Entwistle Back to Face Murder Charges

Feb. 16, 2006 — -- The British man accused of killing his wife and daughter in their Hopkinton, Mass., home has arrived back in the United States to face murder charges.

Entwistle was tranferred into the custody of U.S. marshals at Gatwick Airport outside London Wednesday morning. "We understand that he is returning to the U.S. on a private flight," a statement from British police said.

He flew to Bangor, Maine, to pass customs, then flew to the Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Mass., where he arrived just before 5:30 p.m. Entwistle was handcuffed and wearing leg shackles when he was taken from the plane by state police.

Entwistle was taken directly to the Hopkinton Police Department, where he will be processed. He will be arraigned in Framingham District Court today.

Entwistle, 27, flew to his native England late last month before his wife and daughter were found dead in their beds. He faces charges in the United States for murdering Rachel Entwistle, and their 9-month-old daughter, Lillian Rose Entwistle, with a .22 caliber gun that allegedly belonged to Rachel's stepfather.

In recently released court affidavits, Rachel's stepfather, Joseph Materrazzo, told police that he last used the weapon, which was kept locked away in his Carver, Mass., home, on Jan. 21, the day after Rachel and Lillian were apparently killed.

Materrazzo said he used his firearms, including the .22 caliber, for target shooting.

This detail has raised concern that forensics on the alleged murder weapon may be less than perfect.

Failed Plan?

The Middlesex district attorney suggested the plot may have been part of a failed murder-suicide. Court documents report Entwistle said he "grabbed a knife from the kitchen and considered killing himself, but then put it down because it would hurt too much."

"He seems to have acted in a very confused manner and confusion is not necessarily proof of guilt," said defense attorney Janice Bassil.

Back in the United States, Boston defense attorney Elliot M. Weinstein was appointed Wednesday to represent Entwistle in the Massachusetts courts. He was assigned to the case by the Committee for Public Counsel Services, a state agency that pairs private attorneys with indigent defendants.

"His family is unable to afford counsel in Massachusetts," CPCS chief counsel William Leahy told The Associated Press.

Detailed Court Documents

In more than 200 pages of affidavits released earlier this week, investigators describe Entwistle as a secretive man with financial troubles that may have put strain on his marriage. Investigators suggest that those troubles may have given him motive to kill his wife and daughter.

The documents also reveal that Entwistle may have been perusing Web sites that provide escort services.

"Whether or not he visited escort services … that is not necessarily a motive for murder," said Bassil. "I suspect that there are plenty of happily married men visiting escort sites."