Murder

Man Pleads Guilty in Newton Grandmother Murder

Published on: December 24, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

James Maguire-Clark, 23, a British citizen, pled guilty this past Wednesday to the Murder of Eleanor Clark, 80, a Weston grandmother, who was murdered in March of 2009.

Maguire-Clark, whom Middlesex County prosecutors say had a history of mental illness, pled guilty to Second Degree Murder for stabbing the elderly woman to death in her Weston home. Clark was found dead in her home after police were called and found Maguire-Clark in the kitchen.

With a history of mental illness, Middlesex County prosecutors acknowledged “the legitimate documented and demonstrated issues regarding the defendant’s relevant and legally recognized mental health and diminished capacity.”

Chelsea Man Held Without Bail in Peabody Murder

Published on: December 23, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Fernando Aristy, 24, of Chelsea, Massachusetts, continues to be held without bail in connection with the Murder of Chad McDonald, Sr., which allegedly resulted from a confrontation between the two at a Lynn warehouse.

Aristy is charged with First Degree Murder, Aggravated Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon and Aggravated Assault & Battery (both counts being ‘aggravated’ as a result of serious bodily injuries).

According to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office, Aristy hit McDonald in the face and head with his fists as well as with a 2×4 piece of wood. McDonald was initially hospitalized for eleven days, but later succumbed to his injuries.

Massachusetts Supreme Court Rejects McCowen’s Appeal of Conviction for Christa Worthington Murder

Published on: December 16, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently decided and rejected Christopher McCowen’s appeal of his conviction for the Murder of Christa Worthington in 2002. In a unanimous decision, Massachusetts’ highest court unanimously ruled that the defendant’s appeal was without merit and found “no basis on which to reduce the degree of guilt or order a new trial.”

Christopher McCowen, of Hyannis, Massachusetts, was convicted of the Rape and Murder of Christa Worthington in 2002 in her home in Truro on Cape Cod. McCowen was found by a jury to have first raped and then stabbed her. Worthington was found in her home as her 2.5 year old daughter was against her mother’s lifeless body. The daughter was unharmed.

Despite McCowen having lost his appeal, the decision did raise some concerns, particularly with racial issues that were made public shortly after the trial, raising the concern of racial bias during jury deliberations. Specifically, after the conviction, it was revealed that, during jury deliberations, for example, one white female juror referred to McCowen as “a big black man” who had been trying to intimidate her by staring at her in the courtroom. She also stated that bruises like those found on the victim’s body would result when “a big black man beats up on a small woman” These statements obviously offended fellow jurors, and in particular, a black female juror, which led to a confrontation within the jury room. As a result of these and other allegations of racial impropriety having occurred during jury deliberations, the trial judge held a 2-day hearing a year after McCowen’s conviction in 2006.

Mattapan Murder Suspect Arraigned, Held Without Bail

Published on: December 10, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Edward Washington, 31, of Boston, Massachusetts, was arraigned this morning in the Dorchester Division of the Boston Municipal Court in connection with the September 28th quadruple Murder in Mattapan that claimed the lives of four people, which included a 2 year old child.

Washington was formally arraigned and charged with four counts of First Degree Murder, Armed Assault with Intent to Murder, Armed Robbery, Home Invasion, and Gun Charges.

At Washington’s arraignment this morning, Suffolk County prosecutors alleged that Washington conspired with Dwayne Moore and his cousin, Kimani Washington, to jointly rob the victims at 23 Sutton Street. As written in the Boston Criminal Lawyers Blog on 12/09/10, the suspects allegedly knew that the victim who was initially targeted, Simba Martin, ran a drug business from his Mattapan home and had a stash of drugs and money there. The prosecutor expressed the belief that Washington supplied the guns used the home invasion and murders, but did not reveal, however, whom they believed was the person who actually pulled the trigger that resulted in the four victims being murdered.

Third Boston Man Arrested in Mattapan Quadruple Murder

Published on: December 9, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Edward Washington, 31, of Boston, Massachusetts, was arrested and is to be charged in connection to the Mattapan murders that claimed the lives of four people during the September drug robbery in Mattapan.

Boston Police reported that Washington is to be charged with four counts of Murder, as well as Armed Assault with Intent to Murder, Home Invasion, Armed Robbery, and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. He is scheduled to be arraigned this morning in the Dorchester Division of the Boston Municipal Court.

