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Post by Sher on Jun 8, 2005 1:26:14 GMT -5
Man With Stained Chain Saw Let in to U.S. By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press Writer Tue Jun 7,10:54 PM ET BOSTON - On April 25, Gregory Despres arrived at the U.S.-Canadian border crossing at Calais, Maine, carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood. U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons and fingerprinted Despres. Then they let him into the United States. The following day, a gruesome scene was discovered in Despres' hometown of Minto, New Brunswick: The decapitated body of a 74-year-old country musician named Frederick Fulton was found on Fulton's kitchen floor. His head was in a pillowcase under a kitchen table. His common-law wife was discovered stabbed to death in a bedroom. Despres, 22, immediately became a suspect because of a history of violence between him and his neighbors, and he was arrested April 27 after police in Massachusetts saw him wandering down a highway in a sweat shirt with red and brown stains. He is now in jail in Massachusetts on murder charges, awaiting an extradition hearing next month. At a time when the United States is tightening its borders, how could a man toting what appeared to be a bloody chain saw be allowed into the country? Bill Anthony, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the Canada-born Despres could not be detained because he is a naturalized U.S. citizen and was not wanted on any criminal charges on the day in question. Anthony said Despres was questioned for two hours before he was released. During that time, he said, customs agents employed "every conceivable method" to check for warrants or see if Despres had broken any laws in trying to re-enter the country. "Nobody asked us to detain him," Anthony said. "Being bizarre is not a reason to keep somebody out of this country or lock them up. ... We are governed by laws and regulations, and he did not violate any regulations." Anthony conceded it "sounds stupid" that a man wielding what appeared to be a bloody chain saw could not be detained. But he added: "Our people don't have a crime lab up there. They can't look at a chain saw and decide if it's blood or rust or red paint." Sgt. Gary Cameron of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police would not comment on whether it was, in fact, blood on the chain saw. On the same day Despres crossed the border, he was due in a Canadian court to be sentenced on charges he assaulted and threatened to kill Fulton's son-in-law, Frederick Mowat, last August. Mowat told police Despres had been bothering his father-in-law for the past month. When Mowat confronted him, Despres allegedly pulled a knife, pointed it at Mowat's chest and said he was "going to get you all." Police believe the dispute between the neighbors boiled over in the early-morning hours of April 24, when Despres allegedly broke into Fulton's home and stabbed to death the musician and 70-year-old Veronica Decarie. Fulton's daughter found her father's body two days later. His car was later found in a gravel pit on a highway leading to the U.S. border. Despres hitchhiked to the border crossing. After the bodies were found on the afternoon of April 26, police set up roadblocks and sent out a bulletin that identified Despres as a "person of interest" in the slayings, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The bulletin caught the eye of a Quincy police dispatcher because it gave the suspect's Massachusetts driver's license number, missing a character. The dispatcher plugged in numbers and letters until she found a last known address for Despres in Mattapoisett. She alerted police in that town, and an officer quickly spotted Despres. In state court the next day, Despres told a judge that he is affiliated with NASA and was on his way to a Marine Corps base in Kansas at the time of his arrest. After the case was transferred to federal court, Despres' attorney, Michael Andrews, questioned whether his client is mentally competent. Fulton's friends in Minto, a village of 2,700 people, told the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal that he was a popular musician, a guitarist known as the "Chet Atkins of Minto" and a 2001 inductee in the Minto Country Music Wall of Fame. news.yahoo.com/s/ap/chain_saw_border;_ylt=AhEym43E71wouBFlTBXjfnus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2bm5xNHVjBHNlYwNtcA
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Post by Sher on Jun 15, 2005 15:36:46 GMT -5
BOSTON -- A Level 3 sex offender was arrested Tuesday for the alleged rape of a Boston woman.
Police said that a woman had dropped off her niece at a bus stop when Raymond Diamond yelled to her using her last name.
Thinking she may know him, she got into the car with him, he drove her to a secluded area and allegedly raped her. The victim managed to escape, but not before the suspect stabbed her in the leg. Police said that the victim said she was able to identify the suspect after coming into the police station.
When police went to arrest Diamond, officials said that he was posing as a cab driver and had another woman in his car.
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Post by Sher on Jun 22, 2005 14:43:01 GMT -5
BOSTON -- Two police officers may have lied during the investigation into Victoria Snelgrove's death during rioting after last fall's Red Sox American League playoff victory over the New York Yankees.
Gail Huff Reports On Police Probe NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that Police Superintendent Al Goslin, who heads the Internal Affairs Division, said lies were reported in the internal notes of investigators who were probing the shootings. The officers names haven't been released and the notes and report have not been made public.
