The ringleader of a group that appears to have been responsible for most of the catalytic converter thefts in the Greater Boston area in the last few years has pleaded guilty, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Rafael Davila, also known as “…
Massachusetts
Man charged in pipe bombing of Satanic Temple in Salem
An Oklahoma man was arrested after a pipe bomb was thrown last week at the Satanic Temple in Salem, Massachusetts.
The explosive device was thrown onto the temple’s porch in the early morning hours of April 8. No one was inside at the time. Staff found the device and the damage it caused hours later.
The office of acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy of Massachusetts said 49-year-old Sean Patrick Palmer of Perkins, Oklahoma, was arrested Wednesday morning. He is facing charges of using an explosive to cause damage to a building used in interstate or foreign commerce.
Stay with NBC10 Boston as this story develops.
Judge denies lower bail for Chelsea mom charged in 3-year-old son’s death
A judge denied a Massachusetts mother’s request for a lower bail as she awaits trial in the death of her 3-year-old son.
Jennifer Prudencio, 25, of Chelsea, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment after her son, Yael Guardado Prudencio, was found unresponsive inside their Spencer Avenue apartment on April 7.
Prudencio pleaded not guilty last week and was ordered held on $100,000 bail.
Prosecutors say Prudencio knew her son was sick, but left him without adult supervision overnight anyway.
“Specifically, the defendant was aware that her 3-year-old child was sick in the week leading up to his death. Generally, the child suffered from a seizure disorder and hemophilia and had been vomiting blood in the days before he died,” Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Audrey Mark said in court Wednesday. “He had also fallen while having a seizure, and had a bleeding wound to his face which was not properly healing.”
Prosecutors said Prudencio sought medical care for her son twice in the week before his death.
“On the evening of Saturday, April 6, 2024, the child vomited again. The child also appeared pale, according to the defendant,” Mark said. “Despite being aware that something was seriously, medically wrong with her child, the defendant left that child in the care of her two other children, who are 7 and 8 years old.”
Authorities accuse Prudencio of drinking for hours at a Revere bar before staying at her boyfriend’s house in Somerville.
“At some point during that night, your honor, the alleged victim’s 8-year-old brother sent a text to their mother expressing concern for the well-being of his brother, the alleged victim, and actually attaching a video of the alleged victim,” Mark said. “The defendant told her 8-year-old son she’d be home soon.”
Prudencio arrived home at 10 a.m. the next morning and found her son dead, prosecutors said. She allegedly acknowledged to police that she was aware of her son’s serious medical issues before leaving him overnight.
Prudencio’s attorney, Peter Marano, requested bail be lowered from $100,000 to $10,000.
“Not making any excuse for what the commonwealth is alleging, however, $100,000, in my client’s case, is akin to absolutely no bail,” Marano said. “That is a violation of the declaration of rights, the Eighth Amendment.”
The judge denied the motion to lower bail without prejudice, telling the defense that it is free to bring the request “back before the court when we have, perhaps, a little bit greater clarity as to where this case is going.”
Prudencio’s bail includes conditions that she stay away from and have no contact with witnesses in the case, have no unsupervised contact with children under 16, and adhere to GPS monitoring.
She is due back in court on May 2 for a probable cause hearing.
Car and train collision in Beverly closes streets, delays MBTA line
A train and a vehicle were involved in a collision in Beverly, Massachusetts, on Wednesday afternoon, police said, urging drivers to avoid the area.
The crash appeared to have taken place near the Prides Crossing MBTA station — Beverly police said Hale Street was closed between Haskell and Thissell streets.
A red car with heavy damage to its hood was in the road near the tracks. A halted MBTA Commuter Rail train was nearby.
It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone was hurt.
The MBTA said passengers on the Rockport Line “may experience severe delays” Wednesday afternoon.
This is a developing news story that will be updated when more information is available.
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Suspect with a gun breaks into Dracut home, barricades themselves inside
A suspect armed with a gun broke into a home in Dracut, Massachusetts, on Wednesday morning and then barricaded themselves inside.
Shortly after 8 a.m., Dracut police said they were called to Lillian Terrace for reports of an individual who had bro…
Who’s who in the Karen Read case: Names you should know as trial begins
The Karen Read murder trial got underway on Tuesday with jury selection at Norfolk Superior Court. An eager public is about to hear the full arguments by the prosecutors and defense in the controversial case.
The body of Boston police officer John O’Keefe was found in the snowy front lawn of a Canton home in January of 2022. His girlfriend, Read, was arrested and prosecutors claimed that she hit him with her Lexus SUV while dropping him off at a house party after a night out drinking.
