New Bedford man charged with murdering mother, former girlfriend
By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
NEW BEDFORD -- A man has been accused of stabbing his mother and a former girlfriend to death and leaving their bodies for days in an apartment where "I [heart] you" was written on a wall in blood, according to prosecutors and court records.
 Gary Gomes |
It appeared that the Independence Street apartment where the macabre killings occurred had been rigged to explode. An unlit stove had been left on full blast, authorities said, and a space heater had been turned to high. Police and firefighters responded Tuesday to calls about a gas smell and found the body of the mother, Katherine Gomes, 61, lying on an air mattress with multiple stab wounds. She had been dead since Saturday, authorities said.
The body of the suspect's former girlfriend, Robyn Norma Mendes, 48, was discovered in a bedroom with blood-spattered walls where the ghastly message had been scrawled. Mendes lay in bed fully dressed with no visible wounds. After being killed on Sunday, Mendes had been dressed and makeup had been applied to her face, according to court records.
The accused killer, Gary Gomes, 35, told police after his arrest that "he was at peace with himself and that this had to happen," according to a police report filed in New Bedford District Court. Gomes pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one count of kidnapping today when he was arraigned.
Defense attorney Gerald FitzGerald did not challenge the state's recitation of the facts during the brief proceeding, but said he planned to defend his client vigorously in court.
Gomes was arrested on Tuesday after investigators said they found him barricaded in a room in Mendes's apartment on Philip Street with her 12-year-old daughter. He was with the girl for at least several hours before police arrived, according to Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for the Bristol district attorney.
It was not immediately clear how or why Mendes had ended up in the mother's apartment on Independence Street because the two women had a volatile history. In 2005, Gary Gomes had been accused beating Mendes, holding a knife to her throat, and telling her, "you're never going to leave me," according to court records.
On July 29, 2005, Mendes testified in court against Gary Gomes at a dangerousness hearing. According to court records, Gomes's mother threatened Mendes after she testified, telling her, "I'm going to get you." Katherine Gomes was charged with intimidating a witness, a charge that was dropped when she paid $350 in court costs, records show.
Gary Gomes has been incarcerated at least three times for violent crimes against women in the last four years. After the dangerousness hearing in July 2005, he was held for 90 days without bail, according to court records. The alleged fatal stabbing would be at least his third attack against Mendes.
In 2006, Gomes assaulted Mendes again, dragging her into the woods. Police rescued her with the aid of dogs, according to court records. Gomes went back to prison for 2-1/2 years and was released in July 2008. New Bedford Police Chief Ronald E. Teachman said investigators were examining what if any contact his department had with the victims or Gomes since his release.
In 2004, Gomes was charged with stealing a $500 guitar from his sister, Jean. Gomes ran into Jean and his mother a few days later and he attacked his sister, according to court records. "Defendant became violent and began to choke the victim with both hands around her neck," the records state.
After his arrest on Tuesday, Gomes told police that he had taken the knife to Mendes's apartment on Philip Street to wait for her estranged husband, Victor Mendes.
"If Victor did show up at the house, he intended to kill him and dismember him," the police report states. "He intended to take his time. He wanted to see him dead."
Police arrested Gomes before Victor Mendes arrived.
The deaths were the first homicides in New Bedford in 10 months, according to Mayor Scott W. Lang, who noted that there had been a sharp drop in violent crime in the city.
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Gee......Is there a pattern here???? It's so subtle no wonder our illustrious judicial system missed it!!!!!
Nice to see the system working well in this case.
I wonder if he will actually serve his full term this time.
This is appalling. With a history of attempted murder, this man never have been allowed back on the streets.
Why not give him another chance?
Our fine state judicial system at work again. Throw the book at someone for possessing an oz. of pot but let scum like this walk the streets till something happens
sounds like a stand up guy. good thing he kept getting released from prison.
This is the problem with our justice system. This all could have been prevented had some psychiatrist actually said.....KEEP HIM LOCKED UP! Sad, truly sad.
Bring back the death penalty for scumbags like this guy.
And this monster was let out prison why?
He was in jail 3 TIMES in the last 4 years for crimes against women, the last time dragging his gf into the woods. Now he kills his mother and ex girlfriend. Shame on you Massachusetts judges and lawyers!
It saddenes me to hear articles like this as this is a result of court failure.
WIth his history why was he even on the streets he should have been in a mental institution..
The the courts wonder why women sometimes don't follow thru with restraining orders for what half of the time women end up dead anyways..
My prayers and thoughts go out all the families that are affected by these stragedies..
Psycho! Please be sure to leave his shoelaces with him in custody. Do the taxpayers a favor.
I smell made for TV movie. Lifetime special
How many times do people & communties have to keep hearing these same stories when someone continues to repeatedly commit similar crimes & is set free? I am against the Death Penalty in many cases, however there needs to be a line drawn in the sand for these repeat criminals, because they almost always end up committing a very violent crime that usually ends in a murder. They need to be stopped when we have the opportunity & never given another chance to progress to this type of violence. Let them go the way of the infamous Dr. Sharpe
Ah what a system. Of course I feel for the families first, but imagine how hard it is to be a police officer connected with this case. They had to know this guy was a ticking time bomb from his past arrests and convictions, but the courts let him go time and time again.
