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Eric Griffin found guilty of 1st-degree murder in death of Jennifer Kalicki

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LOWELL — It took jurors less than five hours of deliberations to find Eric Griffin guilty of all charges levied against him, including first-degree murder, for the brutal beating death of his girlfriend, 39-year-old Jennifer Kalicki, in 2019.

Throughout Griffin’s trial, which began in Middlesex Superior Court on June 29, several of Kalicki’s loved ones were present in the courtroom, including her mother, Kathy Gadd.

Each day of the trial, Gadd was seated in the front row of the courtroom gallery, a few dozen feet away from Griffin as he sat at the defendant’s table.

Right before jurors announced their decision late Wednesday afternoon, Gadd was again present in the front row, her eyes closed, and her lips moving in a silent prayer.

The joy and relief she felt after hearing the guilty verdicts was evident as Gadd embraced family and friends in the courtroom gallery, including her only other child, Matthew Kalicki, and her husband, George Gadd.

“I’m in shock, I really am,” Kathy Gadd said, with tears on her cheeks. “It’s what I wanted, but I never expected to get it. I thought somehow it wasn’t going to happen, but I’m so happy because (Griffin) does deserve to suffer.”

Jennifer Kalicki’s close friends, Mernaysa Rivera and Junie Joseph, were also present in the courtroom on Wednesday. They cried and hugged after hearing jurors return the guilty verdicts against Griffin.

Rivera and Joseph agreed that Kalicki’s death ultimately saved the life of another.

“Jen is gone, but he’s never going to hurt anyone ever again,” Rivera said of Griffin.

“She can rest in peace, and justice has been served,” Joseph added.

In addition to first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, Griffin was convicted of intimidation of a witness, strangulation, and two counts of assault and battery of a household member.

Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Suzanne Wiseman revealed during the trial that Griffin and Kalicki had been dating on and off for a couple years prior to Kalicki’s death. The couple’s relationship was “punctuated by violence,” the prosecutor said during her opening arguments on June 29.

According to Wiseman, Griffin’s violent tendencies would boil to the surface when Kalicki tried to prevent him from abusing drugs.

“This case is about abuse that culminated in murder,” Wiseman told jurors.

On the morning of Sept. 15, 2019, Kalicki’s body was found by first responders inside the one-bedroom apartment she shared with Griffin on Archstone Avenue. It was revealed during the trial that Griffin told police he called first responders to the apartment after he found Kalicki in bed unresponsive and cold to the touch.

Wiseman contended Griffin had staged Kalicki’s body in the bed after beating her the day before, and then “left her there to die.” Multiple witnesses testified to seeing Kalicki lying in bed the previous day and night.

Dr. Anand Shah, a forensic pathologist with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, testified during the trial that an examination of Kalicki’s body determined she died from “blunt force head injuries.”

“Specifically at least four areas of blunt force trauma to the back of her head, causing a brain bleed, which caused an agonizingly slow death,” Wiseman told jurors during her roughly hourlong closing remarks on Tuesday.

At points throughout the trial, Wiseman, and Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Maren Shrader, displayed the grisly images of Kalicki’s body that displayed bruises and abrasions scattered across the 39-year-old’s body they said were caused by Griffin.

Griffin’s attorneys, William Dolan and Debra DeWitt, contended during the trial that Kalicki could have been the aggressor, while Griffin was simply defending himself against her. The defense referenced injuries seen on Griffin’s face, caused by Kalicki before her death.

Dolan and DeWitt also pointed to Kalicki’s arrest for allegedly assaulting Griffin in June 2019 — a charge that was later dismissed.

“They want you to believe that this is as simple as angels and demons,” Dolan told jurors about the prosecution during his opening remarks. “That Eric was a demon and Jen was an angel, even when she assaults him. … Eric is no demon, and Jen was no angel.”

Dolan and DeWitt stood next to Griffin as the jurors revealed their verdicts shortly after 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Griffin, who appeared dejected throughout the trial, continued to appear that way upon learning his fate.

Afterward, DeWitt said they are all disappointed by the trial’s outcome, adding, “I don’t think the jury got it right.”

“I think we have a couple appeal issues to look at, but it’s a tragedy for both families,” DeWitt said.

A common theme in the trial was Griffin’s substance abuse issue. DeWitt noted Griffin is now “thinking with a clear mind” after spending the last several years behind bars, awaiting his trial away from drugs.

“It is clear he was battling demons back then,” DeWitt said. “Addiction.”

