Sentenced to die in jail
Murderer Neil Entwistle will spend the rest of his life in a top security jail for what a judge yesterday called the “incomprehensible crimes” of shooting his wife and baby daughter.
The 29-year-old Briton remained stony faced as his sentence of life without the [>
possibility of parole was read out in the American court where he had been on trial for the last four weeks.[>
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“I’ll be all right,” he mouthed to his sobbing mother Yvonne, who was sitting behind him on the public benches, as he was led away.[>
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The jury unanimously convicted him on Wednesday afternoon of the murders of his American wife Rachel, 27, and their baby Lillian.[>
What is comprehensible is the magnitude of the loss and pain suffered by Rachel’s extended family and friends
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He shot each of them dead with a single bullet, one to Lillian’s torso and the second to Rachel’s head, as mother and baby lay asleep at their home Hopkinton, Massachusetts.[>
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Entwistle remained emotionless throughout, saying nothing in court, despite being given the opportunity.[>
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“My brother is innocent,” said Neil’s younger brother Russell outside the courthouse in Woburn, Massachusetts.[>
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Entwistle’s parents Yvonne and Clifford, in a defiant statement on Wednesday, had backed the defence arguments that Rachel had murdered her baby and shot herself. But yesterday they rushed away from court, distressed.[>
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Entwistle arrived for sentence in handcuffs and wearing a convict’s orange jumpsuit and was allowed to change into a suit to face judgment.[>
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On the opposite side of the court from his parents and brother sat at least two dozen members of Rachel’s family and friends. [>
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Many were in tears and several were wearing pink roses and holding orange lilies in remembrance of baby Lillian Rose, whom the family called Lilly.[>
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“These crimes are incomprehensible,” said Judge Diane Kottmyer. [>
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“They defy comprehension because they involved the planned and deliberate murders of the defendant’s wife and child, in defiance of our bonds that are recognised as central to our existence as human beings, that of husband and wife and parents and child.”[>
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She added: “What is comprehensible is the magnitude of the loss and pain suffered by Rachel’s extended family and friends.”[>
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Rachel’s brother Jerome Souza glared at Entwistle across the courtroom. The families had been warned that any outbursts would lead to them being expelled from court, but the tension was palpable.[>
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Rachel’s mother Priscilla and stepfather Joe Matterazzo and her brother Jerome addressed the court yesterday.[>
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Unlike Entwistle’s mother, Mrs Matterazzo did not shed a single tear in public throughout the trial and she stood stoically holding her husband’s hand yesterday as she addressed the judge and court.[>
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She said: “Our dreams as parents and grandparents were shattered by the shameful and selfish acts of one person – Neil Entwistle.[>
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“For him to try to hide behind an accusation of murder-suicide by this beautiful woman and perfect mother is low and despicable. We were sentenced without the luxury of a trial by jury.”[>
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Rachel’s brother Jerome held back tears as he said: “I miss Rachel every day. [>
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“We have to live each and every day with Neil’s betrayal. We cannot share Lilly’s first words and first steps. We can only wonder how she might have been.”[>
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Massachusetts does not impose the death penalty, but the automatic sentence for someone found guilty of premeditated murder is life in prison with no hope of parole.[>
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Entwistle, an IT consultant, had been unemployed since moving to the US in 2005 with his wife and baby to be closer to Rachel’s parents, who live near Boston.[>
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He had gambling debts, was secretly trying to set up precarious financial and pornography related businesses on the internet and was trawling sex and swinger sites for sexual liaisons, the court had heard.[>
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Rachel and Neil met at York University and married in 2003. But in January 2006 Neil stole a pistol from his father-in-law’s home, sneaked into the master bedroom where Rachel and Lilly were sleeping and shot them in cold blood. [>
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He escaped on a plane to his parents’ home in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. He was arrested in London the following month, carrying a page of escort adverts and a note about wanting to sell his story. [>
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He was extradited to the US and kept in custody ever since.[>
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Entwistle, who will appeal against his conviction, will serve his sentence at Cedar Junction prison about 20 miles from Boston. [>
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The jail housed Boston Strangler Albert DeSalvo, who murdered 13 women in the early Sixties. He was stabbed to death by other prisoners in 1973.[>