I spent the 2.5 years with gary at Ash Street Jail. Everyone knew Gary would kill that girl. The inmates and the guards knew Gary was highly unstable. This is what happens when there is no help in jails. This is what a multimillion dollar budget will get an inmate that is heading out to society. For all of you who seem to think jails help I hope you understand now.
The administration at the county jails in Bristol County, especially Ash Street, is so bad that inmates plead guilty just to go to state prison. The sheriff claims his facilities are the best certified in the country but nothing about the inmates.
At ash street jail the admin took away the Library, handballs, law books. general books, law computers (there is one for the almost two hundred inmates), and they took away an hour and a half of time out which was dedicated to Anger Management which was ran by a voluntier named Kathleen.
The two officials responsible for these deaths is the House of Corrections, The two specifically are Major Carpenter and Colonel Reedy.
Inmates are in their cells 22.5 hours a day with one and a half hour out to take a shower (there are six showers and one hundred inmates with 1.5 hrs to shower), make phone call, use tthe law computer to see what the charge is against you, use the yard which only has basket ball for a max of 10 people, or watch the one tv in one big room that holds about 100 inmates.
The conditions are horrible but Major Carpenter says it is the way she wants it. 185 of the 200 inmates have not been found guilty or been before the judge.
This guy is a posted child for locking up violent offenders. There is no reason he should have been out of jail.
Why was this "person" out on the streets in the first place? Do we have
to have people die to give a felon a proper prison term?
This could have been prevented. I was in jail with this guy and it was obvious he was insane. Sheriff Hodgson should have known not to release him and the authorities should have had him committed. They knew he'd do this but he got short time and was back on the streets. We knew then he wanted to kill his mother and girlfriend, many people knew.
This is where the system really failed. They arrest and lock up innocent people like me, and let deranged people out into the community like him. What a tragedy.
The guy gets only 2 1/2 years for extremely violent assaults?! What did they think would happen after his release? Petty, non-violent drug users get longer mandatory sentences. The guy should have been locked up for much longer and then not parolled until a qualified psychiatrist concluded that he was mentally fit, with the stipulation that he attend mandatory counseling. Our "justice" system is appalling
Why wasn't this guy put in prison for as long as his ex-girlfriend was alive? It is clear he wasn't going to stop!
State police came to his ex's aid with dogs in the woods, and he stated he was prepared to dismember someone else.
I don't get it.
Sick -- very sick
This is a total failure of MA judicial system and it's entirely too common of a story. This lunatic should never have seen the light of day for his cumulation of previous offenses and there was obviously no doubt that he was and is a dangerous person prior to this happening. This should never have happened and our MA Judges are almost as much at fault as this maniac. Very sad!
Geez, why are these guys allowed out of jail if they keep going after women?
i think there might be a recent vacancy at the Norfolk pen. maybe history will repeat itself.
Gee...when you live in a DEMOCRATIC state what do you expect. Liberals think everyone can be rehabilitated. Sad,sad story
Look. This has to be treated seriously, not with blogs that complain, gripe and moan. It is very simple: what judges and attorneys were involved in the previous challenges? Can't the Glob or some serious newspaper do a serious investigation? If not, then one of the local law schools.
i'm sure deval thinks he's innocent
I love the freak's lawyer who will mount 'a vigorous defense' of his client. I only wish the Mother and ex-girlfriend could have mounted a vigorous defense as well. Damn coward.
some people are evil plain and simple....and they don t care about anyone else but themselves...they cannot be be fixed..they are a danger to everyone and this jerk certainly showed that over the years ,still he got to walk out of jail..disgusting
What do these ex-criminals think, they're in a Country Club? It's a jail. You committed some crime. If you don't want to be there because they lock you up 22.5 hours a day, stop doing stupid stuff.
Just like my kids when they do something wrong, they get no TV, no computer. Why should you? I agree people need retraining, but they should do the time first. Then you get to go back to school and get it right.
Any woman (or man) threatened andattacked like this should be legally permitted to carry a gun or mace for self defense.
my brother and father (the landlord) live there, and have for most of their lives. I lived with my mother only recently, since the day kathy gomes and robyn mendes was killed on sunday, amazingly. i remember being on the third floor on sunday night and saturday afternoon. i didn't smell gas or heard anything, just the murderer gary leaving the second floor on sunday. totally fucked up. he only moved into the house with his mother almost two weeks ago. none of us knew he had served time in jail for attempted murder. he looks just like a regular guy. shit, he looks almost my brother. wow... my head is still spinning from all of these happenings.
also, to what wildon hearts said above about the made for tv movie -- i hope i'm played by bruce willis.
When asked about the motive, the suspect said "I'm tired of disappointing my family". What does THAT mean?
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