Tewksbury Police Sgt. Shane Gallagher, who played a key role in the case’s investigation, and Tewksbury Police Chief Ryan Columbus, were also on hand in the courtroom on Wednesday. They stood back and watched as Kalicki’s family and friends celebrated the verdicts.

Columbus pointed out he was a detective lieutenant at the time of the murder.

“To see (Kalicki’s) lifeless body and to kind of know what she went through, it’s a bit emotional,” he said. “This is the job that we do, this is what we signed up for, but it always doesn’t work out this way. It’s incredible for me to be here to see this come full circle and to see the family and their elation.”

Gallagher and Columbus praised the work of law enforcement, and Wiseman, who Columbus described as “an incredible prosecutor.”

“It was great to see that all the facts were able to be put together to give the family justice,” Gallagher said. “To see the family and their reaction, all the dedication and work everyone put forward, it made it all worth it.”

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan released a statement on Wednesday night, announcing Griffin’s conviction.

“This verdict signifies our commitment to holding perpetrators of domestic violence accountable and exemplifies the good work of the team of prosecutors and police who spent months investigating this case in the Grand Jury and who dedicated themselves to gathering additional evidence that demonstrated the violence and intimidation being inflicted upon the victim,” Ryan said. “This type of controlling behavior is far too common in these cases and calls greater attention to the need for addressing the public safety and public health risk.”

At the time of her death, Kalicki worked in the Human Resources Department of Tewksbury State Hospital. A couple weeks after her death, a candlelight vigil, attended by approximately 200 people, took place outside the facility.

Kathy Gadd wears three bracelets that honor her daughter’s life, one for each year since Kalicki’s death. She also has a tattoo that states “Jenny” on her forearm. Above the name is a picture of a heart with angel wings.

Gadd smiles while pointing out the heart is decorated with Kalicki’s thumbprint.

“She was my baby, and she was my angel,” Gadd said. “Whether (attorney) Dolan says so or not. She was my angel. Otherwise she wouldn’t be gone.”

Griffin will be sentenced in Woburn District Court at 2 p.m. July 27.

Follow Aaron Curtis on Twitter @aselahcurtis

Hudson, N.H. man held without bail in mother’s murder

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HUDSON, N.H. — A bouquet of flowers with a note attached, stating “RIP Christine,” decorated the steps in front of 35 Shoal Creek Road on Friday afternoon.

A resident of the quiet street, located in Hudson’s bucolic Rolling Green community, said the flowers appeared on the steps of 57-year-old Christine DeGiacomo’s home after authorities finished their on-scene investigation into her alleged murder.

Authorities announced on Thursday that Christine DeGiacomo was allegedly beaten by her son, Grant DeGiacomo, 26, inside the home on Wednesday night. She later died from her injuries.

Grant DeGiacomo has been charged with her murder.

“This is a quiet, safe neighborhood,” Christine DeGiacomo’s next-door neighbor said from his doorway on Friday. “Nothing happens here. People are just living their life, doing their thing, and then all the sudden this.”

The neighbor, who did not want to give his name, shares a common wall with the DeGiacomo home. He said he could hear arguing coming from the apartment on Wednesday night, but it seemed like nothing out of the ordinary.

“And all the sudden it went from that, to us hearing banging, and then the screaming,” the neighbor said, adding it sounded like a woman “screaming for her life.”

“It escalated just like that, and I was probably on the phone with 911 within 30 seconds,” he said.

Police arrived on scene within minutes. The neighbor said he watched through his Ring camera as Grant DeGiacomo was taken from the home in handcuffs, while Christine DeGiacomo was removed on a gurney.

Authorities said in a press release that they found Christine DeGiacomo suffering from traumatic injuries upon their arrival shortly before 9:45 p.m.

According to documents available in Hillsboro Superior Court Southern District, the 57-year-old woman was transported to Southern New Hampshire Medical Center, in Nashua, where she was pronounced dead shortly after her arrival.

Following an investigation, court documents state authorities obtained a warrant for Grant DeGiacomo’s arrest.

“Mr. Grant DeGiacomo is charged with recklessly causing the death of Christine DeGiacomo under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life by repeatedly striking her head,” said New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella in Thursday’s arrest announcement.

Grant DeGiacomo waived his formal arraignment hearing that was scheduled in Hillsboro Superior Court Southern District on Friday. Senior Assistant Attorney General Scott Chase said the 26-year-old pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and is being held without bail.

Family members appeared in the courthouse on Friday. One woman, who identified herself as Christine DeGiacomo’s sister-in-law, volunteered to talk about her beloved family member with members of the press.

