Englishman to Return to U.S. to Stand Trial in Murders of Wife, Daughter
Feb. 10, 2006 — -- An Englishman accused of murdering his American wife and baby will voluntarily return to the United States to face trial, his lawyer said.
Neil Entwistle, 27, was denied bail by the Bow Street Magistrates Courts after his arrest in London on Thursday. He is accused of using his father-in-law's handgun to shoot his wife, Rachel, 27, and his 9-month-old daughter, Lillian, in their Massachusetts home on Jan. 20. Authorities said Entwistle then flew to his parents' house in England with a one-way ticket on Jan. 21. The bodies of Rachel and Lillian were discovered the following day.
Today, a spokesman for Rachel's family said her family was in shock.
"They feel very betrayed," Joe Flaherty said. "This was a man they trusted. They never saw anything like this coming."
Investigators believe Entwistle originally planned to kill himself after he shot his wife and daughter because he could not cope with financial troubles stemming from several failed Internet business ventures.
"It's somewhat of a working theory," said Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley. "This didn't appear to be in the heat of passion."
Neil and Rachel met in 1999 while Rachel was studying abroad at York University in England. They had been married for three years, and had lived in the United States for four months to five months. In the days before the murder, eBay shut down Entwistle's eBay business, in which he sold get-rich-quick schemes and how-to manuals for pornography, investigators have said.
As of Jan. 12, the couple had been renting the home where Rachel and Lillian were killed.
Entwistle will be arraigned in a Middlesex court upon his return. Coakley said it could be nine months to a year before it came to trial.
