WOBURN — A friend was so worried when she couldn't get in touch with Rachel Entwistle she camped out overnight in the driveway of the family's Hopkinton home.

Rachel Entwistle's friend was extremely worried

By Norman Miller/Daily News staff

WOBURN — A friend was so worried when she couldn't get in touch with Rachel Entwistle she camped out overnight in the driveway of the family's Hopkinton home.

Testifying during the seventh day of Neil Entwistle's double murder trial, Joanna Gately said she knew something was wrong when no one answered the door at 6 Cubs Path on Jan. 21, 2006. Gately said she and her sister, Maureen Gately, had a dinner invitation from Rachel for 7 p.m.

She became especially worried when she saw a note written by Rachel's mother, Priscilla Matterazzo, pinned in the door, asking why Rachel had missed a get-together earlier that day.

"The situation was unlike Rachel," said Gately. "I was very concerned."

Authorities say Rachel Entwistle, 27, and her daughter, Lillian Rose, 9 months, were dead when Gately and her sister arrived.

Neil Entwistle, 29, is accused of fatally shooting them.

Speaking softly, Gately was often reminded by Judge Diane Kottmyer to keep her voice up as she described her relationship with Rachel Entwistle and the search for her friend.

Gately of Quincy attended Holy Cross in Worcester with Rachel, and they became fast friends when they lived two doors down from each other in a dorm.

"I spent most of my free time with her," she said. "She was very motherly to me. She took care of me."

After the Entwistles moved to Hopkinton, Gately said she and her sister were invited for dinner Jan. 21.

They were supposed to arrive between 4 and 7 p.m., but they were running late, she said. Gately said she telephoned Rachel, but got no answer.

No one was home when they got to the house, but they found Matterazzo's note about missing a visit earlier in the day.

The Gatelys knocked on all the doors, tried to open them all and then tried peering through windows.

Gately said she told Rachel's mother about the Entwistles not being home, and Matterazzo called police, who conducted a well-being check.

Hopkinton Police Officer Aaron O'Neil told jurors he and Sgt. Michael Sutton checked the home. Neither of them found anything suspicious, he said.

"Together you (O'Neil and Sutton) determined no one was at home? There was no sign of foul play? Nothing broken? No sign of blood," defense lawyer Elliot Weinstein asked O'Neil during cross examination. O'Neil said that was correct.

In the past, Hopkinton Police Chief Tom Irvin defended his officers, saying a well-being check is cursory, and not a top-to-bottom search.

The officers allowed Gately to go into the house after they made the check, and she took the couple's dog, Sally, out for a walk and left the couple a note.

In the house, the TV was on in the living room, a light was on in the master bedroom and a radio was on in Lillian Rose's room, she said.

The Gatelys decided to stay throughout the night in their Ford Focus in the driveway, taking a few bathroom breaks at Dunkin' Donuts and a gas station. Maureen Gately slept, but Joanna Gately said she stayed awake most of the night "waiting to see if they came back."

The next morning, Gately testified, a neighbor provided a code for the electronic garage door opener. She said she and her sister went into the house, looked around, took the dog out and then watched TV for a little while.

On Jan. 22, the Matterazzos filed a missing-persons report.

Entwistle's lawyer, Stephanie Page, asked Gately about being late for dinner. Gately had testified she was about 20 minutes late for the dinner, but she told police she was two hours late, Page said.

"Are you sure you only told him (a police officer) you were 20 minutes late?" Page asked.

Gately said, "I'm not sure what I said to him that night."

Page also questioned Gately about her knowledge of any problems between the Entwistles.

"You were never aware of any financial problems the Entwistles had? You were never aware of any marital problems Rachel and Neil may have had?" Page asked. Gately said no to both.

The Entwistles appeared to be the perfect couple, said Pamela Jackson, known as Hopkinton's "Welcome Lady." She met with them on Sunday, Jan. 15.

Jackson said Entwistle appeared to be one of the most adoring fathers she had ever seen. "He was doting on the baby," she said.

Jackson's testimony seemed to affect Entwistle's mother, Yvonne. During the testimony, her husband, Clifford, put his arm around her. Soon after the next witness took the stand, she left the courtroom crying.

Julie-Anne Aloisi, a Citizens Bank record-keeper, detailed the couple's joint bank account and efforts by Entwistle to withdraw money on the night of Jan. 20 at Logan Airport. Authorities say Rachel and Lillian Rose were killed that morning.

The account was more than $2,375 in overdraft, she said. On Jan. 20, Entwistle made two $400 withdrawals. One was at Logan, but when he tried a couple of more withdrawals at the same ATM, they failed. He tried another ATM at a different location not discussed in court and withdrew $400, but several attempts from the same machine were denied.

Video of him using the ATM card was shown in court, as were photos of his BMW SUV entering and leaving a parking lot at Logan. Another video of Entwistle paying for the parking was played for the jurors.

Testimony is scheduled to continue today in Middlesex Superior Court at 9 a.m.

Court is scheduled to end early Wednesday at 1 p.m., as it is every Wednesday during the trial.

(Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or at nmiller@cnc.com.)