YOUR COMMENTS

Hopefully, the justice system will come to distinguish between such violent crime and non-violent crime, e.g., drug possession. This will allow adequate room and resources to isolate people like Mr. Brens from society. Research is very clear about the propensity for those who perpetrate violence to not only repeat this behavior, but to escalate it. The safest place for this man is prison. He has already demonstrated the amount of value he places on human life--his own and others'. With such a low value on his own life, prison shouldn't be such a hardship for him. He will be among people who live at the same level he does. Let's hope that when he is released--possibly in 21 years--that he is supervised closely enough to reduce the damage he is almost certainly likely to cause.
Let us continue to cheer David and his family on. He represents the grace of God, the triumph of Good over Evil. He has been given an early understanding of the miracle that life is. Let us hope that David will find his own unique way to live that gift--that miracle. Love, GrammyKate
- Dr. Kathleen Hoekstra, New York, NY

I think we need to stop and see the big picture: the whole concept of taking responsibility and "owning up" are drastically skewed in today's society. As illustrated with Jacquelynn, she views this as "a mistake." No, my dear, taking a pack of gum without paying for it when you're 5 y.o. is a mistake. Not studying for an exam is a mistake. Planning to beat the tar out of another person for no other reason than to take his money, cell phone, and clothes to either keep or pawn off is a CRIME. No "normal" person thinks that doing this is anything other than that. "Normal" people have a little voice in their heads that say hurting another and stealing and purposely leaving someone "for dead" is WRONG.

You say he "feels remorse?" I doubt it....he may feel remorse because he got caught and all of a sudden the justice system just introduced him to reality; those kinds of crimes, executed by TRUE criminals are incapable of feeling remorse for the individual. It's called a lack of empathy and it is the hallmark of a sociopath.

He deserves to do hard time, as do the others. I know crime is rampant, but letting "young" criminals off easy breeds nothing but "older" criminals. No justice is served by saying "oh well you said you're sorry." Welcome to adulthood, kiddo. Time to take responsibility for being a punk.
- Bethany, Newport

well i must say i am shoked, me and danny were friends when i was in high school and we both went to boys and girls club and shared many friends. i would never expect something like this from him. he was always joking and laughing, never angry or mean. but i guess people change???
- brittany, manchester

When I was younger and as it is today I certainly make mistakes... Age is important as when I was younger I didn't fully understand the concept of future consequences, as everyone else. But this, this was planned, this was diliberate, this was no accident. I would love to say "Hang Him" but as it is now, in my right state of mind, I don't beleive it is a man's right to take another man's life, I don't beleive that is a choice we can make. (of course there are things that can change my opinion I am sure). I certainly don't know what the best punishment would be and I'm glad that it's not my choice. This was not brought on by impulse, this was intentional. No doubt about it.
- Tonya Ferrara, Manchester N.H.

US Sen Patrick Moynihan (D-NY), 1966, in America Magazine

"... there is one unmistakable lesson in American history: a community that allows large numbers of young men to grow up in broken families, dominated by women, never acquiring any stable relationship to male authority, never acquiring any set of rational expectations about the future--that community asks for and gets chaos. Crime, violence, unrest, disorder. . .are not only to be expected, they are very near to inevitable. And they are richly deserved." (Source:
http://operationnogangs.org/fatherlessness.html ) In 1969, CA Gov. Ronald Reagan signed off on establishing the first 'no-fault' divorce law in the US. (Lenin of Soviet Russia signed off on the first 'no-fault' divorce law.)
- Mike, Hampton

