Man guilty of killing wife, baby
2008-06-26 13:03
Woburn, Massachusetts - A British man convicted of murdering his wife and infant daughter will be sentenced to life in prison on Thursday.
Neil Entwistle, 29, on Wednesday was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Rachel, 27, and their 9-month-old baby, Lillian Rose.
Under state law, he must be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
For more than two years, Entwistle told the same story: he came home from running errands and found his wife and baby daughter cuddled in bed, dead from apparent gunshot wounds.
Never did Entwistle suggest who might have killed his wife, Rachel, and their 9-month-old daughter, Lillian Rose - not to investigators during taped interviews and apparently not to his family or friends who rallied to his defence.
Suicide theory
But in the final days of his trial, his lawyers floated a stunning theory: Rachel Entwistle had killed their baby, then committed suicide.
Jurors rejected that defence. Entwistle, 29, closed his eyes and shook his head slightly as the jury foreman announced the guilty verdict.
His parents left the courtroom insisting that their son is innocent.
"We know that our son Neil is innocent, and we are devastated to learn that the evidence points to Rachel murdering our grandchild and then committing suicide," Yvonne Entwistle said outside Middlesex Superior Court.
"I knew Rachel was depressed. Our son will now go to jail for loving, honouring and protecting his wife's memory."
Joseph Matterazzo, the victim's stepfather, declined to comment on the verdict, but thanked supporters, including the students at St. Augustine's Catholic High School in Droitwich, England, where she had taught English.
- AP