Amazing Grace: Funeral here in MA today!

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Dreadsox

ONE love, blood, life
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As I went outside today to test the field to see if it was too wet from the rain I heard the sound of Amazing Grace carried out over the harbor to my ears. It is a song that always seems to make me cry, especially since it was jsut a month ago that we burried my grandmother. Today was no different.

[Q]PLYMOUTH, Mass. -- Friends and family gathered at a Catholic church in Plymouth to pay their last respects to a young mother and child Wednesday.

NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that Rachel Entwistle, 27, and her 9-month-old daughter, Lillian, were found shot to death in their Hopkinton home on Jan. 22.

A funeral Mass was held at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Plymouth. Police escorted the funeral procession to the church from Shepherd Funeral Home in Kingston.

Mother and baby will be buried together in a single casket in Kingston. Just months ago, Lillian was baptized in the same church.


Rachel's family did not invite her husband Neil Entwistle, 27, to the funeral. He has been at his family's home in Worksop, England since Jan. 21 and did not attend the wake. The calling hours were extended at Kingston's Shepherd Funeral Home because so many people came to pay their respects.

Entwistle is still being called a "person of interest." In order to bring him back to the U.S., authorities would have to seek a warrant for his extradition from Great Britain.

Investigators towed Entwistle's BMW from the Logan International Airport garage so it can be examined at the police department. Several boxes of evidence taken from the Entwistles' rented home have been impounded at Framingham District Court.

Detectives continue to look for the small-caliber handgun used to shoot Rachel and Lillian Entwistle.[/Q]
 
Incredibly sad

I won't comment on him right now

capt.bx10201251521.mother_and_baby_dead_bx102.jpg
 
phanan said:
A very sad story down there. I know the husband isn't "officially" a suspect, but you have to wonder. How could he not attend that funeral if he wasn't involved somehow?

"Rachel's family did not invite her husband Neil Entwistle, 27, to the funeral."

American criminal justice tends to make the surviving spouse the prime suspect, by default. I hope nobody here has a murdered spouse someday, because you'll be the prime suspect if no one else confesses up front.

Melon
 
I don't think he would have shown up even if he was invited, that's just my personal opinion.

Alleged facts -

No signs of forced entry (of course someone could have come to her door and she let them in)

He didn't return home upon hearing of the deaths

Conflicting reports, but some say he refused to speak to MA investigators

He bought one way ticket to England

He allegedly spoke to someone on the phone and said something like "I have no idea how I got to England :)eyebrow: ), is it true Rachel and Lillian are dead?"

He had Ebay scam and other internet porn scams in which he was allegedly (by customers) committing some sort of fraud. Maybe his wife was unaware of all that and she found out, or maybe his world was closing in on him

Bodies covered w/ numerous blankets-logic and experience might say that a non-family member would not do that. An FBI profiler I saw on CNN stated that.

I don't assume he is guilty but things just don't add up, not so far. If he didn't do it himself he could have hired someone to do it.

The fact remains that most murders of wives and babies are at the hands of boyfriends/spouses, so police would certainly be remiss if they didn't check him out. They shouldn't assume it was him-and they are still calling him a person of interest. Unfortunately the bodies went unnoticed by police twice (I think it was twice, not sure about that) on a well being check, and once by family members the same day. So some evidence might be too degraded.

I would assume they are trying to talk to fellow passengers from his flight
 
melon said:
American criminal justice tends to make the surviving spouse the prime suspect, by default. I hope nobody here has a murdered spouse someday, because you'll be the prime suspect if no one else confesses up front.

Melon

Sadly, statistics support the notion that the spouse is a prime suspect. Violence by people we know is far higher that violence by strangers.
 
melon said:


"Rachel's family did not invite her husband Neil Entwistle, 27, to the funeral."

American criminal justice tends to make the surviving spouse the prime suspect, by default. I hope nobody here has a murdered spouse someday, because you'll be the prime suspect if no one else confesses up front.

Melon

True, but in this case (as Mrs. S has outlined), there are just way too many disturbing facts in all of this.
 
I'm going to play devil's advocate here and say Neil Entwistle may not have come home for his wife and daughter's funerals because he knew the media circus it would create if he did attend.

Honestly, I'm not sure I believe that. But maybe. :shrug:
 
There are rumors around this small little town...

that would lead one to believe it is not so obvious...
 
"As authorities continue to actively investigate the deaths of Rachel and Lillian Entwistle, no one has been ruled in and no one has been ruled out as the perpetrator," said Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley. "Neil Entwistle is still considered a person of interest in this investigation, however reports that we have indicated that he is the only person of interest are not accurate. A person of interest is a person who we believe may have relevant information about the case that we are investigating. There have been a number of individuals-friends, family, former colleagues, and other acquaintances-in both the United States and the United Kingdom, who may have information that could be helpful to police as the investigation proceeds."


