Man gets life term in father’s slaying
Motive was not established at trial
A Mattapan man was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for fatally beating his father, dismembering his body, and dumping the parts in a Roxbury yard, according to Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.
Brian Lee, 46, was convicted of first-degree murder under the theory of extreme atrocity and cruelty, eliminating any possibility of parole.
A 12-member jury had deliberated for nearly two days after an eight-day trial that included more than a dozen witnesses.
Prosecutors did not establish why Lee killed his father, 70-year-old Edward Lee Jr., in October 2006, saying only that they had had a tumultuous past.
“Three years later, we know what happened to Edward Lee Jr.,’’ Conley said. “But we will never understand why. It was and remains inexplicable. Our hearts go out to the rest of the Lee family, who must struggle every day with the tragedy that befell their family.’’
Lee bludgeoned his father in the head and torso in the bedroom of his father’s home, days after the father sought the last in a series of restraining orders in which he alleged that his son had threatened him. The elder Lee said he was terrified of his son, who he said grew violent when he was drunk. Edward Lee told authorities that his son had vandalized his prized Chevrolet Malibu after he refused to give him money.
Brian Lee moved out of his father’s home several months before the killing. The father, who also had a daughter in California, lived alone. Brian Lee’s three children often visited the elder Lee.
A retired machinist, he was killed sometime between Oct. 25 and Oct. 27.
On Oct. 27, witnesses saw Brian Lee carry a bloody mattress that had been torn in half out of his father’s home and throw it into the back of a garbage truck.
After Lee’s arrest, a witness told the Globe that Lee would not let anyone carry the mattress and insisted on throwing it in the truck himself.
On Oct. 28, a Roxbury woman who had hired Lee to perform odd jobs around her house told police that Lee had thrown a white garbage bag into one of her trash cans, then left without saying anything. When the woman inspected the bag, she found Edward Lee Jr.’s head.
Another bag found in the yard contained his legs. His torso was found in the basement of his home.
Brian Lee, who represented himself at trial, had maintained that he found his father dead, and that he dismembered him with a chain saw because he feared police would target him.
Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com. 