Entwistle seeks release on bail

Ten months after he was arrested in London in the gunshot slayings of his wife and infant daughter, Neil Entwistle has asked a Middlesex Superior Court judge to free him from jail and let him return to his native England until he goes on trial next year.

Lawyers for Entwistle acknowledged in the written request filed Tuesday that the Hopkinton murders in January generated a blizzard of news coverage on both sides of the Atlantic, and predicted the motion to free him from the Middlesex County Jail would probably meet with "media reaction and cynicism."

But defense lawyers Elliot M. Weinstein and Stephanie Page said they "cannot be cowed" by such reactions and asserted that intensive news coverage of the case would make it impossible for their client to flee.

"This is a man who cannot run and cannot hide," the motion said.

Emily LaGrassa , a spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley, said prosecutors will oppose the request at a pretrial hearing scheduled for Dec. 15.

"We just don't think this is appropriate, given the nature of the case and the flight risk," she said.

Entwistle took a flight to England soon after his 27-year-old wife, Rachel, and 9-month-old daughter, Lillian, were killed in their Hopkinton house on Jan. 20, according to prosecutors.

Hopkinton police discovered the bodies in the master bedroom two days later.

Although Entwistle left the country, his lawyers said, he spoke with the Massachusetts State Police almost daily by phone from his parents' house and did not challenge extradition upon his arrest. In addition, they said, he had an "unblemished personal history and background."

They asked Judge Peter M. Lauriat to impose several conditions for Entwistle's release, including requirements that he be confined to his parents' home in Worksop, England; that he wear an electronic monitoring bracelet; that he report daily by phone to British or American law enforcement authorities; and that his parents put up their house as security to ensure that he returns to the United States.

The motion does not explain why Entwistle is seeking his release now, and his lawyers did not return calls.

Joseph Flaherty , a lawyer and retired commander of a State Police homicide unit who is a spokesman for Rachel Entwistle's mother and stepfather, Priscilla and Joseph Matterazzo , said the family is "totally opposed" to Entwistle's release.

"They don't feel that it's going to happen, given the seriousness of the case, the fact that he's not even a US citizen, and the strength of the investigation and the case itself," he said.

Entwistle's trial is tentatively scheduled to start April 27, said LaGrassa.

Jonathan Saltzman can be reached at jsaltzman@globe.com