Jane Doe Inc. - Voices For Change

In The News
Boston Globe Editorial

In memoriam
December 31, 2006

'PEOPLE GET into this to change the world," Mary Lauby says of the fight against domestic violence, but they get distracted by the need to save lives. Lauby, however, still wants change. The head of Jane Doe Inc., a local nonprofit organization that supports victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, Lauby says the state should focus more closely on violence prevention.

That's why Jane Doe has just issued its first report reviewing domestic violence homicide cases. It sets 2003 as a benchmark year for future analysis. Jane Doe has expanded its definition to include abuse by romantic partners, relatives, and caregivers. Lauby says it's a matter of understanding the abuse of "power and control in adult relationships."

Below is the Globe's annual list of Massachusetts residents who died as a result of domestic violence in romantic relationships, drawn from Jane Doe's list. The 24 names are up from 14 last year but down from 28 in 2004.

Jan. 8: Theresa Sevigny, 28, of Westfield, was found strangled in a locked bedroom in her home. Joshua Nilsson was charged with her murder. He was her former boyfriend and one of three roommates who shared the house. Court documents say that Sevigny had asked Nilsson to move out because she suspected that he was reading her mail.

Jan. 13: Edward Schiller, 39, of Framingham, was found shot to death in his car, parked in a Newton garage near his office. Schiller had been dating the estranged wife of James Brescia. Prosecutors say that Brescia paid Scott Foxworth $10,000 to kill Schiller. Both were charged with murder. Police say Brescia had warned his wife not to date Schiller, allegedly saying "it won't be good for Ed's health."

Jan. 20: Rachel Entwistle, 27, and her 9-month-old daughter, Lillian, of Hopkinton, were both found shot to death and covered by comforters in the master bedroom of their home. The next day, Neil, the victims' husband and father, flew to England. He has been charged with murder.

March 6: Michelle Padgett Townsend, 27, of Pittsfield, was found dead by police in the apartment of her estranged husband. She had numerous stab wounds. Townsend was the mother of four children in foster care. And she had a restraining order against her husband. Weeks later, authorities arrested Townsend's husband, Seymour, and charged him with murder. In 2005, he had been charged with attacking his wife and destroying her property, but these charges were dropped.

March 13: Michael Zammitti Jr., 39, and Chester Roberts, 51, both of Wakefield, were shot to death inside a concrete-pumping company owned by Zammitti's family. In June, authorities charged Sean Fitzpatrick, who allegedly shot Zammitti because he had an affair with Zammitti's wife and became angry after she refused to leave her husband. Fitzpatrick allegedly shot Roberts because he was a witness. Michael Zammitti had three children.

April 16: Velveena Baskin, 38, of East Boston, was bludgeoned to death in her apartment while three of her eight children were in the home. Her husband, Whitney, was charged with murder. According to authorities, the husband and wife went into a bedroom and he emerged later in an agitated state. The children found their mother on the bedroom floor and called police. Whitney Baskin was arrested the next day when police found him driving his wife's sport utility vehicle into parked cars with a bottle of alcohol between his legs. His wife had been waiting for him to sign divorce papers.

April 17: Tracy Mei, 34, of Templeton, was pinned to a garage wall by an all-terrain vehicle allegedly driven by her boyfriend, Steven Bourgeois, on April 8 while their 3-year-old son was in the truck. A firefighter freed her, and she went to the hospital. Bourgeois was charged with trying to kill her. After she died on April 17, the charges were upgraded to murder. Relatives said he had a history of psychiatric illness. Mei had three children.

April 27: Dominique Samuels, 19, of Roxbury, was found dead in a wooded area of Franklin Park. Her body had been set on fire. An autopsy revealed that she had been strangled. Samuels had lived in a rooming house. In May, Rodrick Taylor was charged with her murder. Taylor was the cousin of a man who also lived in the rooming house. Prosecutors say that Taylor made sexual advances that Samuels rebuffed and, in a rage, he strangled her, hiding her body for days before dumping it in the park.

May 4: Michelle Barclay, 53, of Swampscott, was killed in her home. According to the district attorney, Barclay's husband, John, called 911 and said he had killed his wife and was going to kill himself. When police arrived on the scene, they found both bodies. Each had suffered fatal gunshot wounds. The Barclays had a daughter and a son.