“She was a wonderful person,” she said, growing emotional as she spoke about Christine DeGiacomo. “She was always happy, she was always there, she had the best friends, she loved Bermuda, she loved her dog, she loved her cat, she was a great girl, and I’ll miss her.”

Court records show this is not Grant DeGiacomo’s first experience with law enforcement.

In January 2020, he was arrested for reckless conduct after police said he fired a gun inside the home on Shoal Creek Road while intoxicated.

According to police reports about the incident, the bullet passed through a bedroom door, through an interior hallway wall, and then into a common wall shared with the next-door unit. Police said in the report that the bullet became stuck in the wall, and did not penetrate the neighboring unit.

No one was injured during the incident.

According to police reports, Grant DeGiacomo told officers he accidentally discharged the firearm while “playing” with the weapon. A family member told police at the time that Grant DeGiacomo is an alcoholic who struggles with mental health issues.

Court documents state Grant DeGiacomo pleaded guilty to reckless conduct for the offense, and was sentenced to 12 months in jail.

Follow Aaron Curtis on Twitter @aselahcurtis

Legislation aims at harsher penalties for shooting at homes

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LOWELL — Statistics provided by the Lowell Police Department show over a five-year period — from 2018 to 2022 — officers responded to 71 incidents involving guns that were discharged at homes in the city.

Local officials have responded to these potentially deadly incidents by pushing for proposed legislation that would create harsher penalties for gunmen who intentionally shoot at any kind of dwelling, including apartments and houses.

“While the issue of discharging firearms at homes weighs on the minds of residents across the commonwealth, particularly in our cities, Massachusetts laws do not adequately prosecute those who have committed these crimes,” state Sen. Ed Kennedy said while testifying in support of the legislation before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary on Tuesday.

Kennedy, along with state Rep. Rady Mom, sponsored the bill, H.1621, An Act Prohibiting Gunfire Directed at Dwelling Houses, which would create a new crime for shooting at a home. If convicted, the charge carries with it a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, who also testified on Tuesday, pointed out there is currently no statute that specifically addresses a gunman who opens fire on a dwelling.

“I think this is something that everybody already thinks is a crime,” Ryan said.

A press release from the DA’s office about the proposed bill states current laws provide a range of possible charges for those who open fire on a home, but they fall short of addressing the severity of the offense.

“There must be a crime that fits the act, and a punishment that fits the crime,” the release states.

If a shooter causes damage to a dwelling or the property inside, they could face a charge of willful and malicious destruction of property, which includes a potential sentence of up to 10 years behind bars. That offense, however, requires proof that the shooter intended to do damage and acted with malice toward the occupants. If the damage is not intentional, the shooter may be charged with a lesser offense.

If a shooter does not cause damage to the dwelling or the property inside, they may be charged with minor offenses, such as disturbing the peace or disorderly conduct. The shooter would also face a charge of discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling.

According to the DA’s office, a first offense of disturbing the peace or disorderly conduct carries only a fine, while discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling has a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail.

In addition to posing stricter penalties, the new charge could be applied by law enforcement even if the shooter’s only intent was to frighten those inside the targeted home, and not harm them.

“I think given the good solid gun laws that we have here in Massachusetts, this bill would plug unexpected lapses in our laws,” Ryan testified on Tuesday.

Kennedy described the legislation as “an important tool that would help public safety” and “disrupt gang violence.”

“As lawmakers, it is our duty to equip law enforcement officers and prosecutors with the means to protect communities we all serve,” Kennedy said.

Follow Aaron Curtis on Twitter @aselahcurtis

Leominster man tried to stab United flight attendant in the neck, open plane’s emergency exit door: U.S. Attorney

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A Bay State man has been arrested by the feds after he allegedly tried to stab a United Airlines flight attendant in the neck and tried to open the plane’s emergency exit door while aboard a flight to Boston Logan International Airport.

Francisco Severo Torres, 33, of Leominster, has been charged by the FBI with one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon.

Torres was arrested Sunday evening at Boston Logan International Airport following the flight from Los Angeles.

About 45 minutes before the flight arrived in Boston, the United flight crew received an alarm in the cockpit that a starboard side door was disarmed.

A flight attendant found that the door’s locking handle had been moved out of the fully locked position — about a quarter of the way toward the unlocked position — and that the emergency slide arming lever had been moved to the “disarmed” position. The flight attendant reported this to the captain and flight crew after securing the door and emergency slide.

Then, another flight attendant reported that he had seen Torres near the door, and believed Torres had tampered with the door. When a flight attendant confronted Torres about tampering with the door, he responded by asking if cameras showed him doing that.

