Doctor denied bid for new trial in slaying

A Norfolk Superior Court judge has denied a request for a new trial for Dirk Greineder, the once-prominent Wellesley doctor convicted of killing his wife eight years ago. Judge Paul A. Chernoff denied the request yesterday, the Norfolk district attorney's office said. Greineder killed his wife on Oct. 31, 1999, in a park near their home. He was convicted of first-degree murder on June 29, 2001. During the high-profile trial in 2001, prosecutors argued that Greineder bludgeoned his wife and cut her throat to keep hidden a secret life involving prostitutes, calls to phone sex lines, and trysts sought on the Internet. Taking the stand in his own defense, Greineder said his wife was killed by an unknown person after the two separated for 10 minutes while walking their German shepherd. Jamie Sultan, Greineder's lawyer, said his client had filed an appeal with the Supreme Judicial Court that was put on hold during the new-trial motion. Now, Sultan said, the appeal will go forward, and the issues from the new-trial motion are likely to be added to it.

The state Division of Professional Licensure has sent letters to about 450,000 licensees informing them that the agency accidentally released computer disks containing their Social Security numbers last month. Kofi Jones, a spokeswoman for the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, said the division's first priority was to recover all the disks and to make sure that no information was compromised, which they did.

A South End man pleaded guilty to a 2003 rape and armed robbery of a 23-year-old male student, the Suffolk district attorney said. Abram Acevedo, 26, was sentenced to seven to nine years in prison for aggravated rape and two years of supervised probation after his jail term for the armed robbery and was ordered to register as a sex offender, the district attorney said. On Nov. 25, 2003, Acevedo approached the victim about 11 p.m. on Massachusetts Avenue and took him to an Edgerly Road alley, where he sexually assaulted him and stole his identification, authorities said.

Boston College has named a Jesuit priest, the Rev. Richard J. Clifford, to serve as the first dean of a new school that will embrace several Boston College religion programs as well as the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, which is scheduled to affiliate with BC and move from Harvard Square to the college's new Brighton campus next fall.

A woman headed to prison for four years for embezzlement told federal investigators that she gave a $6,000 gift to the wife of Bristol District Attorney Samuel Sutter. According to court documents, Grace Oliver of Acushnet gave expensive cars to boyfriends and cash gifts to friends, including Sutter's wife, Dottie. Oliver pleaded guilty in August to embezzling $1.1 million from Superior Drywall, a New Bedford company she worked for as a bookkeeper. A spokesman for Sutter disputes the amount of the gift, saying Oliver gave the district attorney's wife $4,000 and paid him $1,500 in legal fees. The district attorney says he is working with federal officials to return the money. (AP)

A Milford woman was killed yesterday in a crash that closed part of Interstate 495 in Marlborough for hours. Donna M. Howard, 32, was driving a 2003 Ford Windstar van north when she crashed into the median at 2:39 p.m., State Police said. Howard was pronounced dead at the scene. The left lane of I-495 north was closed after the crash, the cause of which is under investigation, police said.

Suspended Superior Court Judge Patricia Coffey has agreed that she violated judicial ethics rules by helping to shield her husband's assets from creditors as he was being disbarred two years ago. The Judicial Conduct Committee accepted Coffey's agreement and declared yesterday that the case against her had been resolved, except for discipline. The committee has scheduled a hearing for Dec. 10 to hear testimony on what discipline it might impose or recommend. (AP)