Suspect sought in attacks on women

HAVERHILL

Haverhill police said yesterday they are seeking a man who has molested six women in their homes over the past year. On six occasions, the man has entered Haverhill homes through unlocked doors between 1 and 4 a.m. and sought out sleeping women. He holds a knife to the women's throats while molesting them. "He's pretty bold," said Sergeant Dana Burrill. "If there are other members of the house sleeping, he'll still enter." Two such attacks have taken place this year, the latest on Monday. Police believe that the same man is responsible for each of the assaults. The case is under investigation.

BOSTON

A state Appeals Court panel yesterday threw out the second-degree murder conviction of a former US Marine who fatally shot a man on his front porch in 1992 in Plymouth. The three-member panel ruled that Superior Court Judge Robert L. Steadman incorrectly instructed the jury on the law concerning voluntary manslaughter, a lesser charge on which Robert E. Fortini III could have been convicted at his 1994 trial. Fortini shot Caesar Monteiro Jr., 31, with a shotgun, saying that he did so in self-defense after being harassed. He received a mandatory sentence of life in prison. His lawyer, Richard J. Fallon, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Plymouth district attorney's office did not return phone calls concerning whether prosecutors will appeal the ruling.

Former Senate President Robert E. Travaglini, who resigned last month to open a public strategy and lobbying practice, registered yesterday with the secretary of state's office as a lobbyist to represent the Cambridge Health Alliance, which represents three hospitals and 20 medical practices in Cambridge and other communities north of Boston. Travaglini will confine himself to working on federal issues while the Health Alliance's longtime State House lobbyist, Richard McDonough, will continue to deal with legislative matters, according to the former senator's business partner, Boston lawyer, Thomas J. Kiley. "This is a good fit," Kiley said, pointing out that as a senator Travaglini had represented the areas that the health system covers. Kiley said that he and Travaglini "laid out the details" of the arrangement to the State Ethics Commission to make sure that Travaglini was working within the state's conflict-of-interest laws.

New York US senator and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton was endorsed by 19 state senators and representatives from Massachusetts, her campaign announced yesterday. State Senators Edward Augustus, Steven Baddour, Harriette Chandler, Robert Creedon, Susan Fargo, Joan Menard, Richard Moore, Robert O'Leary, Marc Pacheco, Steven Panagiotakos, Pamela Resor, Karen Spilka, and Susan Tucker have thrown their support behind Clinton. Also offering their support are state Representatives Ruth Balser, Daniel Bosley, Geraldine Creedon, Lida Harkins, Kay Khan, and Pam Richardson. US Representative James McGovern has also endorsed Clinton.

Susan C. Athey, a professor of economics at Harvard University, is the first woman to receive the prestigious John Bates Clark Medal, the American Economic Association announced yesterday. The Clark Medal is regarded as the second most prestigious economics award, after the Nobel Prize. It is awarded every two years to an economist under the age of 40. Previous winners include the late Milton Friedman, also a Nobel laureate; Paul Krugman, now a New York Times columnist; and Lawrence Summers, former Harvard president. Athey, 36, a specialist in economy theory, taught at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University before joining Harvard in 2006.

FALL RIVER

Fall River police say an 8-month-old boy was in intensive care yesterday after he was so badly abused by his father that he stopped breathing. Detectives arrested Christopher J. Cerce, 30, at his home in Fall River and charged him with recklessly or wantonly endangering a child; assault and battery on a child with substantial injury; and possession of marijuana. Cerce pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Fall River District Court and was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail. According to police, Cerce called 911 at 3:05 p.m. yesterday and said his son wasn't breathing. He is due in court on May 11.