Thursday, 4:30 PM
Prosecutors seek DNA from Neil Entwistle
By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff
Prosecutors are seeking a DNA sample from Neil Entwistle, but a lawyer for the man charged with fatally shooting his wife and infant daughter in their Hopkinton home plans to fight the move in a hearing Thursday.
The Middlesex district attorney’s office filed a motion last week seeking a swab of DNA from Entwistle, his court-appointed lawyer, Elliot M. Weinstein, said Tuesday.
Superior Court Judge Peter M. Lauriat has sealed the motion. Weinstein declined to discuss why the state wants the DNA sample and why he intends to oppose it. A spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley also declined to comment.
A police affidavit, however, said investigators found Entwistle’s DNA on the grip of the alleged murder weapon, a .22-caliber revolver police say he secretly took from his father-in-law’s house in Carver and used to shoot his 27-year-old wife, Rachel, and their 9-month-old daughter, Lillian, on Jan. 20. He then returned it, investigators allege.
Rachel Entwistle’s parents, Joseph and Priscilla Matterazzo, plan to attend the hearing before Lauriat Thursday afternoon, said a family spokesman.
Entwistle has been held at the Middlesex County Jail in Cambridge since he was arraigned Feb. 16, after authorities arrested and escorted him from his native England. No date has been set for his murder trial.
