Malden man tells police: ‘I killed her. She’s dead’ in chilling 911 phone call

By Milton J. Valencia, Jeremiah Manion and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

MALDEN — Shortly before 6 a.m. today, William Bryant Moseley made a 911 call to the Malden police department from his home at 33 Francis St.

“I need the police at my house,’’ the 45-year-old Moseley told the police dispatcher. “I will be out front.’’

The dispatcher asked why police were needed at the two-family home on a small side street.

“I killed my wife,’’ Moseley allegedly told the dispatcher. “I killed her. She’s dead.’’

33 Francis St., Malden

Arriving officers found the body of 58-year-old Cecilia Yakubu lying inside the home. While Moseley referred to Yakubu as his wife, authorities said the couple was not married.

She was lying face down in a small puddle of blood with clothes wrapped around her neck, according to a Malden police report and the summary of the case Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Beth Dunigan provided in Malden District Court during Moseley’s arraignment.

Moseley pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail. Moseley’s court-appointed defense attorney did not challenge the no-bail order and left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.

Moseley and Yakubu had been a couple for about five years — which is about the time Moseley was released from state prison where he had been serving a 10 year sentence for shooting his-then wife in the face.

According to court records, the Department of Correction and the Telegram and Gazette newspaper, Moseley attacked her on March 23, 1996 when they were living on May Street in Worcester.

Moseley shot the woman in the face, striking her in the lip, with a .38 pistol when they argued after spending the night out at a downtown Worcester bar. Moseley was sentenced to 1o to 12 years behind bars and was released from state prison in 2007, records show.

The woman recovered from the attack, testified against Moseley at trial and later divorced him, records show.

Moseley’s allegedly murderous attack on Yakubu earlier today was not the first time he physically attacked her, records show. Last August, he was charged with beating her inside their 33 Francis St. home. According to court records, Moseley returned to their house, drunk, and complained that a friend of his had pulled a knife on him.

“ ‘That’s what you get for drinking,’ ” Yakubu told him, according to court records.

Moseley responded by punching her in the face, records show.

The case was dismissed when Yakubu filed court papers in January saying she wanted the prosecution of Moseley to end.