Man Skips Out on Funeral for Slain Wife and Daughter

Feb. 1, 2006 &#151 -- The man whose wife and baby were killed last week was not at the wake Tuesday, is not expected at the funeral today and wasn't mentioned in the obituary of his slain family.

For the past week, Neil Entwistle, 27, has been at his parents' house in Worksop, a city north of London. He was seen leaving the house Tuesday, but not, apparently for the airport.

"Why isn't he back for his wife and daughter's funerals?" asked Dave Wedge, a reporter for the Boston Herald. "That's the million-dollar question."

The bodies of 27-year-old Rachel Entwistle and 9-month-old Lillian were discovered in the bed of their Hopkinton, Mass., home on Jan. 22. Both were killed by gunshots.

Neil Entwistle, an unemployed computer programmer, made an unexpected trip to London on Jan. 21.

He has been named a person of interest, but not a suspect. Last week, when Boston investigators flew to London to interview Entwistle at the U.S. Embassy, he backed out at the last minute.

"The really unusual thing in this case, no one's come out and said a single word about this guy that, hey, he's not the kind of guy who would do this," Wedge said.

Wedge reported Entwistle may have had access to his father-in-law's gun collection. The small-caliber gun that killed Rachel and Lillian has not been found. Britain's Sun newspaper quoted a family source as saying Entwistle phoned his father-in-law and said, "I can't remember how I got to England. Is it true Rachel and Lillian are dead?"

The Middlesex district attorney's office released a statement Tuesday saying the Nottingham police and Scotland Yard in London were keeping tabs on Entwistle.