A homeless man was stabbed 137 times and left in a trash pile. His killer is sentenced.

FALL RIVER — New Bedford native Matthew Lariviere was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the killing of Robert Jones III, who was stabbed and slashed at least 137 times in a New Bedford homeless encampment in 2019.

Lariviere was convicted Monday following a two-week jury trial in Bristol County Superior Court in Fall River.

He was sentenced by Judge Gregg J. Pasquale to 12 to 15 years in state prison. Sentencing guideliness recommend an eight- to 12-year sentence for this charge, but Pasquale said the longer sentence was appropriate due to "the extreme nature of the injuries."

Lariviere had faced a possible conviction for murder one or murder two.

A medical examiner testified Jones' autopsy took two days to perform because of the large number of wounds, and that the body's decomposition was such that there actually could have been more wounds.

Jones, who was 5-foot-5 and 127 pounds, was killed on Aug. 5 by Lariviere in a tent in the encampment in a heavily wooded area off 47 Nauset St., according to testimony. The body wasn't discovered until Aug. 8 after two homeless men living in the encampment called police.

Knife was left in victim's neck

The body had been wrapped in tenting, and a sleeping bag and left in a trash-pile area, with the knife buried in the victim's neck to the hilt, the black handle protruding, according to testimony.

Police said a garbage bag was also at the trash-pile site. It contained another knife, as well as blood-stained clothes saturated in bleach.

Jones was stabbed twice to the heart, multiple times to the liver, eight times to the lungs, and 16 times to the face and neck, according to testimony. He was also slashed to the face and neck 14 times.

Lariviere said he acted in self defense, and could only remember stabbing Jones six or seven times.

He was on a crack cocaine "bender" for about 20 days prior to the killing, he said.

Lariviere's life spiraled from drug addiction

Lariviere, who is 43, described his past as a "vicious cycle" of landing stable design engineering jobs with salaries in the $80,000 to $90,000 range, which he would lose due to drug addiction on substances ranging from Percocets, fentanyl, and heroin to crack cocaine.

He had entered rehab numerous times, but he would relapse, according to testimony.

Assistant Bristol County District Attorney Shawn Guilderson said Lariviere had spent a total of 14 years in various rehabilitation programs.

He founded church ministry to help addicts

His last period of sobriety leading up to the murder lasted two years. During that time he married and took part in a church ministry to help addicts.

He also formed a group to help homeless people, called Tent City, where they brought food, clothing, and tents to the homeless, including to the encampent where the murder took place.

Prior to that two-year period, he had been living at his grandmother's in Fairhaven in 2016 when he started shooting heroin.

He testified his father found drugs in the home, and added he stole money from his grandmother. He was then kicked out of the home by his father, he said.

Moved into homeless encampment and then a sober house

He went to the Nauset Street encampment and lived there for three months.

Lariviere sobered up again after he was arrested in 2016. He began living in a sober house in Plymouth, and entered a 12-step program, he said.

That's when he reconnected with a woman he knew in high school who was involved with the church, and they were married.

He was making about $70,000 as a design engineer, and bought a Lexus with his grandmother as co-signer, according to testimony.

His grandmother signed the car over to him as a wedding gift. The newlyweds shared an apartment in New Bedford.

His wife had health problems, he said, which produced stress, including financially. He got another job where he could make more money, he said.

Lariviere said they argued in 2018 after she had a medical procedure in Boston against his wishes.

He then returned to the encampment off 47 Nauset St. to get high, he said. He stayed a few days smoking crack.

Lands a design engineer job making $90K a year

Then followed another period of sobriety in which he landed another job at $90,000 per year, he said.

But in July 2019 he relapsed and returned to the encampment where he went on a crack binge that emptied his bank account. He sold the $30,000 Lexus for $6,000 to continue buying crack, he said.

Crack cocaine addiction leading up to murder

Lariviere said he was spending $300 to $400 a day on crack leading up to the night of the murder.

There were no eyewitnesses to the fatal encounter.

Lariviere said he had bought Xanax in the past from Jones, who also lived in the encampment, to help him sleep.

He stopped buying from Jones, though, because Jones had a left a message on his phone that he was going to kill him, Lariviere said.

He said Jones was known to be violent and he was afraid of him.

On the night of Aug. 5, Lariviere said he returned to his own tent to smoke crack.

Jones was drunk, he said, and was arguing with Troy Serpa, who also lived at the encampment. Lariviere said the pair had gotten into fights involving weapons before and he wanted to stay clear.

Serpa also testified that Jones had attacked him with weapons in the past.

Jones was complaining about two bags of personal items that were stolen from him, Lariviere said.

Serpa had been up for a couple days drinking heavily, according to his own testimony.

Serpa testified Jones had been threatening Lariviere, and threatening to stab "everybody."

Lariviere said he later heard the sound of footsteps outside his tent. It was pitch black, he said.

Claims victim entered his tent with a knife

Jones entered the tent, he said, with a knife.

Lariviere said he told Jones he didn't have his stolen bags and told him to leave.

According to Lariviere, Jones said, "How did you hear me? I came to get you like and Indian." Jones was barefoot and at some point left his shoes in Lariviere's tent, according to Lariviere.

Jones said he was a "super soldier," according to Lariviere.

