Tests offer clues on body in chimney

Authorities released new information yesterday about a woman whose remains were found last year in the chimney of a Dorchester building. The body found by workmen at 17-19 Winter St. in October was that of a woman about 5-foot-2, between 25 and 35 years old, with long dark hair, who had died as long ago as five years ago, prosecutors said. They said forensic anthropologists found the woman was probably of mixed ethnicity and had given birth to at least one child. They said she had no scars, tattoos, or broken bones, but was wearing a dental plate. The style and construction of the plate suggest it was made in the Caribbean or by a dentist who trained there. Anyone with knowledge of the woman's identity should call Boston police at 617-343-4470.

A Mexican illegal immigrant once embraced by Minnesotans as a deserving charity case pleaded guilty yesterday to breaking and entering in Boston. Francisco Javier Serrano's plea means his strange American odyssey will end where it began: He will be deported to Mexico. Serrano, 22, was found last year living inside a Minneapolis high school, his tale of struggle galvanizing residents. Despite strong support, his bid to stay failed and he had been ordered back to Mexico. In March, however, he turned up in Boston's North End, in a struggle with an apartment tenant. He was charged with breaking and entering, and he has been held in Suffolk County Jail. Yesterday, he pleaded guilty in Boston Municipal Court and was handed over to immigration officials.

CAMBRIDGE

A Framingham man, who was convicted Friday of involuntary manslaughter for shaking his infant son to death in 2004, will be sentenced by Middlesex Superior Court Judge Peter M. Lauriat on Oct. 3, Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley's office said yesterday. On Feb. 19, 2004, Framingham police went to a home on Queens Way and found William Christian III, 2 months old, unresponsive. The infant died at Tufts-New England Medical Center. An autopsy found that he had suffered multiple fractures and brain swelling. The father, William Christian Jr., who was then 23 years old, was charged with first-degree murder. He was convicted on Friday by a jury of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, according to Coakley's office. Christian faces a maximum of 20 years imprisonment.

SPRINGFIELD

The financial guardian of Haleigh L. Poutre, the 12-year-old girl who police say was hospitalized after allegedly being beaten by her adoptive mother, is seeking at least $100,000 from the adoptive mother's estate. Holli Strickland adopted Poutre in 2001. State prosecutors say Strickland and her husband, Jason, 32, severely beat Haleigh, leaving her unconscious, in September 2005. Holli Strickland died about a week later, alongside her grandmother in an apparent murder-suicide. Jason Strickland pleaded not guilty last month to assault and battery charges. The girl's court-appointed guardian, David M. Murphy, has filed suit seeking the money, according to The Republican newspaper of Springfield, for medical care and to compensate for the girl's suffering. (AP)

NEW YORK

A Massachusetts man accused of killing a relative in Rhode Island was shot by police yesterday after he crashed his sport utility vehicle at an intersection in midtown Manhattan , injuring several pedestrians, and then emerged from the vehicle with a knife, authorities said. A Metropolitan Transportation Authority police officer shot Joel Noonan, 36, of Avon, in the abdomen and groin after his SUV collided with another car, authorities said. Noonan is accused in East Providence, R.I., in the stabbing death Sunday of his cousin's husband, police said. Noonan and the six other injured people were hospitalized. The victims' injuries were not detailed. East Providence police told the Providence Journal Noonan stabbed Steven Dowaglia to death during an argument. (AP)

PORTLAND, Maine

Prosecutors announced yesterday that they have lodged kidnapping charges in Maine against a North Yarmouth couple accused of kidnapping their 19-year-old daughter, with the intention of having her get an abortion. Nicholas Kampf, 54, and Lola Kampf, 53, face up to 30 years each in prison on the charges. (AP)