What Experts have to say
Our experts weigh in
Throughout the trial, the Daily News has invited a panel of experts to comment on what is happening in the courtroom. The panel members are: Wendy Murphy, a former Middlesex assistant district attorney and current victim/witness advocate; John LaChance, a former federal prosecutor and current defense lawyer based in Framingham, and Steve Huff, a professional crime blogger who runs two Web sites. Check back often for our experts' opinions. And if you want to share your opinion, visit our blog.
Timeline: So Far...
Jan. 16, 2006 -- Neil Entwistle visits the adult dating World Wide Web site "Adult Friend Finder."
Jan. 16 and 17 -- Entwistle views a Web site describing how to kill people. He also searches the internet on how to commit suicide, how to kill someone with a knife and euthanasia.
Jan. 18 -- Entwistle searches the internet for "escort services,'' including "Blonde Beauties Escort SVC.'' based in Worcester.
Coming Up
Neil Entwistle will serve his time at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley. His conviction will be appealed. Under Massachusetts law, all first-degree murder convictions are appealed.
Poll
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WOBURN - If jurors believe Prosecutor Michael Fabbri's opening statement this morning, Neil Entwistle shot his wife, Rachel, and baby daughter, Lillian Rose, in cold-blood. But, Entwistle's lawyer, Elliot Weinstein, said his client was a man devastated by the loss of those he loved the most.
Above, Assistant District Attorney Michael Fabbri gives his opening statement in the prosecution of Neil Entwistle at Middlesex Superior Court on Friday, June 6 in Woburn.
POOL PHOTO BY DARREN MCCOLLESTER
Lawyers make opening statements
By Norman Miller/Daily News staff
WOBURN - If jurors believe Prosecutor Michael Fabbri's opening statement this morning, Neil Entwistle shot his wife, Rachel, and baby daughter, Lillian Rose, in cold-blood.
But, Entwistle's lawyer, Elliot Weinstein, said his client was a man devastated by the loss of those he loved the most.
Everyone who knew the couple thought they were loving, Fabbri said.
"You will also learn there is another side to Neil Entwistle," the prosecutor said.
That side, Fabbri said, was of one where Entwistle stole a gun from his father-in-law, shot his wife and daughter and fled to England.
But, Weinstein argued that everything that happened after Entwistle found his wife and daughter dead in their Hopkinton home was not the act of a guilty man.
"Everything he did, everything he said, he did because he loved them," he said.
The case is not as strong as the prosecution made it seem, Weinstein said.
"This is what you will learn and this what you'll know - the evidence will show Neil Entwistle is not responsible for shooting Rachel and he is not responsible for shooting Lillian. Neil Entwistle is not guilty," Weinstein said.