As previously reported in the Boston Criminal Lawyers Blog, the Boston Police and Suffolk County prosecutors allege that Edward Washington, Dwayne Moore and Kimani Washington conspired to rob Simba Martin, who was known to them as dealing drugs from his Mattapan home on Sutton Avenue. The men, according to the Boston Police and prosecutors, knew that Martin ran a drug business from his home and knew of his stash of drugs and money.

Regis College Murder Suspect Arraigned, Granted Bail

Published on: December 1, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Robenson Daniel, who was arrested in September for the Murder of Elhaji Malick Ndiaye, 18, of Waltham, was arraigned yesterday in Middlesex Superior Court and charged with Murder, Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon, and Armed Assault with Intent to Murder.

According to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office and Waltham Police Department, Daniel allegedly stabbed Ndiaye to death in the parking lot of Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts. The men, who did not appear to know one another, were reportedly visiting friends who attended the school.

Robenson Daniel was charged with ther Murder of Ndiaye, as well as for trying to stab two others. Following his arraignment, Daniel was held on $750,000 bail.

Massachusetts State Police Arrest Man for Thanksgiving Day Murder in Chelsea

Published on: November 27, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Dennis Bowen, 22, of Chelsea, Massachusetts, was arrested last night for allegedly stabbing to death Carlos Ramirez, also of Chelsea, on Thanksgiving Day morning this past Thursday.

According to the Chelsea Police Department, Bowen allegedly stabbed Ramirez on Broadway Street in Chelsea after some ‘altercation’. At this time, there is no information as to what prompted the altercation, or how Bowen and Ramirez were known to one another.

Last evening, Bowen negotiated through his criminal attorney to turn himself in to the Chelsea Police Department after a warrant was issued for his arrest. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Chelsea District Court Monday morning on Murder Charges.

Fall River Woman Charged with Assault to Murder

Published on: November 26, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Mary Huot, of Fall River, Massachusetts, is charged with Assault with Intent to Murder for allegedly driving her car into a large crowd of people.

The incident occurred last Sunday morning when Huot allegedly drove into the crowd, which resulted in injuries to three young women. According to New Bedford Police, a witness told them Huot laughed as she drove her car over the curb and gunned the gas at several people standing on the grass. Huot then allegedly left the scene of the incident.

In addition to Assault with Intent to Murder charges, Huot was also charged with Leaving the Scene of an Accident with Personal Injury, and Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon. She is expected back in court this Monday for a Dangerousness Hearing.

Suffolk County Prosecutors Allege Mattapan Quadruple Murder Resulted from Drug Robbery

Published on: November 24, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Dwayne Moore, 33, was arraigned yesterday morning in the Dorchester Division of the Boston Municipal Court, charged with four counts of First Degree Murder in connection with the Mattapan murders of four people: Levaughn Washum-Garrison, Simba Martin, Eyanna Flonory, and her 2 year old child, Amanihotep Smith.

At Moore’s arraignment in Dorchester, Suffolk County prosecutors alleged that Moore conspired with Kimani Washington to rob Simba Martin, who was allegedly dealing drugs from his Mattapan home on Sutton Avenue. According to prosecutors, Moore lived with Martin at one point in 2010 after being released from state prison following a Manslaughter conviction, and therefore knew about Martin’s illegal drug business, and presumably, his stash of drugs and money at his home.

On the night of the murders, September 28, Moore and Washington tried to get Martin to come out of his home, but another man, Marcus Hurd, arrived to purchase drugs of his own. At that point, Moore and Washington forced both Martin and Hurd inside at gunpoint and the two began robbing the home.

Boston’s Triple Murder in Jamaica Plain Believe to be Gang-Related

Published on: November 23, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

This past Sunday, three young men were Murdered as a result of the gun and knife fight inside the Same Old Place Pizza shop in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Boston Police now believe that the incident was gang-related.

According to the Boston Police Department and witnesses on scene, shots were fired at around 7:30 on Sunday. An altercation that initially began with fists, led to a knife being drawn and then a gun. When Boston Police Officers responded on scene, one 21 year old man was found suffering from stab wounds; another 21 year old man and a 28 year old man both were found to have been shot. All three men were transported to Boston hospitals where they eventually succumbed to their wounds.

A fourth vicitm, a female pedestrian who happened to be in the area at the time shots were fired, was struck in the leg. She was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries where she was treated and released.