500 say a solemn goodbye to a mother and her baby
PLYMOUTH -- In the same church where Lillian Entwistle was baptized seven weeks ago, she and her mother lay together in a simple wooden casket for their funeral Mass yesterday.
About 500 mourners packed St. Peter Church to pay their respects to Rachel Entwistle, a 27-year-old teacher, and 9-month-old Lillian, who were found fatally shot in the master bedroom of their Hopkinton home on Jan. 22.
Rachel Entwistle was remembered as ''a true friend," a fan of Henry David Thoreau, and a lover of nature during a solemn Catholic funeral Mass. Quiet crying from mourners and the cries of a baby pierced the silence of the sanctuary where Lillian Entwistle had been baptized on Dec. 10.
The Rev. William MacKenzie, a family friend who officiated during the service, recalled what a happy moment the baptism had been.
''Now we gather for the saddest of times," he said.
There was no mention of Neil Entwistle -- Rachel's husband, Lillian's father, and a ''person of interest" in the investigation -- and he did not attend.
Neil Entwistle, 27, bought a one-way ticket on the morning of Jan. 21 for a
A source with direct knowledge of the investigation has told the Globe that Entwistle declined to talk last week to Massachusetts investigators who flew to England to interview him.
Entwistle had been in seclusion at his parents' house in his hometown of Worksop as reporters camped outside. He and his parents left the house Tuesday for an unknown destination. Nottinghamshire police told the Globe yesterday that they expected Neil Entwistle and his parents to be away a couple of days.
Entwistle apparently drove his BMW to Logan International Airport in East Boston and left it there. The car was taken Tuesday to the Hopkinton police station, where it will stay until Middlesex prosecutors authorize its release, said Hopkinton Police Chief Thomas Irvin. A search warrant for the automobile has not been returned to East Boston District Court.
A search warrant for the Entwistles' rented, five-bedroom house on a Hopkinton cul-de-sac has been returned to Framingham District Court and sealed.
Authorities released a death certificate yesterday that concluded that Rachel Entwistle died instantly from a gunshot wound to the head that punctured her brain. Lillian Entwistle, according to her death certificate, died several minutes after she was shot in the abdomen, where the bullet pierced her liver and kidney.
Yesterday in Plymouth, Rachel Entwistle's family preceded the pallbearers carrying the casket into the church. The lights were dimmed during the hourlong service, but sunlight occasionally streamed through the stain-glassed windows, bathing the sanctuary in a soft glow.
During his homily, MacKenzie did not refer to the way Rachel and Lillian Entwistle died and told mourners not to blame God for the tragedy.
''There will be people who will wonder why it is God's will . . . tearing someone's family [away]," he said. ''It is not God's will. God will weep with us . . . It is God who lays out for us the path of life, and it is sometimes frustrated by the evil that lives among us."
At the end of the Mass, two male mourners sang an a capella version of ''All through the Night," a lullaby about angels watching over a sleeping child.
They were followed by a young woman who was not identified, but described herself as a high school friend of Rachel's. In a tearful eulogy, she said that Rachel, who loved history, dreamed of becoming a Supreme Court justice. But at the advice of a beloved teacher, she decided to pursue education. Teaching came naturally to Rachel, who always demanded the best of everyone she knew, the friend said.
''She had great expectations for people, because she loved them," the former classmate said.
At the end of the service, Rachel Entwistle's mother, Priscilla Matterazzo, her stepfather, Joseph Matterazzo, and relatives and friends filed quietly out of the church, heads bowed, to the strains of ''On Eagles Wings."
Police officers stood outside the church on Court Street, making sure that reporters kept their distance from the family.
A procession of dozens of cars made its way about 5 miles to Evergreen Cemetery in Kingston, where Rachel and Lillian Entwistle were laid to rest in a small clearing at the bottom of a hill off Green Street. An enormous cascade of irises, lilies, blue hydrangeas, and pink, red, and yellow roses were piled over the single grave.
Globe correspondent Janice Nickerson contributed to this report from Plymouth, and Brian MacQuarrie of the Globe staff contributed from Worksop.Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com. 