Judge won't drop murder charges against Entwistle

A judge has refused to dismiss murder charges against Neil Entwistle despite arguments by the defendant, who is accused of fatally shooting his wife and infant daughter, that authorities arrested him on the basis of a flawed and indirect DNA match.

But Middlesex Superior Court Judge Peter M. Lauriat granted a motion by prosecutors to let them obtain another DNA sample from Entwistle through a swab of his cheek.

He also authorized the State Police crime laboratory to conduct further tests on several ammunition boxes, gun locks, gun cases, and a pistol to determine whether Entwistle's DNA is on them.

Entwistle, who is accused of shooting his 27-year-old wife, Rachel, and 9-month-old daughter, Lillian, in the master bedroom of the couple's Hopkinton home in January, had challenged the request for the cheek swab as a violation of constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

His lawyers had argued that if another sample was needed, the judge should dismiss the charges.

Police arrested Entwistle partly on the basis of an analysis of genetic material he allegedly left on a water bottle found in the BMW that investigators said he parked at Logan International Airport before leaving for his native England after the Jan. 20 slayings.

That evidence, police said, matched DNA Entwistle allegedly left on the grip of the .22-caliber handgun believed to have been used in the killings.

But Lauriat rejected the arguments by Entwistle's lawyers.

"Prior use of DNA analysis results does not preclude the Commonwealth from seeking additional material evidence relevant to the question of the defendant's guilt or innocence," he wrote Monday in a ruling made public yesterday.

The fact that earlier DNA samples were not taken directly from the defendant does not warrant dismissal of charges, the judge added.

Police allege in an affidavit that Entwistle secretly took the weapon from his father-in-law's house in Carver, shot his wife and daughter, and then returned it. Prosecutors have theorized that he was despondent about his finances and family situation and had planned to commit suicide after the slayings.

He has been held in Middlesex County Jail in Cambridge since he was arraigned Feb. 16, after authorities arrested and escorted him from England.

Entwistle's lawyer, Elliot M. Weinstein , declined to comment on the ruling. A spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley said prosecutors cannot discuss the pending case.

No date has been set for Entwistle's trial.