May 20: Carla Souza, 37, and her son, Caique, 11, of Framingham, were beaten to death in their home. Jeremias Bins, Caique's stepfather, was charged with the murders. The prosecutor said Souza was on the phone calling the police for help when she was killed, and Caique walked in while the attack was underway. Bins allegedly confessed to using a hammer in the slayings. Police say he was angry about the time his wife was devoting to the Mormon Church. Souza and Bins were also the parents of a younger child.

June 23: Rachel Richards, 38, of Rowley, was beaten to death with a baseball bat in her home. Richards's 10-year-old daughter called police. They found Richards's husband, Scott, who was suffering from multiple, self-inflicted stab wounds. He was taken to a hospital where he was arraigned on murder charges. Neighbors reported that Rachel Richards had recently shaved her head, explaining, when she was asked, that it was "because of him," referring to her husband.

July 22: Analicia Perry, 20, of Boston, was shot on a Roxbury street where her brother had been slain four years earlier. She was lighting candles at a makeshift shrine for her brother when, according to police, she was allegedly shot by Laron Lewis Richardson, her former boyfriend. A second man, Steven Sayles, was charged with being an accessory. Perry was the mother of a 4-year-old daughter.

Oct. 1: Anthony Rano, 19, of South Yarmouth, was stabbed to death. Police say that Rano got a call from a former girlfriend. She was arguing with her current boyfriend, Alexander Phillips. The two men, former friends, ended up fighting outside Phillips's home, and Phillips allegedly stabbed Rano.

Oct. 6: Elaine Romero, 66, of Bourne, was allegedly stabbed to death by her husband, William. Her body was found on the sun porch of a neighbor, who called the police. The district attorney said that William Romero had injuries on his arm and face, suggesting that his wife fought back during the attack. Neighbors said police had previously been to the house because of domestic disputes.

Oct. 26: Judith Guevara, 25, of Lawrence, was found bleeding in her bedroom. Police allegedly received a call from her husband, Cesar Polanco, who said he had killed his wife. Guevara was taken to a hospital, where she died. Polanco was charged with murder. Guevara was the mother of two children and pregnant with a third.

Oct. 31: William Olsen Jr., 55, of Danvers, was allegedly stabbed to death by his former girlfriend, Kathie DeFelice, in her apartment. DeFelice had taken out a restraining order against Olsen, and court records show that Olsen had beaten her repeatedly in the past.

Nov. 2: Sandra Reavis, 39, of Dorchester, was stabbed to death. The district attorney said that Reavis went into her children's bedroom to avoid a fight with her husband, Niles. He allegedly followed her and stabbed her in the throat, yelling, "You are not going to cheat on me." Her children tried vainly to fight him off. The husband was charged with murder.

Nov. 13: Deanna Manca, 44, of Gardner, was killed at home, allegedly by her husband, Thomas, who then killed himself. Her body was found in a master bedroom closet; his in another room. The couple were getting a divorce, and Deanna Manca had a restraining order that banned her husband from coming within 100 yards of her. In court documents, Deanna said that her husband had repeatedly threatened to kill himself. Manca was the mother of two daughters.

Nov. 20: Eric Hayes, 18, of Worcester, was shot. Hayes was arguing with Antoine Price on the street over Catelynn Rodwill, a woman whom Hayes had dated, and Price was currently dating. Police say Rodwill opened the trunk of her car, and Price took out a gun and shot Hayes. He died at the hospital. Price was charged with murder, Rodwill as an accessory.

Dec. 12: Robert Carreiro, 33, and Tory Marandos, 30, both of New Bedford, were shot to death at a strip club. According to police, Carreiro, a bouncer, had thrown Scott Medeiros out of the club two weeks earlier, telling him to stay away from a bartender, a woman who was Medeiros's former girlfriend and who had had a child with Carreiro. On Dec. 12, Medeiros returned to the club with an automatic rifle. He held some people hostage, fatally shot Carreiro and Marandos, the club's manager, and wounded two police officers, who survived. Police found Medeiros's body after he apparently shot himself.