Murder

Rehoboth Mother Charged in Murder of 2 Year Old Son

Published on: July 6, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Kimberly Peno, 39, of Rehoboth, was arraigned this morning in Bristol County Superior Court with Murder in the alleged beating death of her son on March 18, 2010.

On that date, the boy was brought to the Seekonk Police Department where paramedics aided the child and transported him to Children’s Hospital in Providence, where he died several hours later. The child was found to have suffered retinal hemorrhages and brain injuries.

The Seekonk Police Department reported they determined that the child’s injuries were sustained at his residence in Rehoboth and contacted the Rehoboth Police Department. An investigation by the Rehoboth Police Department and the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office concluded that the child was severely beaten by Peno. The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office also claimed that when Peno brought the child to the Seekonk Poilce Department, there were visible injuries on her person, including a swollen right fist; as well as blood in the area of the house where Peno said she was.

Suffolk County Grand Jury Returns Indictments in Murder of 14 Year Old Nicholas Fomby-Davis

Published on: July 3, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

A Suffolk County Grand Jury returned indictments yesterday against the two men charged with the Murder of 14 year old Nicholas Fomby-Smith on May 30, 2010. As reported in the Boston Criminal Lawyer’s Blog on June 1, 2010, Boston Police and Suffolk County prosecutors allege that Crisostomo Lopes, 20, and Joshua Fernandes, 16, attacked Fomby-Davis while he was riding his scooter.

According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Lopes pulled Fomby-Davis off his scooter and held him down while Fernandes shot him in the chest. Despite being only 16 years old, Fernandes will be tried for Murder as an adult in Suffolk Superior Court. Massachusetts state law permits defendants ages 14 and older who are charged with Murder to be tried as an adult.

Fernandes has also been indicted with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, and both defendants are currently held without bail.

Phillip Markoff, The Alleged Craigslist Killer, Trial Set for March 2011

Published on: June 30, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Phillip Markoff, the former Boston University medical student and accused Craigslist killer is scheduled to go on trial for the Murder of a 24 year-old masseuse in a Boston’s Marriott Copley Place Hotel.

Markoff is alleged to have met the victim, Julissa Brisman, 25, through a Craigslist ad she placed advertising erotic services. The Boston Police and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office have accused Markoff of meeting with Brisman at the hotel, and crushing her skull with the butt of a handgun, and then shooting her three times in the chest. He then allegedly hid the murder weapon in a hollowed-out textbook in his apartment in Quincy, where he lived at the time.

The Boston Police report that, during an extensive search of his home, they also seized four pairs of women’s panties hidden in his mattress box spring, as well as plastic ties they say are similar to those he allegedly used to bind his victims. In separate investigations involving other women, Markoff’s fingerprints were also reportedly lifted from the duct tape he allegedly used to gag one of his victims.

Middlesex County District Attorney Reports Thomas Mortimer IV Left Notes Confessing to Winchester Murders

Published on: June 18, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

New details have emerged regarding the Winchester Murders of a wife, grandmother and two young children in Winchester this week. After the man charged with the Murders, Thomas Mortimer IV, was arrested the other day, Middlesex County prosecutors have revealed that they have discovered two letters, purportedly written by Mortimer, confessing the murders.

The bodies of Mortimer’s two young children, as well as his wife and mother-in-law, were found late Wednesday morning this past week after local authorities conducted a forced entry into the Winchester home at the request of family members concerned for their well-being. Specific details regarding the ‘horrific’ murder scene have not been disclosed, but Middlesex County prosecutors have reported that the four-year old child was lying with his mother; the mother-in-law was found in the living room; and the two year old was found upstairs in her crib.

One letter was reportedly handwritten and left on a coffee table, while the other letter, identical in substance but typed, was found in the kitchen. Paraphrasing the contents of the letters, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office reports that Mortimer allegedly wrote that he is responsible for those horrible things, and that his acts were selfish and cowardly. He also wrote that he “murdered my family.”

Accused Winchester Murderer Thomas Mortimer IV Arrested in Western Massachusetts

Published on: June 17, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

The Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office has confirmed that Thomas Mortimer IV, the man suspected in the Murder of his wife, mother-in-law and two young children in their Wincheser home, was arrested yesterday in the Western Massachusetts town of Bernardston.

On Wednesday, June 16, 2010, after not having been able to get in touch with the family or haven’t heard from them since Sunday, family members called emergency personnel to investigate whether everything was alright in the home. The Winchester Fire Department responded and after breaking down the front door, discovered what has only been described as a gruesome crime scene. No details have been released concerning the condition of the victims, but police and the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office maintains that the scene is without question, indicative of Murder.