Snelgrove, 21, died after being hit in the eye socket with a pepper-spray pellet that a cop fired into a rowdy crowd outside Fenway Park Oct. 21 with plenty of witnesses around. Two others in the crowd were also struck in the face but survived. Now, an investigation into the fatal police shooting has turned up some disturbing information.
Internal notes from the investigation show that two police officers lied about what happened that night according to Goslin, who was interviewed by the Boston Globe.
Unnamed sources told the Globe that "two sergeants were under investigation for making statements to officers under their command which could have been interpreted as threats against cooperating with a department probe."
It's the latest stunner in what's been a tragic embarrassment to the Boston Police Department. First, one of their own officers shot into a crowd, accidentally killing a young Emerson College student. Then the city of Boston paid Snelgrove's family $5 million, the largest wrongful death settlement in the city's history.
Five police officers still face administrative discipline for their actions and the district attorney is still deciding whether they'll face criminal charges. Now, this newest revelation -- that two police officers counted on to help uncover the truth about what went wrong that night allegedly lied to investigators.
Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole said the department's disciplinary process doesn't allow her to discuss administrative charges against the officers. The two officers haven't been notified yet and Goslin said the notes would not be made public and he could not discuss what kind of disciplinary action the officers may face.
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Post by Sher on Jun 24, 2005 12:52:39 GMT -5
BOSTON -- Boston Police are investigating the murder of a 16-year-old high school football player.
Kevin Walsh was fatally stabbed early Thursday at the Bunker Hill house development. He's the youngest person to be killed in Boston this year.
Walsh and several of his friends were fighting with another group of teenagers early yesterday morning when Walsh was stabbed in the side with an ice pick.
Police say he died a short time later at Mass General Hospital.
Two other teenagers were injured in the fight.
The killing is the latest in a rash of bloody incidents that has made the Bunker Hill housing development the most violent "reporting area" in the city, according to a review of police data by the Boston Herald.
Walsh's murder is the second this year in the housing project.
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Post by Sher on Jun 24, 2005 12:53:27 GMT -5
HOLLIS, Mass. -- A popular math teacher allegedly fondled and kissed a 17-year-old student this week on the last day of school, which was the day before he was to retire.
The girl had gone to Robert Adams Middle School on Tuesday to show Thomas V. Collins her report card, prosecutors said.
Collins, 70, of Milford, pleaded innocent Thursday in Framingham District Court and later posted $1,000 cash bail, a court clerk said. He was ordered to return to court July 15.
"I'm shocked," Deborah Moore, whose son was one of Collins' students, told the MetroWest Daily News of Framingham. "I'm beyond words. The kids loved him. The kids used to give him standing ovations when he entered the classroom."
Parent Marcia Palmisano said she found the allegations hard to believe.
"I learned long ago there's usually more to any story than has been told," she said.
Collins' lawyer, Daniel Bennett, argued bail was unnecessary because his client, who taught for more than 40 years, is not a flight risk and would not be around children anymore.
Prosecutor Jennifer Breen-Kirsch said bail was needed because Collins admitted to police to similar incidents in the past.
Collins and Bennett declined comment when reached by phone Friday.
School Superintendent Bradford Jackson said the alleged victim first told her parents about the incident, and they told a trusted teacher. The parents and the school department then called police, Jackson said.
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Post by Sher on Jun 27, 2005 15:15:17 GMT -5
LYNN, Mass. -- A woman found dead on her couch may have been killed when a bullet was shot through her ceiling, police said.
Kathryn Lally, 37, was found by her mother Sunday morning, on the couch where she was believed to have been watching a movie the night before, according to a police report obtained by The Daily Item of Lynn.
Eight people in the apartment above Lally's have been arrested on unrelated drug and weapons charges, and were to be arraigned Monday in Lynn District Court.
A hole was discovered in the ceiling of Lally's apartment, which was consistent with a bullet hole, the police report said. Smatterings of ceiling tile also were found on the coffee table near the couch.
Officers concluded that a bullet fired from the apartment above may have struck Lally, the report said.
Steve O'Connell, a spokesman for the Essex County district attorney, said Lally's body has been taken to the medical examiner's office for evaluation.
After a search of the apartment on the floor above where Lally was found, police arrested the eight people and charged them with marijuana possession. Four of the eight also were charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.
Arrested the drug charge were: Joseph Castillo, 22; Terrence Giambusso, 19; Elease Davis, 21, and Melinda Lozzi, 22. Facing the drug and weapons charges were: Bobby Boyd, 23, of Lynn; Lorenzo Davis, 22, of Lynn; Christopher Hodgon, 19, of Lynn, and Jarmahl L. Sutson, 21, of Lynn.