To Jaquelynn, I understand that you may believe that this is considered a "mistake", but people make mistakes every single day, and must pay for their actions. There are consequences to all actions, mistakes or on purposes. And sometimes those "mistakes" have deadly consequences. In this case, it almost did. And in the families eyes IT DID. That is why we are raised by our parents to make every single decision with care, know your consequences and think about your actions. Unfortunately the punishment to your friend fits the crime...if even. I pray for both of the families because I am sure that your "friends" parents did not wish this outcome for their young son, nor did they wish this for the young David, that their son caused with his hands and feet.
I don't feel that ANY mother, wants their child to grow up to be any kind of criminal. She seemed remorseful for her family in asking for forgiveness to the family of David.
To the family of David, I pray for your for a FULL recovery. Being the family member of a victim of a violent crime, I do understand all that you feel. My brother was brutally beaten 20 years ago, and it was devastating to us. The anger, the questions of WHY, the pain and sorrow. I do hope that some how you feel comfort someday. No matter what the sentence is, it only brings temporary relief...but it does bring justice.
Be strong and stick together. David will need you and will always know that you are there.
Angela, Manchester
- Angela, Manchester

Jaquelynn, Manchester: a mistake is define as a misunderstanding. How does one misunderstand the planning of a brutal attack on a young man who WORKED for what he had i.e., money and cell phone? They planned this IN FRONT OF HIM IN SPANISH! He sat there and never knew they were planning his near death. And by all means he would have died if it had not been for a higher power's intervention. The docs that treated him had a bad outlook for his recovery and told me so! They told me he was a miracle!!!! I have no feelings for any of them, good, bad or indifferent!!! They are nothing to me and that is my gift from God!!!
Ted, Manchester... are you saying that GOD forgave the Son of Sam? Not sure if I would be comfortable should I be blessed with heaven when I leave this planet.
Donna, our children are our gifts on loan for a small time before they go off on their own. It would sadden me to consider a lack of love and support by a parent which is my biggest struggle with Crespo who is a parent!!!

When David was fighting for life, I met a young woman whose daughter passed away while I was there. I think of you often and pray you and your grandson are ok!!!!! I hope you get this as you touched my life and determination to make David work on staying alive!!!!!

To those of you who prayed.... I THANK YOU!!!! I believe your prayers are what assisted in God saying "what is going on in Manchester" then intervening which brought David home no matter what his condition is or will ever be.
- Marie Mosel, Manchester

C from Manch. You do not sound too intelligent when you put down others in a Union Leader blog. She was not defending her "homeboys", nor "miss thang" is not an appropriate way of calling a young lady excersizing her amendment right to express herself in an open forum.

Best wishes to David and his family. But to those of you who are quick to label "hate" crimes, and the youth in manchester are running rampant around the city with guns and knives, you should be grateful that you can walk downtown on a beautiful day with no harm. Honestly Manchester IS a great city and is not crime ridden. The stories in the newspaper are news for a reason, it's just the newspaper considers crime more news than reporting on community leaders in Manchester which there are many. The crime reported in the news is all the crime their is in Manchester. Crime in Manchester has a small percentage, do the research, compared to similar cities across the country, they have more intense crime problems to deal with, honestly. Manchester is a beautiful city which is diverse for the better not for the worse, ofcourse there will be the few that have gone down a beaten path. It amazes me to see some comments here that express their hate towards people, but fail to express their hope in people as well. God is a forgiving God, like Davids mother says, but she mentions that God doesnt forgive evil, in the Bible, God forgives all evil, he forgave Satan. Not to beat along the religous path, but not everyone on this blog have perfect lives, and some resort to posting rediculousness on these stories to feel better about themselves because they too know they have someone in their family with serious problems. Look at yourself, your family, and your life as an example and notice that everyone has wrong but at the same time at the end everyone has good intentions. This is a tragic story for David who deserves better and he will be better, he has tremendous love and support coming his way. To the Bren family, it is really unfortunate because he looked for love in all the wrong places and will have to find it in the most difficult place to find your meaning in life, prison. Best of luck to both families. Prayers to the Mosel family and may god have mercy on Bren's soul.
- Ted, Manchester

