Man admits witnessing notorious Bourneside Street slayings

(George Rizer/Globe Staff/file)

Robert Turner, shown above at his 2006 arraignment, pleaded guilty today in Suffolk Superior Court.

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

Robert Turner admitted today he was inside a Dorchester basement recording studio and saw a close friend kill four young men in one of the bloodiest crimes in recent Boston history.

Speaking in Suffolk Superior Court, Turner apologized to relatives of the four men for not stopping Calvin Carnes Jr., the man accused of methodically shooting the victims 15 times from behind with a 9mm handgun.

"I was raised to be strong and to stand up for what's right," Turner said before he was sentenced to serve 13 years behind bars. "My actions were wrong.”

The 21-year-old from Boston pleaded guilty to four counts of being an accessory after the fact of murder and possession of three illegal firearms: a 9mm Glock semiautomatic handgun, a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun, and an AK-47 assault rifle. Carnes, a 21-year-old from Dorchester who is awaiting trial for armed robbery and four counts of murder, is due back in court in May.

Turner's apology today came after the mother of one of his victims, Edwin Duncan, 21, tried to describe the pain she and her family have endured since the killings in her Bourneside Street home on Dec. 13, 2005.

"It's such an evil, evil crime," said Darnella Phillips before she was overwhelmed by emotion.

Yvette Bachiller told Turner, 21, how hard it was that she could no longer hear the voice of her 20-year-old nephew, Jason Bachiller. He had a kind heart, Bachiller said, and loved to sing and write song lyrics.

First Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Joshua Wall recommended that Turner be sentenced to a maximum of 16 years in prison for four counts of accessory after the murder and three counts of unlawful possession of firearms. Turner was a witness to the killings, Wall said, and gave Carnes a false alibi and helped get rid of evidence.

Defense attorney Michael Bourbeau asked the judge to impose a five- to seven-year sentence, saying that his client was deeply remorseful and pleaded guilty without striking a deal with prosecutors. Turner acknowledged that he saw the crime and helped Carnes after the shootings, Bourbeau said, but he had no part in the actual killings.

When Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle ordered Turner to serve 13 years, she acknowledged the pain suffered by victims, but said that there was no evidence that Turner knew the four men were going to be shot. Turner has already been in prison for more than two years awaiting trial.

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