"There continues to be an extraordinary level of media attention to this case, and as a result, there are rumors, speculation, and false anonymous information circulating. For instance, information that activities relating to this investigation are taking place at a hotel in Rhode Island are completely inaccurate," District Attorney Coakley said. "This office has and will continue to provide accurate and up-to-date information as it is available and appropriate for release."
 
This whole story just makes me cry. I don't understand how anyone can take another's life....let alone if it IS the husband who murdered his wife AND baby! :sad: :sad:
 
I can understand why he doesn't come back.
Fathers, John Walsh and Mark Klause were put through hell, especially the Klause family, before the investigators looked elsewhere - as well a numerous other cases.
It's not unusual for the athoritities to automatically assume it's the husband/father/mother./ex etc.. and just quit investigating.

Time's are different now.. This guy is already guilty and has to prove he's innocent. Instead of the other way around. He would be arrested the minute he stepped back into this country.
His rights have already been diminished extraordinarily just from the media attention, not to mention other laws that have been abolished or side stepped by various other policies to suspect him/anyone.
If he is guilty he deserves everything he gets.
Just at this time I can understand why he left. He' either innocent or guilty.
This is going to be a hard case on so many levels..and I am so saddened once again..
Still, I reserve judgement untill more info is available.
 
maybe someone threatened he and his family
maybe he thought if he was gone ....he didnt take the threat to the lives of his wife and baby seriously

thats somethin that came to my mind ...after reading about his being involved in some scam/fraud issues.
it takes a person with absolutely no humanity in thier heart
a very evil person.....possibly a person on some serious drugs to do this.
maybe a junkie
looking for some dough




dreadsox...when you said you cry whenever you hear amazing grace.
i always cry whenever i hear " be not afraid"
nanas funeral
im a crier in church that is why i avoid it
 
It's so incredibly sad and baffling. I can't really fathom the anguish of Rachel's parents and family right now but also that of his family who have lost a "daughter" , granddaughter and a son in some ways. But their pain tends to get lost in the shuffle.

If he is innocent, the tragedy of his decision to leave his family behind to be buried to perhaps spare her family even more grief and scrutiny just makes it all that much more painful and adds to his loss immeasurably.

There was a family in the area where I grew up where the father was involved in something illegal and sat at home while each of his teenage kids and his wife came home from different activities and killed each of them one by one as they arrived, them himself. I'm hazy on the details but it was either to spare them the shame or to protect them from threats from people he owed. Desperation can take some mind-boggling turns.



Dreadsox, I'm really sorry to hear about you grandmother. Hopefully one day hearing Amazing Grace will bring you peace instead of sadness. :(
 
they say they have forensics to link the handgun used to a handgun owned by Rachel's father

he was arrested in London in the subway

they believe the murder happened sometime early Fri and he then returned the gun later that day

they think *perhaps* he intended to commit suicide when he committed the murders
 
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This is such a horrible story! The murder of two people. how someone can kill a child is beyond me.
 
Just saw on the news that the husband appeared at court in England today charged with the murders.
 
The press are all over my town. Can't they leave her family alone.
 
If it wasn't so completely inappropriate to laugh at his story/use the laughing smileys here I would

Is Mark Geragos busy?



Entwistle told police he found his family slain
Agrees to return to Mass.

By Jonathan Saltzman and Donovan Slack, Globe Staff | February 11, 2006

Neil Entwistle told investigators he found his wife and 9-month-old daughter dead from gunshot wounds after returning home from an errand, covered them on the bed with a comforter, and grabbed a knife to kill himself but could not do it, according to a police affidavit that portrayed the accused killer as deeply in debt and unhappy with his sex life.

In a phone call three days after the slayings, Entwistle told investigators he then drove about 50 miles from his Hopkinton house to his father-in-law's house in Carver to get a gun to shoot himself, said the affidavit. But he could not get into the house, he said, so he drove to Logan International Airport and took a flight to his native England.

Entwistle agreed yesterday to return to Massachusetts to face two first-degree murder charges and could be back by the middle of next week.

Prosecutors theorize that the 27-year-old unemployed engineer was so despondent about his finances and family situation that he planned a murder-suicide.

The affidavit offers for the first time Entwistle's account of the deaths three weeks ago of his wife, Rachel, and daughter, Lillian. The affidavit also contained new details about prosecutors' evidence against Entwistle:

# Forensic tests of the .22-caliber revolver, which Entwistle allegedly took from his father-in-law's house some time before the murders and returned hours after the killings, detected Neil Entwistle's DNA on the grip and his wife's DNA on the muzzle. Criminal lawyers have said the DNA on the muzzle could have come from Rachel Entwistle's blood or tissue after she was shot in the head at close range.

# Entwistle, whose recent business ventures on the Internet apparently generated complaints but little income, was ''tens of thousands of dollars" in debt and unable to find a job.