Jaquelynn, miss thang. Stop trying to defend your "homeboy", your not too good at it. Just focus your time on grammar skills. What he did was horrible. It doesnt matter how he feels about it now, he shouldnt be on these streets for doing it period. He was just a little punk with his little punk friends trying to prove themselves.. in Manchester, NH. Come on now.. This punk deserves everything that has come to him. I agree, he shouldve been deported.. so David will never have the chance of seeing this boys face again. Best wishes to David and his family..
- C, Manchester

hello every one, i have to say on our family behave thank you to the most of you that is understanding. yesterday was very hard on our family. I really don't think that some of you under stand that the young men that did this sicking crime on my brother some truelys don'te understands the damage it has done. david is not going to be able to have that young mans his age sould be doing they had taken that from him. They may not have killed him to your eyes, how ever look through it from davids eyes. He was a trusting young man and most you know him can say that is true. these kids had stomp on the american dream for him. David lost all of that , they sould lose there freedom. they are a harm to you and people you know.

J. you may say that it was a mistake but truely was it? when you plan attack and try to kill some one is that a mistake?

again thank you for prays and crespo is next. Its not easy looking at poeple with no soul.
- angie (davids sister), derry

"As part of the sentence, Brens can never return to Manchester."

Why Not Make NEVER RETURN TO SOCIETY??????? Caged For Life!!!
- M & M, Manchester

Jaquelynn, Manchester No one here has said they have done no wrong. We've all made mistakes. It's just that none of us have been cowardly enough to gang up on one guy and beat him almost to death, then leave him pinned under a fence hoping it will choke him and finish the job.

If David Mosel and 4 of his boys did this to your "sweetie" I wonder if you'd be singing a different tune. I'm sure you would be one of the first morons to be crying racism. By the way his victim also has a different perspective on life, but it wasn't his choice, this new perspective for David was forced on him by these 5 cowards.
- Bill, Andover

Ok any whoo miss i've been readin a dictionary my whole life! when im speakin out of anger i dont take my time to write out the whole word. And the person who said he should get the Death penalty are you seriouse? wow how are you going to punish some one with murder for doing what he did? that would only make YOU seem like a hypocrit..
Now that seems cruel, and yes i understand that what he did was wrong and yes i do see it as a mistake. because even though he did what he did he realizes that what he did was VERY wrong. and thinking for the moment and not the future is a mistake. and thats what he was doing, so that makes it a mistake.

You guys are on here acting like your christians and trying to seem like you never did anything bad but the things your saying he deserves are worse. ( like the death penalty for instance).

You can't look at a person for what he's done but what affect his actions make on him.
If he doesnt care then you can say that he's a low life. But he does care and he definantly has a different perspective on life.
- Jaquelynn, Manchester

- Jaquelynn, Manch ,NH - This was not a "mistake". It was a heinous crime. It was beating a man and leaving him for dead. If this inhumane monster was a friend of mine, I wouldn't admit it, that's for sure. We don't need a low life like him in this country, but I disagree with those who say he should be deported. He should be given the death penalty!
- Brian, Farmington

Ummmm...Jaquelynn, once you learn to spell correctly and not in cell phone text format, (you is spelled like that not "u") then you can make an intellegient arguement for your friend. I think what some of the people on here mean that once you commit a heinous crime like that, if you were not born into this country you should go back to whence you came. And if you want to know what happened to our ancestors if they did something like that they would go to the stockades or hung in the town square.
- C, manchester

Ummmmmmmmmm. a hate crime.? No. ok it didnt get aired or anything but, it goes the same for both ways. and yea he ALWAYS wore rosary beads. -&& i swear if ya ran this country this country would be Nothing. deport him just b.cuz he doesnt know english!? are you seriouse? wow. talk about racist.? i bet half of your ancestors came from foreign countries. and in your backgrounds somebody in your family made a mistake. how would you feel having somebody say all this b.s about them.? YOU wouldnt be here. The U.S came up of immigrants. Who didnt know english.! wow its rediculous..

Danny i hope you learn from this. i miss you like crazy and i love you sweetie ..

