Police, families hunt for motive

Mayor Thomas M. Menino and police said yesterday that police had not found a motive for Boston's worst mass slaying in a decade, though relatives of one victim suggested that jealousy about the success of his hip-hop group might have triggered the bloodbath in the amateur recording studio.

''It was all over music," said Curtis Phillips, stepfather of 21-year-old Edwin Duncan, one of four young men found shot in Phillips's Dorchester basement Tuesday night. ''Music. I just can't understand it."

In his first public comments on the case, Menino appealed for the public's help in piecing together motives and identifying suspects.

''It doesn't seem like anybody has any answers," said Menino, who said he has spoken with Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole regularly since the slayings. ''Somebody has to help us solve this one."

Police, who confirmed all the victims' names, released little new information on their investigation. But a senior police official with direct knowledge of the probe called the shootings ''an execution."

''Two of the victims were shot in the head," the official said. ''They were shot at close range."

Duncan and two other victims, 21-year-old Jason Bachiller and 19-year-old Christopher Vieira, were members of a fledgling rap group called Graveside. The fourth victim, 22-year-old Jihad Chankhour, was visiting with them in the basement recording studio on Bourneside Street when all were gunned down.

O'Toole said there was no evidence of forced entry into the studio and no evidence that any robbery occurred.

In the neighborhood where the shootings occurred, about 80 residents attended a meeting yesterday evening of the Melville Park Association to hear from O'Toole. Jack Kowalski, the association's president, said O'Toole tried to reassure them, saying that the quadruple homicide was not a random act and that police were working hard to get the killer off the streets.

''She said that they have an idea who the perpetrator was and that they were pursuing leads," he said. ''But she didn't get any more specific than that."

Police said they were still searching last night for Vieira's black 1998 Ford Escort with tinted windows, which was seen fleeing the scene. They said they consider the car stolen and released its Massachusetts license plate: 867-ECX.

Phillips said he saw the car peeling out of his driveway about 9:30 p.m., just after he and his wife heard a ''pop." His wife then went downstairs and made the grisly discovery. At first she thought there were only two bodies.

''I went down there a little later, and it was actually four," Phillips recalled yesterday, visibly pained by the memory.

When they realized that the car's owner, Vieira, was among those killed, Phillips said, he and his wife had nowhere to turn for answers but to their son's friends and other family members, many of whom stopped by the house afterward to pay their respects.

He said they told him Graveside appeared to be on the verge of some success, possibly getting air time on a local radio station. ''Jealousy is the only reason" we've come up with, Phillips said.

Duncan's cousin, Alisha Gay, agreed. ''They were all trying to get ahead, to make something out of their lives," she said.

On a copy of Graveside's demo tape, ''Official Basement Files, Volume I," the lyrics invoke violent images, though members of the rap community say they are typical fare.

Some in the local hip-hop and rap community said it was difficult to imagine a feud about music would lead to a mass slaying in Boston. They said the scene has become more peaceful in recent years. ''As far as we've come, it's unfortunate to end the year with this," said Daniel ''DL" Laurent, a rapper from Roxbury.

Several local hip-hop and rap leaders said they are planning to meet tomorrow with the hope of organizing a roundtable discussion about the deaths, rising crime in Boston, and the media's perception of crime and its relationship to local hip-hop culture.

''Hip-hop music reflects what is around you," said Dane Bradley, cofounder of Bostonrap.com. ''Kids would find another way to express how they are if there was no hip-hop."

In Wakefield yesterday, where all four victims attended high school, administrators said the victims' music deepened an already strong bond with the community.

''They were very connected with the community," said Michael J. Malinowski, assistant superintendent of schools in Wakefield.

Megan Tench and Cristina Silva of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.