# Entwistle had ''recently expressed a dissatisfaction with his sex life."

The court documents do not give further details.

But a source with knowledge of the investigation told the Globe that police have evidence that Entwistle tried to find escort services, although it was unclear whether he actually met with anyone from such services. Investigators gleaned that information from computer equipment seized by police, the source said.

The affidavit was filed by a Hopkinton police sergeant in support of obtaining the arrest warrant used to take Entwistle into custody at a London subway station on Thursday. It was unsealed yesterday with prosecutors' blessing.

A Framingham District Court clerk-magistrate said yesterday that on Monday the court may release hundreds of pages of other affidavits, which were filed to obtain a half-dozen search warrants. Investigators searched the Entwistles' rented house in Hopkinton and the family's BMW that was found at Logan, among other items.

A spokesman for Rachel Entwistle's mother and stepfather said the family had no comment on the documents released yesterday or the investigation. But Joseph and Priscilla Matterazzo took some solace in Entwistle's decision yesterday not to fight extradition from England, said the spokesman, Joseph Flaherty.

''Look, it doesn't bring back Rachel or Lillian," said Flaherty, a friend of the family. ''They were prepared to wait as long as they had to wait to bring someone to justice. . . . Certainly, it's going to be quicker than they thought it was going to be 24 hours ago. But at the end of the day, the tragedy's not going to be reversed because he happens to come back sooner."

Wearing sweatpants and slip-on shoes, Entwistle appeared tired but confident in a London courtroom yesterday morning, with his chin held high and his lips curled into a half-smile for most of the three-minute hearing.

The most visible sign of emotion came as he left the defendants' bay after his lawyers said he would not fight extradition. He turned to his father, who sat near the door.

''I'm OK, Dad," he said softly. ''It's OK."

Clifford Entwistle nodded silently as his son was led from the courtroom.

One of Neil Entwistle's lawyers, Judith Seddon of London, said afterward that her client believes he will get a fair trial on the ''very serious" charges against him and wanted to go to Massachusetts as soon as possible.

''He is anxious that any delay could cause his late wife's family, and his own, additional distress," Seddon told a crowd of reporters outside Bow Street Magistrates Court.

In a hearing Thursday, Entwistle, a British citizen, had said he wasn't ready to agree to extradition. But Seddon said she had advised her client to think about it. ''He was always inclined to consent," she said yesterday.

British authorities yesterday signed a surrender warrant that clears the US Marshals Service to bring Entwistle back to Massachusetts, said Paul Dunne, assistant chief deputy for the Boston marshals office.

Dunne said the marshals are unlikely to fly to England until next week because of a snowstorm expected this weekend in the Northeast. He said Entwistle will probably return to Massachusetts by mid-week.

Emily LaGrassa, a spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley, said she had no information on who intends to represent Entwistle at his arraignment in Framingham.

Coakley, speaking on ABC's ''Good Morning America," said prosecutors would ask that Entwistle be held without bail pending trial, which she said would probably begin in nine to 12 months. If convicted of first-degree murder, he would face life in prison without possibility of parole.

His decision to return to Massachusetts voluntarily is the latest twist in a murder mystery that was on the cover of People magazine last week and has been nightly fodder on cable news shows.

It started on Jan. 20, a Friday. Prosecutors say Entwistle shot his wife in the head and his daughter in the chest as they lay together on the bed of the master bedroom. Hopkinton police found the bodies on Sunday evening.

The next morning, Coakley announced the slayings and immediately labeled Entwistle ''a person of interest" in the investigation.

But Entwistle told police that someone else killed his family, when authorities called him at his parents' home in Worksop, England, that same day, according to the affidavit.

He told investigators that he found the bodies at 11 a.m. on Jan. 20, two hours after he left them in the master bedroom of their rented Hopkinton house to run an errand. Entwistle said he ''did not call for emergency assistance, but instead covered them up and got a knife to kill himself, but could not go through with it," said the affidavit.

He then told investigators he drove the BMW to Carver to get a gun from his father-in-law's home collection of firearms to kill himself, said the affidavit.

Although Entwistle told investigators he could not get into the house, police found keys to his in-laws' house locked inside the BMW seized at a Logan parking garage, the affidavit said.


It also said that Entwistle took no luggage with him on the British Airways flight that left Logan on Jan. 21, the day after the killings, and left the keys to the car locked inside.

A motion to keep the affidavit sealed says that Entwistle acknowledged that before leaving the country, he did not notify authorities that his family had been killed.

Rachel Entwistle's stepfather and others were ''ruled out" as suspects, according to the source with knowledge of the investigation. Since the .22-caliber revolver that prosecutors say was the murder weapon belonged to Joseph Matterazzo, he was questioned, but investigators concluded he was at work when the killings happened, the source said.
 
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