OOOO yea. um mister its not on some ms-13 stuff either your just think you know everything. where in manchester have you hear anything of ms-13.??
i know him personally he's definantly not associated with ms-13 in ANY way.
- Jaquelynn, Manch ,NH

I agree with Jim. Manchetser has turned into Lawrence Ma. What a pity, Manchetser used to be such a great place. Now............
- G Paul, Concord

Dave the victim has been a great friend of mine for the past 5 or 6 years. He did not deserve what thos 5 ignorate boys did to him. They should get life with out parole. He says he'll never do it again and wants to get his high school diploma. Maybe he should have thought about that before he beat Dave almost to death. I love you Dave!
- Alysha, Manchester

I'm just glad to see this kid pay for what he did... I wish the penalties in this country were harsher to help deter people from committing these senseless crimes!
- Bryan, Allenstown

Its not a hate crime. the victim was white. And everyone knows only white people are racist. (sarcasm)
- Tracy, Keene

Kate, Manchester You are not awake, the only reason this hasn't been labeled a hate crime is because the victim is white. My god women just do a little research before you start babbling.

If this was group of white kids beating a single Hispanic or black kid almost to death the first thing everybody would be talking about is racism. Everyone in the US would know about it by now. It would get air time in every newspaper, on every T.V. news show and maybe even a spot on Oprah. And it's people like you that are to blame. Do us all a favor, educate yourself or keep that thing below your nose closed.
- Bill, Andover

Kate, can you not see the forest through the trees?
- Larry, Manchester

I am very glad to hear that David is doing well and is healing. At the time of this attack my ex lived at 290 Central Street and everytime I walked up to the back of the house, and saw the rest of the fence (it's not fixed) sawed off I would think about what had happened. My heart goes out to David. As far as these young individuals, I have no mercy for you. You better think the next time you hurt somebody because not every parent is going to leave it to the justice system.
- Tonya Ferrara, Manchester N.H.

I am awake, thank you Larry. If you would have read and interpreted my comment correctly, you would see that I pointed out that there is no report of THIS attack being motivated by any factors that would label it a hate crime. Labeling a crime for the sake of sensationalism does a disservice to everyone. I said nothing about hypotheticals, nor did I come to work asleep. Thanks for your concern about my awareness of the world.
- Kate, Manchester

Jeff in Manchester...you are part of the problem. You need to read what Theodore Roosevelt said over 100 years ago on ideas of immigrants being an American.
- Larry, Manchester

Jim of Manchester you are right.
Manchester is turning into a Lawrence.
I was born and grew up in Manchester and Love the town. Best in the state and I think it still is. But I saw this start to creep into my area and thats why I moved. Sad. Manchester PD is great and they have been doing a good job and it going to get harder for them to fight this because it growing to fast.
- pete, deerfield

Russel and Harry, the United States has no official language.
- Jeff, Manchester

Kate in Manchester, if a group of whites attacked a black, hispanic or whatever....are you saying it wouldn't be labeled a hate crime?
Wake up!!
- Larry, Manchester

15-105 years, I agree with Herb. Too much leeway.
- bob, auburn

Gene, a hate crime on what grounds? Where does it say Mosel's attack was motivated by his race, gender, sexual orientation, disability or religion? Even any gang affiliation is pure speculation. It is what is it: a heinous attack on another for seemingly no reason. To me, that is more scary than anything with a clear motive... it could happen to anyone. Don't label it a "hate crime" just because it makes the attack sound more sensational.
- Kate, Manchester

"As part of the sentence, Brens can never return to Manchester."

Awesome! You don't often hear judges issuing banishment orders these days.
- Jim, Manchester

Dear Marie and David, little sisters and Davids Dad.. I am glad to see that David has had some recovery, his case was heartbreaking, Marie, we talked during this hard time, and I remember you well, your courage amazed me every day, Davids family stood by him and cared for him and cheered him on after this horrible crime and were a testiment to the value of a familys love, your strong resolve and honor are what make you such an amazing group of people and it was a honor to have met, however, unfortuante that it was under such strain. stay strong.
As for the young men who commited this crime.. what you have done...is simply unacceptable,serve your time.. and learn. find hope in your eventual freedom and the fact that you still may someday have a normal life, what you have taken from this family is nothing.. you caused them to become stronger then ever and the only loss suffered here is your own, David will be okay, because he is surrounded by love, you however will be surrounded by the same terror that you delt.. for a very long time.
- Donna, Manchester

I had heard nothing about this case since it happened, I assumed there was no evidence and it was still open. Great work as usual to the MPD! Oh and to the family of Brens: your child/brother is a monsterly coward and deserves 150 years. Enjoy your youth in prison - audios amigos!
- Peter, Manchester

At least he got sentenced.