O'Connell would not confirm if those arrested were suspects or related to the investigation into Lally's death.
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Post by Sher on Jul 8, 2005 2:29:16 GMT -5
Siblings Murdered By Father Two Years Ago POSTED: 5:39 pm EDT July 6, 2005 UPDATED: 5:46 pm EDT July 6, 2005 BOSTON -- This week marks the second anniversary of the murders of Sarah and Philip Gehring -- the New Hampshire siblings who were last seen at a Concord fireworks display. NewsCenter 5's Mary Saladna reported Wednesday that investigators have never been able to find the Midwest burial site where the children's father deposited their bodies. She has launched a new effort to find them. Two years after they were abducted and murdered by their father, the bodies of Sarah and Philip Gehring have still not been laid to rest. Their mother, Terri Knight, is embarking on a personal quest to locate them and bring them back to New Hampshire. "Sarah and Philip didn't deserve this. This is the ultimate ending for them that they are on the side of the road someplace," Knight said. "It's my job to bring them home." Knight knows what she's up against. The search zone is a 700-mile stretch along Interstate 80 between Pennsylvania and Iowa. That was the cross-country route Manuel Gehring drove in his minivan after he shot and killed his children. Gehring killed himself in prison in February 2004, leaving behind clues to where he buried the children that were specific yet vague at the same time. "Each of those pieces that he mentioned -- the tall grass, the cement cylinders -- is very detailed. My belief is that all of those pieces fit into a puzzle in some location in the Midwest. However, the location of that -- he was extremely vague of whether he had driven two or 24 hours, and that is what is leading us on such a long journey," she said. While Knight will spend only six days in the Midwest, she thinks that will be long enough to reignite interest in the case. "Really, I am hoping when Jim and I turn and leave, we know that other people are there searching," she said. Last month, the FBI also posted tapes of interviews with Manuel Gehring on its Web site hoping to spark new leads in the case. www.thebostonchannel.com/news/4691031/detail.html?subid=22100410&qs=1;bp=t
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Post by Sher on Jul 11, 2005 14:42:24 GMT -5
BOSTON -- A Boston police officer was scheduled to appear in court Monday in connection with a homicide at a Randolph, Mass., nightclub earlier this year. Baltazar DeRosa was indicted on Friday for allegedly driving the getaway car after the killing. NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that it was a cold winter night in January when the Copa Grande Oasis nightclub was packed with patrons who were there to enjoy Cape Verdean night. Outside, as hundreds streamed into the parking lot, Joseph Lopes, 23, was gunned down. The suspect in the case was identified as Carlos DePina, 29 [pictured right.] But six months after the slaying, authorities still haven't caught up with DePina. "Carlos DePina was charged with first-degree murder, is still at large and he should be considered armed and dangerous," District Attorney William Keating said. While the search for DePina continues, DeRosa, a police officer for three years, was arrested and charged with being an accessory to the killing. Authorities said DeRosa drove the getaway car for DePina. A third man, Amilcar Cabral, 27, was also accused of helping the gunman escape and he is being held without bail. www.thebostonchannel.com/news/4707048/detail.html?subid=22100410&qs=1;bp=t
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Post by Sher on Jul 18, 2005 20:21:09 GMT -5
Missing Dad, Sons May Be In Paris Trio Never Showed Up For Cookout POSTED: 12:35 pm EDT July 18, 2005 UPDATED: 5:29 pm EDT July 18, 2005 WALTHAM, Mass. -- Waltham police searching for a father and his two sons said Monday that it appears the man took the children to Paris. Sidali Babali, 37, was last seen with Akram, 5, and Zakary Babali, 2, on July 16. They were supposed to be attending a cookout in Revere, Mass., that night, but never showed up. Late Monday, officials learned that the three boarded a plane Saturday night and traveled to Dublin and then to Paris. "I just want my kids back and to know that they are safe and nothing happened to them," Wahiba Babali, the children's mother, said. The children's mother is concerned that Babali took the kids out of the country, either to Algeria or Canada. Sidali Babali is wanted for questioning only. "He wants to go to Algeria and does not want to raise the children here," Wahiba Babali said. He was last seen driving a 1995 green Hyundai Accent with license plate 89KZ11. Police are asking anyone with information to contact Waltham Police. www.thebostonchannel.com/news/4737010/detail.html?subid=22100410&qs=1;bp=t
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Post by Sher on Aug 3, 2005 13:17:00 GMT -5
BROCKTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- A man lifting his infant daughter out of his car was killed in an apparent case of road rage by a motorist "who obviously exploded" and shot him four times at close range in front of dozens of witnesses, authorities said.
