Neil Entwistle

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Neil Entwistle

Born 18 September 1978 (1978-09-18) (age 29)
Flag of the United Kingdom Nottinghamshire, England
Occupation Computer programmer
Spouse Rachel Elizabeth Entwistle (nèe Souza) (deceased)
Children Lillian Rose Entwistle (deceased)
Parents Clifford and Yvonne Entwistle

Neil Entwistle (born 18 September 1978) is an English-born man accused of murdering his wife, Rachel Entwistle, and their infant daughter Lillian on January 20, 2006 in the United States.

The bodies of 27-year-old Rachel and 9-month-old Lillian were found on January 22, in the master bedroom of the couple's rented Hopkinton, Massachusetts home where the Entwistles had been living for only ten days. Autopsy results showed that Rachel died of a gunshot wound to the head, and the baby died of a gunshot wound to the stomach.

His trial for murder began on June 2, 2008.[1]

[edit] Aftermath of Murders

Just hours after the deaths of his wife and daughter, Entwistle purchased a one-way ticket to London about 5:00 AM EST on the morning of January 21, and boarded a British Airways flight that left at 8:15 AM.

On January 23, Hopkinton Police located Entwistle at his parents' Clifford and Yvonne's home in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England. Entwistle told them that he left his Hopkinton home at around 9:00 AM EST three days previously to run an errand, and that both his wife and daughter were alive and well and in bed. When he returned at around 11:00 AM EST, he says he found they both had been shot dead. He then covered the bodies of his wife and infant daughter with a blanket.

Entwistle told the police that he was so distraught upon seeing the corpses of his wife and daughter that he decided to kill himself. However, because he was unable to bring himself to end his life with a knife, he drove the family car to his father-in-law Joseph Materazzo's house to get a .22 caliber handgun. Finding the house locked, he told police that he then decided to fly home to England to see his parents.

Entwistle's speedy departure from the scene of the deaths of his family wouldn't be the only reason authorities questioned his version of the events. Entwistle's DNA was found on the handle of the same .22 handgun owned by his father-in-law that he told authorities he'd never touched. Additionally, DNA matching his slain wife Rachel was found on the gun's muzzle. Also, a set of keys to Materazzo's house were found in the car Entwistle left at Boston's Logan Airport.

A search of Entwistle's computer also revealed that days before the slayings, Entwistle looked at a website that described "how to kill people" and searched for escort services. [1] Entwistle had been unemployed since September 2005, and the family was deeply in debt. Police suspected a financial motivation for the killings.

On February 9, 2006, Entwistle was arrested on a London Underground train at west London’s Royal Oak tube station, following detailed searches by officers at his parents' house. He initially requested that he not be sent back to the United States, he later conceded to extradition.

[edit] District attorney's statement

Middlesex County District Attorney Martha Coakley - who successfully prosecuted British nanny Louise Woodward in 1997 - told a press conference after Entwistle’s arrest: “On Thursday night (January 19, 2006), Rachel was alive and had spoken with family members."

“At some time on Friday morning, Neil Entwistle — with a firearm we believe he had secured at sometime before that from father in-law Joseph Materazzo — shot Rachel Entwistle in the head and then proceeded to shoot baby Lillian, who was lying on the bed next to her mother."

“We believe possibly this was intended to be a murder-suicide, but we cannot confirm that. Obviously the murder was effected, but the suicide was not."

“What we believe happened next was that Neil Entwistle returned the gun to his father-in-law’s home in Carver, then made preparations to leave the country. As we know, he was observed at Logan International Airport."

“He purchased a one-way ticket on British Airways at approximately 5am on Saturday morning, January 22. He was on an 8:15 flight to the United Kingdom on that day. He was then in Worksop with his parents.”

“Based upon forensic information late Tuesday afternoon that linked the .22 handgun owned by Joseph Materazzo both to Neil Entwistle and to Rachel, we believed we had probable cause to seek an arrest warrant for Neil Entwistle’s arrest.”

Entwistle is currently on trial. He faces life in prison if convicted.

[edit] External links