Read was charged with second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while impaired and leaving the scene of an accident. She’s pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Her defense team has alleged a large-scale coverup — and their theory hinges on a web of connections they say exist between the people at the house party that night. Read’s attorneys claim that law enforcement is covering up for the actual person — or people — behind O’Keefe’s killing, leaving Read at the receiving end of a frame job.
The defense team’s theory has become popular with parts of the public, due in large part to coverage by blogger Aidan Kearney, also known as “Turtleboy,” who himself was arrested, accused of intimidating witnesses in the case.
The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office has slammed the defense and Kearney, saying that they are pushing speculation with no evidence, while their own evidence points clearly to Read as the culprit.
For anyone who will be following Read’s trial, this list features some important names that may come up. Aside from Read and O’Keefe, the people on the list have been named as potential witnesses; none is facing charges in O’Keefe’s death aside from Read.
Karen Read is the 44-year-old defendant of the trial. She is charged in the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. Prosecutors alleged that after a night out, Read dropped O’Keefe off at a house party in Canton. She is accused of hitting him with her SUV and leaving the scene. Read’s defense has argued that a complex cover-up scheme is framing her for the murder. The defense says that they have evidence suggesting that O’Keefe died after being in a fight after being attacked by one or more people in the house. Read is facing a second-degree murder charge.
Before the murder allegation, Read worked as an equity analyst at Fidelity Investments and also was an adjunct professor at Bentley University, her alma mater.
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John O’Keefe was a Boston police officer whose body was found in the snow on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022. He was found in the front lawn of a home on Fairview Road in Canton, Massachusetts, the morning after a night out with his girlfriend, Read, and a group of others. He was 46.
The home he was found outside of was owned by fellow Boston police officer, Brian Albert. A gathering was being held at the home for Brian’s son’s birthday, according to Boston Magazine.
O’Keefe was a 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department. O’Keefe became the guardian of his niece and nephew after the death of his sister around 10 years ago, The Boston Globe reported.
“He was a good man,” a close friend of O’Keefe’s, John Jackson, told the Globe.
He and Karen reportedly first dated in their 20s, then reconnected years later, during the pandemic.
Brian Albert, a Boston police officer, was among the group drinking on the night of Jan. 28, 2022, as well as the owner of the home outside of which O’Keefe would be found dead.
Read’s defense team has voiced its intent to use a third-party culprit defense during the trial. Her lawyer said that Albert and two other people had “a motive, the opportunity and means to attack John O’Keefe.”
Prosecutors said that there was nothing to the defense’s claims other than “fertile imagination.”
Brian Albert Jr. is the son of Brian Albert. The gathering at the Alberts’ home the night of Jan. 28 was for his birthday.
Chris Albert is Brian Albert’s brother. He also serves on the Canton Select Board. He has testified that he was at the restaurant and bar with the group in the hours before O’Keefe’s death.
Chris was neighbors with John O’Keefe, Boston Magazine reported.
Julie Albert is Chris Albert’s wife. She has testified that she was at the restaurant and bar with the group in the hours before O’Keefe’s death.
Colin Albert is the son of Chris and Julie Albert. Read’s defense team says that Colin was at the Canton home the night before O’Keefe was found dead. He is one of the three that Read’s lawyer said had “a motive, the opportunity and means to attack John O’Keefe.”
Prosecutors have said that Colin had left his uncle’s home before O’Keefe and Read arrived.
Kevin Albert is Brian’s brother. He serves in the Canton Police Department as a detective.
Brian Higgins is an agent for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. He was reportedly at the Fairview Road home the night before O’Keefe was found dead. He is one of the three who Read’s defense team says had “a motive, the opportunity and means to attack John O’Keefe.” Higgins was reportedly a friend of Brian Albert.
The Commonwealth stated that the defense’s statements about Higgins lacked evidence and made for a “fanciful” story.
Jennifer McCabe is Brian’s sister-in-law. McCabe was part of the group that was out drinking the night of Jan. 27. The defense has long alleged that McCabe used her phone to search “Hos [sic] long to die in cold” around 2:30 a.m. — something prosecutors have claimed she actually searched hours later, after O’Keefe had been found.
Michael Proctor is a Massachusetts State Police trooper who led the investigation in the Read case.
Read’s attorneys allege Proctor never fully disclosed his personal relationship with multiple people involved in the case. This includes the Albert family, who lived at the home on the property where O’Keefe’s body was found.
Proctor is under internal investigation for an undisclosed potential violation of department policy.
Sources have told NBC10 Boston the investigation is in connection to the Read case.
Proctor remains on full duty while the internal investigation unfolds, and the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office told NBC10 Boston the internal affairs investigation had not impacted Proctor’s case assignments.
