Post by dawn on Aug 6, 2010 8:35:52 GMT -5
The 28-year-old Framingham man who called police in May to report the slaying of a young Hudson couple was arraigned yesterday on two first-degree murder charges.
Hudson police responded to a call from Idelfonso Velez at about 3:30 a.m. May 1, according to the police report. They found him suffering from multiple stab wounds in a parking lot outside the apartment complex where Trisha Bennett, 20, and Angel “Fito’’ Ortiz, 23, lived. Velez told police that two men had broken into the couple’s apartment and that one had stabbed them during a struggle in the bedroom.
But after months of investigating, police arrested Velez in connection with the deaths late Tuesday at the Middlesex Jail in Cambridge, where he had been held since being arrested in June on charges of illegal possession of a firearm and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
Yesterday, Judge Robert V. Greco ordered Velez held without bail.
Friends and family of the victims packed the courtroom in Marlborough where the arraignment took place. A woman friends identified as Bennett’s mother sat in the front row, shaking uncontrollably and crying throughout the proceeding.
“It’s unbelievable,’’ said Melissa Chaves, 29, who said she was a friend of the couple.
Police estimate that Ortiz was stabbed four times and Bennett 14 times.
No motive for the attack was discussed at the arraignment.
According to police records, Velez told responding officers that he was a friend of the victims and was sleeping at the apartment after he, Ortiz, and Bennett “partied for a while, did some coke, and drank some beers.’’ He said he awoke to the sounds of a struggle coming from the master bedroom.
He said Ortiz and he had been involved in a failed plot to commit armed robbery earlier in the night, an admission authorities said led to his initial arrest.
When he walked into the next room the night of the killings, he told police, he saw Ortiz gasping for air and “some guy in the room holding a knife,’’ according to the report. He later told police there were two attackers.
Throughout the investigation, police said they found inconsistencies in Velez’s story and other statements from witnesses and friends of the victims who had seen the couple the night of the slayings.
Massachusetts State Police crime lab investigators also tested evidence found at the scene, such as the knife believed to have been used in the killings and the dead bolt on the apartment door. Both had Velez’s DNA on them, according to police records.
“We thank the State Police detectives, Hudson police, and the Massachusetts State Police crime lab for their diligent work on this case, resulting in an arrest,’’ Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said in a statement yesterday. “Our thoughts continue to go out to the victims’ families.’’
Friends and family said Ortiz had three children, all under the age of 5, and Bennett was the mother of a 3-year-old girl.
“How do you explain it to a 3-year-old that mommy’s not coming home?’’ Chaves asked.
One member of Ortiz’s family stood up and loudly swore at Velez in Spanish as he was being led out of the courtroom. A woman whom defense attorney Thomas J. Ford addressed as Velez’s mother wept as her son passed by with his hands and legs shackled.
Velez’s criminal arrest record dates back to 1997 and includes 13 crimes, ranging from trespassing to assault and battery with a weapon. He is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 9 for a probable cause hearing, court officials said.
Hudson police responded to a call from Idelfonso Velez at about 3:30 a.m. May 1, according to the police report. They found him suffering from multiple stab wounds in a parking lot outside the apartment complex where Trisha Bennett, 20, and Angel “Fito’’ Ortiz, 23, lived. Velez told police that two men had broken into the couple’s apartment and that one had stabbed them during a struggle in the bedroom.
But after months of investigating, police arrested Velez in connection with the deaths late Tuesday at the Middlesex Jail in Cambridge, where he had been held since being arrested in June on charges of illegal possession of a firearm and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
Yesterday, Judge Robert V. Greco ordered Velez held without bail.
Friends and family of the victims packed the courtroom in Marlborough where the arraignment took place. A woman friends identified as Bennett’s mother sat in the front row, shaking uncontrollably and crying throughout the proceeding.
“It’s unbelievable,’’ said Melissa Chaves, 29, who said she was a friend of the couple.
Police estimate that Ortiz was stabbed four times and Bennett 14 times.
No motive for the attack was discussed at the arraignment.
According to police records, Velez told responding officers that he was a friend of the victims and was sleeping at the apartment after he, Ortiz, and Bennett “partied for a while, did some coke, and drank some beers.’’ He said he awoke to the sounds of a struggle coming from the master bedroom.
He said Ortiz and he had been involved in a failed plot to commit armed robbery earlier in the night, an admission authorities said led to his initial arrest.
When he walked into the next room the night of the killings, he told police, he saw Ortiz gasping for air and “some guy in the room holding a knife,’’ according to the report. He later told police there were two attackers.
Throughout the investigation, police said they found inconsistencies in Velez’s story and other statements from witnesses and friends of the victims who had seen the couple the night of the slayings.
Massachusetts State Police crime lab investigators also tested evidence found at the scene, such as the knife believed to have been used in the killings and the dead bolt on the apartment door. Both had Velez’s DNA on them, according to police records.
“We thank the State Police detectives, Hudson police, and the Massachusetts State Police crime lab for their diligent work on this case, resulting in an arrest,’’ Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said in a statement yesterday. “Our thoughts continue to go out to the victims’ families.’’
Friends and family said Ortiz had three children, all under the age of 5, and Bennett was the mother of a 3-year-old girl.
“How do you explain it to a 3-year-old that mommy’s not coming home?’’ Chaves asked.
One member of Ortiz’s family stood up and loudly swore at Velez in Spanish as he was being led out of the courtroom. A woman whom defense attorney Thomas J. Ford addressed as Velez’s mother wept as her son passed by with his hands and legs shackled.
Velez’s criminal arrest record dates back to 1997 and includes 13 crimes, ranging from trespassing to assault and battery with a weapon. He is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 9 for a probable cause hearing, court officials said.
www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/08/05/man_who_called_911_charged_in_deaths/