Remembering Richard Field/Facebook/Suffolk County District Attorney's OfficeA couple, who were tortured and stabbed to death in their own apartment, were found in pools of blood surrounded by haunting messages scrawled on the walls by their killer.
Doctors Richard Field, 49, and Lina Bolanos, 38, died from multiple stab wounds in the flat they shared in Boston, US, in May 2017. Their hands had been bound behind their backs.
The couple’s former doorman, 33-year-old Bampumim Teixeira, is now on trial for their murders. He has pleaded not guilty, with jurors expected to begin deliberations this week.
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Pictures of the crime scene released this week during the trial show chilling messages scrawled onto the wall of the apartment where the two doctors were killed. A man’s face had also been crossed out using black ink in several family photos.
Detective Sergeant Edward Meade, who commanded the SWAT team which responded to the incident, testified that the messages written on the wall read, ‘he killed my wife’ and ‘payback’. He also testified about the significant wounds found on the bodies of the two victims.
According to testimony from the arresting officers, when they arrived at the scene police saw a man step out who appeared to be holding a firearm. Officer Scott MacIsaac alleges that Teixeira turned towards him when he fired a gun at the suspect.
Suffolk County District Attorney's Office
Suffolk County District Attorney's OfficeTeixeira was then taken into custody in the hallway and subsequently told police there were dead bodies in the penthouse, according to Boston Police Detective Sean Wallace, one of the arresting officers.
Wallace told the court, as WCVB reports:
Then he said, ‘You guys are going to die.’ Then he said, ‘They killed my wife.’ Then he mentioned something and I heard the word ‘sniper’. He was smiling up at me.
Outside the apartment, where Teixeira was arrested, police found a backpack with a replica firearm and jewellery, according to a statement by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. A carving knife and bright yellow shirt were also found nearby.
Earlier that same day, a person wearing gloves, a bright yellow shirt and a hooded jacket sneaked into the building’s garage before the couple arrived home, the DA’s office said. The person was said to be carrying a backpack.
WCVB
WCVBProsecutors allege Teixeira, who had briefly worked at the couple’s building as a concierge, used insider knowledge to gain access to their penthouse and find the right time to sneak in and kill them.
However, defence attorney Steven Sack said there is little evidence tying Teixeira to the murders:
No video, no audio, no scientific evidence, no credible evidence will tell you that Bampumim Teixeira broke into the home of Lina Bolanos and Richard Field and murdered them. And that’s because he didn’t.
The trial is currently ongoing.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).