He said Jones then lunged at him.

Lariviere reached for his own knife and tried to push Jones off him with his feet, he said. He said one of his shoes was damaged by Jones' knife, which also scratched his foot.

They wrestled, he said.

What he remembers from the stabbing

"I remember taking jabs at him with the knife. I remember swinging, hitting his back. He made a sound, not a good sound," Lariviere said.

He said Jones was on top of him, and he pushed him off. He maintained that he did not remember stabbing and slashing him 137 times.

He went to Serpa's tent and said Jones attacked him, and he thought Jones was dead.

Lariviere then went back to his own tent and when Jones was unresponsive, he took Jones' phone from his pocket. He also retrieved the rest of his crack from the tent, he said.

Lariviere said he went to nearby railroad tracks, and threw the phone away when he couldn't open it. He took Xanax and passed out, he said.

The next day he heard some of the homeless people in the encampment talking about what happened, including Serpa.

He approached them, he said, and one offered to get him bleach. He doesn't remember asking him for it, he said.

They took a hit of crack, he said, and they planned to move the body out of the camp and call the police anonymously.

Lariviere said he went back to his tent with the bleach, rolled Jones' body into a sleeping bag, and dragged it to the trash pile area where the body was found.

He also put bloody items, including clothes, into a hamper and into a plastic bag that he dragged to the trash pile.

Lariviere said he also saw the two bags that Jones had been seeking on a nearby path and took them to the trash-pile site, as well as the knife he said Jones had.

Lariviere changed clothes. He said he heard a dog and realized police were approaching.

Lariviere testified he "realized I was set up, given bad advice, leaving me in a bad situation."

He fled the encampment after giving a police officer a fake name.

Prosecutors showed surveillance tapes of Lariviere walking on nearby Nash Road after fleeing the encampment.

Charges pending in other cases

They were unable to tell the jury that Lariviere subsequently was accused of holding a knife to a 19-year-old New Bedford woman with a 5-month-old baby and demanding money from her at about 8 p.m. in the area of First Citizens Federal Credit Union at 570 N. Front St. He then stole the woman’s car and robbed a female clerk at knifepoint at the Shop ’n Save at 807 Ashley Blvd., according to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office.

That evidence was found to be prejudicial and was inadmissable at the trial. Charges in those cases are pending.

Prosecutors were able to tell the jury that Lariviere was arrested after a car and foot chase, though they weren't told they were in connection with the armed robberies.

Lariviere was checked at St. Luke's Hospital after the arrest, where he was found to have no injuries. He also told police that he was not involved in an altercation with Jones in a subsequent interview.

Expert: Psychotic episode fueled by drugs

Dr. Jhilam Biswas, a forensic psychiatrist for the defense, testified Lariviere had suffered a psychotic episode when he killed Jones, fueled in part by drugs, medical fallout from failing to care for his Type 1 diabetes, and lack of sleep.

Dr. Fabian Saleh, a forensic psychiatrist for the prosecution, testified that Lariviere did not suffer a psychotic episode. He said disorganized behavior is a symptom of psychosis, yet Lariviere's actions were "goal-directed." He moved the body, changed clothes, and avoided police, Saleh noted.

Lariviere's own words showed he was not disorganized, Saleh said.

Attorney Kenneth Van Colen, who defended Lariviere, said in his closing argument the killing was done in an "irrational fervor in act of self defense" brought on by the drugs, his medical condition, and lack of sleep. Lariviere was also defended by attorney Heath Antonio.

ADA Guilderson said in his closing argument that Jones had died a "horrific death." He added, "You don't need to stab someone 137 times to defend yourself."

He said Lariviere's ability to testify to everything that occurred except for the number of wounds to Jones was convenient and not believable. Nor was it believable that he found Jones' missing bags on a path after the murder. Nor was it believable that Jones had been on top during the altercation since his wounds included numerous stab wounds to the back of his head and neck.

Guilderson said it was a "savage killing" that warranted a finding of first degree murder. The case was also prosecuted by Bristol County Assistant District Attorney Matthew Sylvia.

They had recommended a sentence of 17 to 20 years after the voluntary manslaughter conviction.

Jones' mother, sister and niece provided witness impact statements.

His sister LaToya Jones said he would have been 45 on June 9.

She said the family was satisfied with the guilty verdict, and thanked the jurors but requested the judge hand down the maximum sentence.

She said her brother didn't deserve to die in such a brutal manner. "No one does."

Jones added her brother was quiet and shy as a boy, and was "sweet and selfless." He used to babysit for her daughter, she said, and she vowed to care for his two daughters.

She said she was praying for her family and the Lariviere family, as well.

"To both families affected by this tragedy I pray for peace and better days ahead," she said, adding that it was "so sad" that all this suffering had been caused "due to bad decisions made on that fateful night of Aug. 5."

“The defendant brutally killed the victim, but unfortunately there were no eye witnesses.  The jury found that there was an issue of self-defense in the case or some other mitigating factors. I respect the jury’s verdict,” District Attorney Quinn said in a press release. “The defendant has a long history of drug abuse.  His violent and excessive conduct clearly demonstrates that he poses a danger to the public.”

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New Bedford native convicted of manslaughter in homeless man slaying