agreeing he committed a crime as he asked for a jail sentence rather than a state prison term.McGuire acknowledged his client?s alcohol and psychiatric difficulties that were discovered after this incident, but said he no longer consumes alcohol and is on a strict regiment of medications for his mental problems.Before imposing the punishment, Whitehead explained that he had elaborately discussed the case with both the prosecutor and defense lawyer, while acknowledging that there has to be incarceration for the protection of the victim and because society demands it.Whitehead described Fulmer?s behavior that evening as “clearly obsessive,” as he explained to him if he violates the probationary terms, he is facing up to life in state prison.Under the terms of his 10-year probationary term, Fulmer is to have no contact with his accuser, stay away from her home and where she works, which will be monitored under the Global Position System (GPS.) He is to continue with