According to court documents, the flight attendant then alerted the captain that they believed Torres posed a threat to the aircraft, and that the captain needed to land the aircraft as soon as possible.

Torres soon after got out of his seat and approached the starboard side door, where two flight attendants were standing in the aisle. One of the flight attendants saw Torres mouthing something that he could not hear.

The Leominster man then allegedly attacked one of the flight attendants using a broken metal spoon, hitting the flight attendant on the neck three times.

Passengers tackled Torres, and he was restrained with the assistance of flight crew. Torres was taken into custody upon the flight’s arrival to Boston.

In later interviews, passengers reported that Torres had asked a fellow passenger about the safety card — and where it showed the location of the door handle during the flight attendants’ safety briefing prior to takeoff. Also, Torres was seen pacing in the galley before attacking the flight attendant.

Following an initial appearance on Monday before a U.S. District Court magistrate, Torres was detained pending a hearing set for Thursday.

Lunenburg man arraigned in 2013 cold case rape

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ACTON — Nine years after a young woman was sexually assaulted at knifepoint at a commuter rail station in Acton, a Lunenburg man is facing charges.

On Tuesday, Christopher Aldrich, 28, of Lunenburg, was arraigned on the charge of aggravated rape in Concord District Court. Aldrich was held without bail after a dangerousness hearing and is due back in court on March 23.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Acton Police Chief James Cogan said the incident happened on June 18, 2013. The alleged victim, then 22, was waiting alone at the South Acton Commuter Rail station. After she completed a phone call, the victim was allegedly approached by a man with a knife, who threatened to hurt her with it. The woman was raped at knifepoint and after the assault, the man allegedly forced her to throw away her phone and fled on foot.

Officials said after the assailant fled, the woman retrieved her phone and called 911. While police responded within minutes, the assailant could not be located and there were no surveillance cameras in the area.

“The victim was transported to a nearby hospital, where she was treated by a trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. Forensic evidence collected from this examination was sent to the State Police Crime Laboratory, whose chemists were able to develop a detailed DNA profile of the attacker,” officials said in a Tuesday press release.

The attacker’s DNA profiled was compared with state and national offender databases, but no success was had in finding a match, officials said. For more than eight years, members of the Acton Police Department and Transit Police continued to try to identify the perpetrator.

As the investigation continued, officials said Middlesex prosecutors and police authorities worked with Parabon NanoLabs to conduct Forensic Genealogy analysis. The technology can analyze aspects of a DNA profile to identify distant relatives of the source, in an effort to develop a pool of potential suspects. That’s when Aldrich was identified as a person of interest.

Aldrich was involved in a car accident on Nov. 9, 2022, when his Ford Crown Victoria struck a utility pole on School Street in Acton, officials said. At the scene of the accident, Acton Police collected a number of personal items from his vehicle including an open bottle of Fireball. He was later treated at a nearby hospital for injuries sustained in the crash.

“Crime Laboratory personnel subsequently swabbed the items, and were able to develop a major male profile from each item. The profiles were a match to each another, and to the offender profile collected from the victim of the 2013 sexual assault. The expected frequency occurrence of this profile in the population was determined to be less than 1 in 3 sextillion individuals (1 in 3,000,000,000,000,000,000,000),” officials said in the press release.

Ryan said in a statement that the case was an important milestone in the work of the Cold Case Unit her office launched in 2019. She said it sent a “strong message” to victims and perpetrators of sexual violence in Middlesex County and changes the narrative of what a cold case is.

“The mere passage of time does nothing to affect our resolve to pursue justice in these cases. We know the terrible personal violation and the continuing trauma that is experienced by survivors of sexual assault crimes,” Ryan said. “We want to give hope to those whose cases have not been resolved. We do not give up on these cases. We are committed to using every tool available to us – not just advances in technology – but creative diligent investigative work to bring these cases to resolution.”

Cogan praised the continued efforts of officers and detectives who refused to quit in their pursuit of the perpetrator. To finally bring charges, it took the combined effort of the Cold Case Unit, detectives from the Acton Police and MBTA Transit Police Departments, State Police detectives assigned to Ryan’s office, the State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section, the State Police Crime Laboratory, and the partnership of Parabon NanoLabs.

“With the assistance of Detectives from the MBTA Transit Police, many members of the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office as well as the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab, the victim now knows who is alleged to have committed this horrifying crime. I hope this provides some relief to the victim and her family,” Cogan said.

Assistant District Attorney David Solet, chief of the Cold Case Unit, is the prosecutor assigned to the case. Susie Marshall is the victim witness advocate.