Judge denies Entwistle's motion for change of venue

May 30, 2008 04:39 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

WOBURN -- A lawyer for Neil Entwistle argued today that the saturation media coverage of the killing of his wife and infant daughter has left only one place in Massachusetts where his client can get a fair trial: Martha's Vineyard.

But Middlesex Superior Court Judge Diane Kottmyer rejected the request for a change of venue to the island community and another motion arguing that the charges against Entwistle should be dropped altogether because of the intense media coverage.

Attorney Elliot Weinstein said at a hearing this morning that the double murder trial should be moved to the insular community of Edgartown.

"The preceding interest in the case has consumed all media locally, nationally, and internationally," said Weinstein. "There has not been any reporting that concludes anything but that Neil Entwistle committed these brutal murders."

But a Middlesex prosecutor argued successfully that Entwistle could receive a fair trial in Middlesex County and said pretrial publicity wasn't in itself a reason to dismiss the charges.

Jury selection in the high-profile case is expected to begin Monday. The trial is expected to last a month.

Entwistle is charged in the January 2006 slaying of his wife, Rachel, 27, and his 9-month-old daughter, Lillian Rose, who were found shot to death lying in bed at their Hopkinton home. Entwistle, a British citizen, fled the country to England but was arrested there in February 2006 and extradited to the United States.