Mother, Baby Found Slain in Bed

Jan. 25, 2006 — -- Police have made contact with the man whose wife and daughter were found dead in the master bedroom of their Hopkinton, Mass., home on Sunday.

When the bodies of Rachel Entwistle, 27, and her 9-month-old baby, Lillian, were found nestled in Rachel's bed, police originally thought they might be victims of carbon monoxide poisoning. It was not until medical examiners discovered bullet wounds in the mother and daughter that police suspected foul play.

The deaths have been ruled homicides.

Authorities have made contact with Neil Entwistle, Rachel's husband and Lillian's father, according to Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley. Coakley said Entwistle was out of the country, but would not say whether he was in England, where he lived previously. His BMW was found in the United States. He remains a person of interest but has not been arrested.

Rachel Entwistle was last heard from on Thursday, when she spoke with a relative. The Entwistles had scheduled a dinner party on Saturday, but after no one answered the door for the party, relatives called police on Sunday.

The deaths have rocked the small Massachusetts town, where the last murder took place in 1995.

"There is no reason to believe the residents of the neighborhood or community should be in fear of a repetition of this," Hopkinton police Chief Thomas Irvin said. "There was no forced entry."

The Entwistles had moved into the neighborhood 11 days ago from southeastern Massachusetts, where they'd lived with relatives.

Rachel Entwistle had a background in teaching; Neil had worked in information technology. Neither one was employed as of last week.

Neil Entwistle is from England, according to the family's Web site. Photos on the site depict a happy family -- Rachel and Neil on a Christmas cruise through the Mediterranean in 2004, the couple's invitation to their 2003 wedding, and photos of baby Lillian from baptism to her first Christmas.

A message on the home page is signed, "love, the happy family."

Since Sunday, the couple's online guest book has filled with messages of sympathy, anger and accusations from friends, Rachel's former students in England, and strangers.

One anonymous poster simply wrote: "WHY?"

ABCNews affiliate WCVB-TV and Jen Brown contributed to this report.