Thursday, 4:30 PM
New information released in shooting of millionaire
By John R. Ellement, Globe staff
A former MIT professor shot himself in order to "gain advantage'' in ongoing litigation with his children over control of a family fortune estimated at $180 million, according to Middlesex County prosecutors.
Although he was not present John Donovan Sr. was arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge today on a single misdemeanor count of filing a false police report.
Court rules allow a defendant to skip arraignment for a misdemeanor.
A not guilty plea was entered on Donovan's behalf before Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Connors.
Donovan is due back in court June 20.
Connors rejected a request by prosecutors to bar Donovan from having contact with his five children because of the criminal charge. Connors, who called the case "bizarre,'' said prosecutors did not provide any evidence that Donovan was a current threat to his adult children.
His children have contended that he sexually abused one of his daughters, an allegation Donovan has adamantly denied.
In a 17-page filing today, Middlesex prosecutors said their investigation found that Donovan repositioned a surveillance camera covering the parking lot where he was shot and that he left a "things to do" list in the suitcoat he was wearing on the night of the shooting that laid out his alleged scheme to stage the shooting.
Barry C. Klickstein, Donovan's attorney, said prosecutors have misread the forensic evidence and that Donovan was shot by someone else last year.