However, I find it odd the maximum sentence is less than for Stephen Raymond, who DIED as a result of his baseball bat beating.

Hmmm.
- Donna Raymond, Largo, FL

I personally can never understand these sentences. 15 to 105 years? Which is it ?
That's a ridiculous leeway in my opinion.
How about averaging the extremes at 60 years with possibility of parole at half that ?
- Herb C., Concord

Harry your are correct. And by streets, i mean the streets of manchester.........10 years or less you'll read this name again
- james, manchester

If Brens can't comprehend English, deport him with a D.N.R. label!!

This guy will be back on the streets one day.
- Harry, Atkinson

Why do they have to speak through a foriegn interpreter. This is the United States of America. If I committed a crime in a foriegn country and was lucky enough to get a public trial, would I get an interpreter?. Maybe we should consider deportation of the entire family to their native country. Even if it is only back to MA.
- Russell, Manchester, NH

In The Atlantic Monthly, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead wrote that the relationship between single-parent families and crime "is so strong that controlling for family configuration erases the relationship between race and crime and between low income and crime". Let me restate, regardless of race etc, once you eliminate SINGLE PARENT households, there is no difference in crime rate. Therein lies the good and bad news. The bad news, most pointedly is that the folks on the lower end of the economic ladder are inundated with programs that encourage the perpetuation of SINGLE PARENT households. Yes, the war on poverty sounds like a great idea, but we are reaping the unintended consequences today.
- Tommy K, Hollis

Maybe if these criminals got the book thrown at them, other people in the future would think twice about committing a crime. Good for the Judge.
- Cheryl, Woburn

Jim is right, welcome to New Lawrence. Section eight housing, run down slums and low paying jogs have brought "divercity" to Manchester along with guns, crime and drop outs. Lets not beat around the bush, these transplants live a differant lifestyle. Their culture is different from ours. Violence, drugs, dope and staling are all part of the program .
- Jake, Manchester

Gene from Hooksett, you're so right!
The ACLU probably supplied the rosary beads!!
- Larry, Manchester

The "never return to Manchester" is excellent. Having lived next to this group and having dealt with a couple of them in the school system, downtown will be better off with more of them being exiled for their crimes. This is not just a crime against 1 person, it's a threat to the whole community.
- J Paige, Manchester

This clown isn't wearing the rosary beads for Jesus people, the rosary beads are a gang symbol. This is what members of MS-13 (hispanic gang) and it's variations are wearing these days. I am amazed that this was allowed at sentencing... Google "rosary beads MS 13" for yourselves, or "rosary beads gangs". It's nothing new.
- Chris, Manchester

Rosary beads??? nice touch...this loser should be giving thanks that WE taxpayers will be supporting him.....
- Jay South, Deerfield, NH

Rosary bead around his neck? Who are you kidding? Where were your black rosary beads when you were beating and robbing the victim? Sorry but the rosary beads will not help you now.
- Paula, Derry

Why are you blaming the school district? What about the parents? I am so tired of everybody passing the blame for their kids. It starts at home.
- Paula, Manchester

Why are you blaming the school district? What about the parents? I am so tired of everybody passing the blame for their kids. It starts at home.
- Paula, Manchester

Another fine product of the Manchester School District....
- sp, Manchester, NH

Welcome to the new Lawrence!!
- Jim, Manchester

I think that was good job by the judge, especially the do not return to Manchester part of the sentence.
- Scott, Manchester

Why is this not prosecuted as a hate crime? It has all the criteria for application of the law. If it was my child, I would be talking to the ACLU to have all hate crimes legislation struck down as unconstitutional since the law is not applied equally to all.
- Gene, Hooksett