British Man on Trial for Killing Wife, Daughter
Trial of British man accused of killing American wife and daughter begins.
WOBURN, Mass., June 7, 2008 — -- As opening arguments began in the Neil Entwistle murder trial, the 16-member jury sat upright, clutching notebooks. Spectators packed the small courtroom. And two families sat 10 feet away from each other, but worlds apart.
On one side a family from Carver, Mass., grieving the loss of two family members and praying for justice. The other a family from Worksop, England, hoping the trial would end in exoneration, not a life sentence for their son.
In his opening arguments, defense attorney Elliot Weinstein, sporting his signature black cowboy boots, promised the jury the evidence would be "sordid, gruesome and graphic." He asked them to "not get overwhelmed."
Weinstein also cautioned the jury to remember that "over and over, again and again, things are not the way they may first appear to be."
Neil Entwistle, 29, is charged with killing his 27-year-old wife, Rachel, and 9-month-old daughter, Lillian The bodies of Rachel and Lillian Entwistle were found intertwined on a bed in their rented home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Hopkinton, Mass., in January 2006. Both were fatally shot.
Authorities tracked Entwistle down at his parent's home in Worksop, England. And court documents show that Entwistle told law enforcement that he found his wife and daughter dead after he returned from a shopping trip, and he fled to England to be with his family. Entwistle never returned for the funeral, and he was arrested and charged with their murder on Feb. 8.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Fabbri argued that although the relationship between Rachel and Neil looked to be "nothing but loving and stable and nourishing ... there was another side to Neil Entwistle."
That other side, according to Fabbri, showed that Entwistle surfed porn sites and "discussed the possibility of setting up discrete liaisons" at one site called "Adult Friend Finder."
And, Fabbri raised questions about why a loving husband would not return for his dead wife and daughter's funeral but "sent flowers." And, why, when Entwistle was arrested, did he have a clipping from a local newspaper listing escorts and notes about "selling his story to the highest bidder," Fabbri said.
