A district court judge has ordered that an 18-year-old Massachusetts man accused of murder should remain in custody at the Essex County Correctional Facility. The man was denied bail during an April 9 arraignment hearing that was held using teleconferencing technology because of restrictions put in place to contain the COVID-19 virus. His attorney had asked for bail to be set in the amount of $25,000. If the Bradford resident is indicted by a grand jury, the case will be referred to a superior court for trial.
The man is accused of stabbing a 19-year-old man in a parking lot behind Haverhill Stadium on the evening of April. 7. Officers from the Haverhill Police Department were dispatched to the scene at approximately 8:40 p.m. Eyewitnesses allegedly told police that the man approached a group of people and stabbed the victim multiple times. HPD officers and detectives from the Essex State Police took him into custody without incident and charged him with homicide about seven hours later. The man is said to have admitted to police that the argument was over a woman that both of the men had been romantically involved with and that he armed himself with a knife before heading out to the stadium.
The attack left the victim critically injured. He was transported by paramedics to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment and then taken by helicopter to a trauma center in Boston. He was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Experienced criminal defense attorneys would likely strongly advise individuals charged with violent crimes like murder to resist the urge to explain themselves and answer no questions before speaking with a lawyer. Detectives are trained to establish empathy and rapport with the suspects they question in order to elicit frank and candid responses, but confessing in these situations leaves defense attorneys in a far weaker position from which to begin plea negotiations.emergency.