The victim's 10-month-old girl was covered with blood but uninjured when police found her in a car seat on the floor of the vehicle.
Walter R. Bishop, 60, who was taking medication for depression, was arrested Tuesday and charged with first-degree murder in the death of 27-year-old Sandro Andrade. He pleaded innocent and was ordered held without bail; a hearing was scheduled for August 26.
Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz said Bishop had made a calculated decision to "shoot a man in cold blood in broad daylight on the streets of Brockton."
Police Chief Paul Studenski described it as a case of road rage.
Bishop's attorney, Kevin Reddington, said Andrade had provoked his client during a traffic altercation.
"We have a homicide that resulted from a circumstance where somebody picked a fight with an individual who obviously exploded," Reddington said. Bishop, a former soldier and security guard, had recently begun taking two medications for depression, he said.
Bishop told investigators he was driving his wife to the train station when Andrade's vehicle backed toward him on Main Street, Cruz said. The two exchanged heated words.
"He said his wife was scared, and he said he was angry at that encounter," Cruz said of Bishop. "He said he made up his mind right there that he had to do something."
After dropping his wife off, he allegedly returned to the scene of the confrontation, pointed a handgun through an open window and fired, police said.
"Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Four shots. It sounded like a cap gun," Louis McPhee, the manager of a car wash across the street, told The Boston Globe. "The guy was lying there in his own blood with a hole in his head and his arm still on the baby."
Bishop left before police arrived, but witnesses gave investigators his license plate number and police found him at his home.
Police said Bishop has a valid handgun license.
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Post by Sher on Aug 8, 2005 8:24:31 GMT -5
BOSTON -- The man accused of raping a Dover, N.H., teenager after pretending he was interested in buying her home appeared in court Friday.
NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper reported that Oliver Daniel Hooper, 34, of Gorham, Maine, went to the Dover police station about 4:30 p.m. Thursday accompanied by his attorney.
"Mr. Hooper came into the police department with an attorney representing him. Although he didn’t turn himself in, the attorney represented to us that Mr. Hooper wanted to make himself available to the Dover police," Dover Police Department Chief William Fenniman said.
His attorney said Hooper made himself available to Dover police because Hooper's co-workers told him he fit the description police were giving out. He refused to be questioned, but police said two women picked him out of a photo lineup.
"While Mr. Hooper was in the Dover Police Department, detectives were able to track a digital photo of him, set up a photo display, and he was positively identified by the victim and by one other individual who he approached in Newburyport, Mass.," Fenniman said.
Officials allege that Hooper gained access to a New Hampshire home that was for sale on July 26 by pretending he was interested in buying it. He allegedly forced his way in and raped a 19-year-old Dover, N.H., woman and may have approached at least 10 other women in both states. Women in Boxford, Newburyport and Georgetown, Mass., have also come forward claiming they were also approached by a man who posed as a homebuyer.
"I would like the public to know that Mr. Hooper has lived previously in Finksburg, Md., Rockford, Ill., Framingham, Mass., and Limington, Maine. I say this because there may be victims out there who are afraid to call the police because of his MO, in which he threatens ... he threatened our victim ... if she disclosed that she was raped and provided details to police. He did this through capturing her identification, both her name, Social Security number and date of birth, and calling it in on a cell phone. We don't know if that went to anybody else or if that was just his voice mail -- in an effort to keep her from reporting this to the police," Fenniman said.
Fenniman said his department had executed search warrants at Hooper's home in Gorham and on Hooper and expect further search warrants when they locate Hooper's automobile. Police said Hooper's vehicle was a blue Dodge minivan with Maine plates registered to a Portland, Maine heating company with Maine plates 5633ME.
Hooper was scheduled to be arraigned Friday on two charges of aggravated felonious sexual assault.
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Post by Sher on Aug 9, 2005 17:09:03 GMT -5
BOSTON -- A 13-year-old was in critical condition and her mother faced criminal charges yesterday for failing to get medical help after the girl's attempt to pierce her own belly button caused a severe infection lasting weeks.
By the time Deborah Robinson's daughter was taken to the hospital last week, the former middle school track runner weighed about 75 pounds and was near death, authorities said.
Yesterday, two days after being arrested, Robinson, 38, appeared in court and was ordered to undergo evaluation by a psychiatrist to determine whether she's fit to stand trial. She faces up to five years in prison on a charge of wantonly and recklessly permitting substantial bodily injury to a child under 14, and up to two years in prison on a child endangerment charge.
Prosecutors said the girl's infection was caused by her attempt to pierce her navel. The small flesh wound progressed to damage several of her organs.
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