The only household resident that had not been accounted for on Wednesday was Thomas Mortimer. His boss at the Burlington technology consulting firm reported to police that he had called in sick Wednesday morning and that he had not heard from him since. Although Massachusetts State Police and Winchester Police were not calling Mortimer a suspect early on and described only as a person of interest, it was clear by all reports that he was the main target in this murder investigation. In fact, Middlesex County prosecutor had sought and obtained an Arrest Warrant earlier yesterday morning charging him with four counts of Murder.

19 Year Old Indicted for August 2009 Murder at Dorchester’s YMCA

Published on: June 5, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

A Suffolk County Grand Jury this past week returned indictments of Murder against Sherman Badgett, 19, related to the shooting death of Aaron Brown at the YMCA in Dorchester last August.

Badgett is alleged to have shot Aaron Brown, 19 at the time, in the head outside a teen dance at the Dorchester YMCA on Washington Street. He was indicted for Murder and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, and is currently held without bail.

Boston Criminal Lawyer Lefteris K. Travayiakis is an experienced criminal defense lawyer handling all major felony charges, including Murder and Gun / Firearms Crimes.

Two Boston Men Arraigned for Murder of 14 Year Old Youth in Dorchester

Published on: June 1, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Cristostomo Lopes, 20, and Joshua Fernandes, 16, were arraigned this morning in the Dorchester Division of the Boston Municipal Court in connection with the Sunday Murder of 14 year old Nicholas Fomby-Davis.

At their arraignment, Suffolk County prosecutors alleged that Lopes and Fernandes both jumped Fomby-Davis on Bowdoin Street as he rode his motor scooter. Once off the scooter, prosecutors allege that Lopes held Fomby-Davis while Fernandes fired 3 shots at him, one striking him in the chest.

Immediately following the shooting, a Boston Police Officer happened to be driving home and saw Lopes and Fernandes crouching between cars. The two were eventually apprehended after a chase by Boston Police Officers, and a .25 caliber gun believed to be the murder weapon was found underneath the car where Fernandes was allegedly seen kneeling beside.

Clark Rockefeller’s Appeal for Reduced Sentence Dismissed

Published on: May 18, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Clark Rockefeller, the man who kidnapped his young daughter, appeared in Suffolk Superior Court this morning and asked a 3-judge appellate panel to reduce his 4-5 year state prison sentence for parental Kidnapping.

Rockefeller argued that his sentence was beyond the ‘sentencing guidelines’, but the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office justified the sentence on the grounds that his extraordinary actions under the circumstances justified the sentence. The appellate panel agreed and ultimately dismissed Rockefeller’s request for a reduced sentence.

When the media frenzy over the Rockefeller case came to light, so did his numerous alias, which eventually linked him to an unsolved 1985 Murder in California where he lived at the time. California authorities have not yet publicly confirmed whether or not they will seek to indict Rockefeller for the murder.

Boston Man Accused of Trying to Light Ex-Girlfriend On Fire

Published on: May 13, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Jamaar Johnson, 23, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, was charged with trying to light his girlfriend on fire in her Cambridge apartment when she told him they were breaking up. Obviously, the attempted break-up didn’t go so well, and after a brief argument in the morning, Johnson returned with a can of gasoline and poured it on the woman’s head as she was smoking a cigarette.

The Cambridge Police Department responded after the woman called 911 and told them Johnson tried to set her on fire. He was found in her bed and immediately placed under arrest. Johnson was charged with two counts of Assault to Murder, Assault & Battery, and Attempt to Commit Arson.

Boston Criminal Lawyer Lefteris K. Travayiakis has extensive experience in defending persons accused of Assault to Murder, Assault & Battery, Domestic Violence, and other Crimes of Violence.

Homeless Man Pleads Not Guilty to Murder in Boston Stabbing

Published on: May 10, 2010 | by Lefteris K. Travayiakis, Esq.

Kevin James, aka Kevin Wayne Wilson, 43, a homeless man from Boston, pled not guilty to the charge or Murder yesterday in Boston Municipal Court in connection with an April 30 fight with Beau James Young on Boylston Street near the Prudential Center.

Young, 22 and also homeless, was stabbed in the chest during the fight that occurred around 11:30 in the evening. Although he was taken to a Boston Hospital to be treated, he succumbed to his injuries and died on May 1.

At James’ Murder arraignment, the Suffolk County prosecutor told the Judge that James allegedly admitted to the Boston Police that he fought with Young, but insisted that it was Young who pulled the knife, and that the resulting stabbing was an accident. The Suffolk County prosecutor further reported that there were two witnesses to the murder, and that James allegedly then made an effort to alter his appearance in an effort to avoid capture by the police.