Thursday, 4:30 PM
Police describe finding bodies of wife, daughter in Entwistle home
By Jonathan Saltzman and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
CAMBRIDGE -- A police officer described finding the bodies of Rachel Souza Entwistle and her 9-month-old daughter in their Hopkinton home in January 2006 at a hearing today that offered a glimpse into the sensational murder case of Neil Entwistle.
Sergeant Michael Sutton had returned to the home for the second time to follow up on a 911 call from Rachel Souza Entwistle's mother, who was upset because she had not heard from her daughter in two days. Sutton testified that he and a detective stepped into the garage and followed a foul smell inside the home and upstairs.
At the master bedroom, the smell intensified, Sutton said, and he walked in to examine a pile of blankets and a comforter in the center of the bed. After noticing a pair of glasses and a woman's wristwatch on the floor, Sutton said he lifted a corner of a blanket and saw a foot. He called the detective into the room, walked to the other side of the bed, and lifted another corner of the bedding.
"The first thing I saw was a baby's face," Sutton testified today in Middlesex Superior Court. "The face was bruised and mottled. There were obvious signs of death. The baby had been dead for some time."
Neil Entwistle is accused of fatally shooting his 27-year-old wife, Rachel Souza Entwistle, and his 9-month-old daughter, Lillian Rose, and fleeing to his native England. His lead attorney, Elliot M. Weinstein, has argued that police entered his client’s house without permission and conducted a warrantless search that violated his rights. Weinstein is asking a judge to throw out nearly all the evidence against Entwistle because he maintains it is "fruits of the poisonous tree."
The judge did not issue a ruling at the conclusion of today's hearing, which included testimony from four police officers and an audio recording of a call made to police by Rachel's mother, Priscilla Matterazzo.
Investigators obtained search warrants after they discovered the bodies and then took evidence from the home, a sport utility vehicle Entwistle had parked at the airport, and his computer equipment.
Police concluded that Entwistle shot and killed his wife and daughter because the unemployed engineer was despondent about his finances had apparently planned a murder-suicide but did not take his own life.
Middlesex prosecutors have maintained that the Entwistles had suddenly disappeared and Rachel's family was alarmed and essentially begging police to find them. "In the present case, not only was it reasonable for the Hopkinton officers to enter the home, but the public would expect as much," prosecutors in the office of District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said in a 23-page memorandum countering the defense claims.
