Neil Entwistle, Hopkinton man convicted of murdering wife and infant daughter, seeking new trial
Neil Entwistle, a Hopkinton man who was convicted of murdering his wife and infant daughter more than 15 years ago, is seeking a new trial.
Entwistle is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after he was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the 2006 shooting deaths of his wife, Rachel, and their daughter, 9-month-old Lillian.
On Aug. 28, Entwistle filed a petition with the Supreme Judicial Court after his automatic appeal of his conviction was rejected in 2012, court documents show. He also unsuccessfully petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case.
The Entwistles met as students at the University of York in England in 1999. The two married in England in 2003 after Rachel graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts and returned to the United Kingdom to earn a teaching certificate and be with Entwistle.
Months after their daughter’s birth, the couple came to Massachusetts to live. At first, they lived with Rachel’s parents.
Man who killed wife, baby loses appeal in Mass.
The couple rented their own four-bedroom home in January 2006, but Neil Entwistle was unable to find a job. Prosecutors argued at trial that he killed his wife and daughter because he was upset about his failure to find employment and growing debt.
Rachel Entwistle’s parents and the couple’s friends had expressed concerns that the family of three was missing for days, and police found the wife and daughter dead in the home’s master bedroom on Jan. 22, 2006, while doing a second search of the home.
Neil Entwistle took a one-way flight from Boston to London on Jan. 21, later telling police he found his wife and baby dead on Jan. 20 after returning from shopping, but didn’t call for help.
Entwistle is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for their murders.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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