Murder -- or Suicide -- in Family Killing?
Neil Entwistle's lawyer says man's wife killed their baby, then herself.
WOBURN, Mass., June 24, 2008— -- Murder or suicide? That's what a Massachusetts jury is being asked to consider today as they deliberate the fate of accused double-murderer Neil Entwistle, who is on trial for the shooting deaths of his young wife and baby daughter.
In his closing arguments, defense attorney Elliot Weinstein reiterated the defense team's stunning theory about what happened on the morning of Jan. 20, 2006, at the house on a quiet cul-de-sac in Hopkinton, Mass.
Weinstein told the jury that 27-year-old Rachel Entwistle may have been suffering from postpartum depression and decided to shoot her baby daughter through the chest and then turn the gun on herself, killing herself with a single gunshot to the head.
"Suicide is often a taboo, it tarnishes the memory of a loved one," Weinstein said to the jury. "Your work will be very difficult. It will be difficult to evaluate Rachel as a suicide."
But, he said, suicide explains Entwistle's odd behavior after finding the two dead bodies.
He did not call 911, nor did he get in touch with his wife's family. Instead, he fled to England to be with his own family.
"Neil didn't attend Rachel and Lillian's funeral, as if he should have," Weinstein said. "He needed to be away so he could best protect Rachel and Lillian's memory."
Weinstein described the Entwistles as a loving couple, and he brandished a photo of Lillian that Neil used as a screen saver on his computer.
"You know, no one could look at this picture for any length of time if he had just killed his whole family," Weinstein said.
Was he thinking clearly when he got on a flight to England without telling anyone about the bodies? Of course not, said Weinstein, but that doesn't make him guilty of murder.
Although it surprised no one that Neil Entwistle didn't take the stand, most courtroom observers were a bit taken aback that Entwistle's attorney didn't put on any case at all. The defense rested its case, without calling a single witness.
Legal analyst William Fallon, who has been closely following the case, said it is all about reasonable doubt.
