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Attorney for suspect in delivery man killing says officials are 'demonizing' his client

E-mail|Link September 7, 2010 08:11 PM

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By Milton J. Valencia and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

The attorney for one of three people accused of carrying out the premeditated murder of a pizza deliveryman today demanded that the media and public officials stop "demonizing'' his client.

Passport photo

Richel Nova

Boston attorney Jeffrey T. Karp represents Michel St. Jean, 20, who was arraigned in West Roxbury Municipal Court today on charges of first degree murder. St. Jean and the other defendants, 18-year-old Alexander E. Gallett of Hyde Park and 17-year-old Yaminey Mathurin of Mattapan all pleaded not guilty and were ordered held without bail.

"It's unfortunate that authorities -- whether it be law enforcement or whether it comes from the mayor's office – are demonizing my client in the press and portraying him as some gangster, thug, hitman or terrorist,'' Karp said. "That's just isn’t the case.''

Karp, in a telephone interview this afternoon, said the allegations that his client was involved in the brutal killing of 58-year-old Richel Nova has stunned St. Jean's relatives.

"This is not something that is consistent with my guy's background, history or even demeanor,'' said Karp, who added that St. Jean has never been arrested prior to being charged with participating in Nova's murder.

Karp said his client planned to be in a classroom today, not a courtroom. St. Jean was scheduled to start attending a trade school today. "He has his own life in front of him and had plans for this fall to continue with his education,'' Karp said.

He added, "I am not in any way minimizing what happened to Mr. Nova. It's an absolute tragedy.''

Also today, Mathurn's uncle said the family of the Mattapan teen is stunned by the accusations against her. “Nobody would want their kid to be (involved in) this type of thing,” Mao Mathurn said. “I sincerely believe my niece is innocent in the stabbing. She was not able to do a thing like that.”

However in court today, Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Hickman said St. Jean and the two other defendants were charged with the killing based on interviews with police, surveillance videos from the neighborhood and other evidence.

"It was never their intention that Richel Nova would leave that home in any other way than a body bag,'' HIckman said during the West Roxbury Municipal Court arraignment.

Hickman alleged that Mathurin borrowed a phone from a neighbor on Hyde Park Avenue and called the Domino's pizza shop that Nova worked for. She asked whether the deliveryman would be able to change a large bill, and was told that he only carried $20 in change, Hickman said.

Pat Greenhouse / Globe Staff

Michel St. Jean

Although Mathurin called the pizza shop using the neighbor's phone, she allegedly gave St. Jean's cellphone number for the pizza shop to call if there were any problems.

When Nova arrived at the 742 Hyde Park Ave. house, Mathurin met him and then lured him inside, telling him she had to get her wallet. Once inside, the conspirators attacked Nova, stabbing him repeatedly in the chest and back while also slashing his neck, Hickman said.

Using the cellphone number left with the pizza shop, police tracked down St. Jean. Once he started being questioned by detectives, he identified his alleged co-conspirators, Hickman said. She also said that surveillance video shows Nova arriving at the house, and later captured the three suspects leaving the area.

They allegedly drove off in Nova's Subaru Legacy, which was recovered at a church parking lot on River Street.

Hickman said Nova was robbed of cash -- and the pizza he was hired to deliver. Hickman said the pizza box -- stained with blood on the exterior -- was found stashed underneath a car parked near where the Subaru was recovered last Thursday. Three slices of pizza remained in the box, Hickman said.

Nova was the father of three adult children, including twin sisters, relatives have said.

Karp, St. Jean's attorney, said in the interview that his client's clothing had been seized by Boston police during the investigation and that authorities provided St. Jean with a white jumper to wear to court.

Karp said he noticed the jumper -- which is usually worn by investigators at crime scenes to avoid contaminating evidence -- had a hood. Before St. Jean came into the courtroom, Karp said he pulled the hood up over his client's head.

"I simply just did not want to taint the investigation by having my client's picture splashed across the newspapers so it could possibly lead to a misidentification'' by prosecution witnesses, he said.

Pat Greenhouse / Globe Staff

Relatives of murder victim Richel Nova comfort each other in the front rows of West Roxbury Municipal Court while the three people accused of murdering pizza delivery man are arraigned.