Bourneside killer given four life terms as victims' relatives applaud

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

Relatives of four young men slain in a basement recording studio in Dorchester in 2005 broke into applause today when a judge sentenced the man who murdered them to four life terms in state prison.

Calvin Carnes, 21, was convicted Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court of shooting Jason Bachiller, 20, Jihad Chankhour, 22, Edwin Duncan, 21, and Christopher Vieira, 19, a total of 15 times in the basement of a home on Bourneside Street. Carnes was a friend of the four men, three of whom had formed a rap group.

Before sentencing, relatives of each of the men delivered statements, speaking to Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle and to Carnes, who entered the courtroom carrying a Koran and who remained outwardly calm even as he was called "evil.''

"How dare you take the kids away just for a spark of adrenaline?'' Elizabeth Perez Barani, Vieira's mother, said. "You are truly the spark of evil.''

Guillermo Bachiller, Jason's uncle, who had raised him as his own son, reminded Carnes that his surname in Spanish means meat. "It is appalling how you have reduced Jason and his three friends to pieces of meat,'' he said, adding that Carnes attacked people who considered him a friend. "You were a wolf in a lamb's clothing.''

Carnes took the stand in his own defense during the trial and insisted he was not the killer. His attorney, Shannon Frison, told the judge that Carnes had no prior criminal convictions.

Hinkle asked Carnes if he wished to speak. Wearing a charcoal gray suit, a black shirt and a black-and-gold tie, Carnes rose to his feet, while holding his shackled hands in front of him.

"No,'' he said. "No, Your Honor.''

Bachiller, Duncan, and Vieira were members of a rap group known as Graveside. Chankhour had gone to the home to work on the recording equipment.

Prosecutors said that on Dec. 13, 2005, Carnes stole a Glock 9mm semiautomatic handgun from Vieira, shot him, and then killed the three others. Carnes was also convicted of several firearms charges. A second man, Robert Turner, pleaded guilty in Suffolk Superior Court in April to being an accessory after the fact. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Prosecutor Joshua Wall described the crimes as the methodical execution of four unarmed men. "It was the spark of evil that ripened into a plan of evil,'' Wall said.

Hinkle, in a symbolic gesture that showed how repugnant she found the murders, sentenced Carnes to mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole for each killing and said each life sentence would begin after Carnes completes the prior one.

"These are horrendous, senseless crimes,'' Hinkle said from the bench.

As the judge left the bench, relatives of the victims broke out into applause. Chris Mitchell, a friend of the victims, said outside the courtroom that the clapping was not a celebration but a pointed message to Carnes that friends and family believe justice has been done.

"He knows what he took away from this earth,'' Mitchell said of Carnes. "Now he gets to rot for a little while.'' Carnes's convictions will be automatically reviewed by the Supreme Judicial Court.

(George Rizer/Globe Staff)

Carnes held a Koran as he walked into the courtroom.

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