Two portraits of accused cop killer: Mentally ill vs. deliberate murderer

DEDHAM − While a prosecutor says a man charged with a double-murder in Weymouth deliberately killed a police officer and a woman with the officer's gun, a defense attorney said that man suffered from years of major mental illness.

After a jury selection process lasting a week, jurors Thursday heard opening statements in the trial of Emanuel Lopes, who is charged with two counts of murder in the killings of police Sgt. Michael Chesna and Weymouth resident Vera Adams.

The details of the Weymouth killings

Authorities say Lopes, who was 20 years old at the time, was fleeing a minor car accident when he threw a rock at Chesna's head, then shot him with the officer's gun. Chesna was a 42-year-old married father of two young children and a U.S. Army veteran.

Two officers then arrived at the scene. Officer Sean Murphy returned fire through his windshield, hitting Lopes in his right knee. Lopes returned fire and ran through a neighbor’s backyard, authorities said. He then shot Adams, 77, who was on the sun porch of her Torrey Street home, police said.

More: What jurors heard on Day 2 of the trial for the man accused of killing a Weymouth officer

Police said Lopes was still holding Chesna’s gun when he was stopped and arrested on Torrey Street. There was no ammunition left in the gun, prosecutors have said, and Lopes got on the ground as ordered by police.

The prosecution's opening statements

In his opening statement, Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor, who is arguing the case with fellow prosecutor Tracey Cusick, described what occurred on the morning of July 15, 2018, based on the statements of witnesses, including two police officers and a neighbor who saw Chesna killed and a man later identified as Lopes flee.

Connor said other officers who arrived at the scene then heard additional gunfire on Torrey Street, where they saw Lopes holding a gun, which was out of bullets, and took him into custody.

An investigator from the Hingham Police Department later discovered bullet holes through a door at Adams' home and her dead body inside, Connor said.

"We will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lopes shot and killed Sgt. Michael Chesna, shot and killed Vera Adams, and shot at Officer Murphy and Officer Marini with intent to kill them," Connor said.

Connor said the state will offer tangible evidence, such as "a photograph of the crime scene or the large rock used to assault Sgt. Chesna."

He said the state will also present three types of witnesses: those who "dealt with Mr. Lopes" before the events of July 15, 2018, those who witnessed what occurred that day, and those who investigated the scene and Lopes following the killings.

"Keep an open mind when evaluating the evidence," Connor said to the jury. "Use common sense and your life experiences."

The defense's opening statements: Lopes mentally ill

Defense lawyer Larry Tipton, who is representing Lopes with Christie Feeney, said Lopes had "major" mental health problems.

Tipton said that five years before the slayings, Lopes heard voices telling him to kill himself and sliced his throat with a pair of scissors he found in an office at Weymouth High School.

"That young man is Mr. Lopes and that was in 2013," Tipton said. "That began a series of inpatient hospitalizations."

Tipton said Lopes showed symptoms of paranoia and was taken to South Shore Hospital repeatedly when his mother would call police over behavior described as "explosive and erratic."

"Fifteen, 20 clinicians diagnosed a young man with major mental illness, sometimes not sure what the major mental illness was," Tipton said.

Tipton said Lopes' behavior was often described by friends as "Manny being Manny," but it continued to get worse and was exacerbated by marijuana use. He said Lopes' tumultuous relationship with his girlfriend triggered a mental health episode in the days leading up to July 15, 2018.

"Precipitants can bring on psychosis," he said.

Tipton said there are "heroes in this case" that jurors will hear from regarding the killings, but they won't shed light on what was going on in Lopes' head.

"They will tell you nothing about his mental illness," he said.

First day of witness testimony

A manager at a convenience store, a friend of Emanuel Lopes and the mother of Lopes' then-girlfriend were among the witnesses prosecution called during the first day of the trial.

The first witness was Lisa Bratti, a manager at a 7-Eleven that Lopes went into on the evening of July 14, 2018. Bratti said she did not notice anything out of the ordinary or any strange behavior from Lopes.

The second witnessed called by the prosecution was Garrett Hunt, a friend of Lopes who saw him on the night of July 14, 2018, when Lopes came to his apartment. He said Lopes' girlfriend showed up and they were arguing before heading to her family's house to swim in the pool.

Hunt said they then went back to his apartment to wait for his girlfriend, Kim Moreira, to get out of work so the four of them could eventually get dinner and rent a movie.

The two couples were in different cars when they stopped at a Mobile gas station.

When they got there, Hunt said Lopes was on the phone with a man who Lopes' girlfriend, Mary Cronin, had had a sexual relationship with. He said Lopes was upset, but he couldn't hear the details of the conversation.

"He seemed a little on edge and upset," Hunt said.

Moreira, Hunt's girlfriend, also testified that she couldn't hear specifics of the phone call.

The two couples went their separate ways and Hunt said he didn't hear from Lopes until he called and texted him at about 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 15. Hunt said Lopes said he was up and driving around in his girlfriend's car, and "seemed fine."

Hunt said he smoked marijuana with Lopes on multiple occasions and never saw him become "psychotic" or display strange behaviors.

Carolyn Cronin, the mother of Lopes' girlfriend, also testified on Thursday. Lopes was driving a BMW owned by the family at the time of the crash that preceded the crash. Cronin said she was unaware that Lopes ever drove the car, and he did not have permission to do it. Cronin also testified that a knife found in the BMW was taken from her home.

More court details

Lopes was indicted by a Norfolk County grand jury in September 2018 in connection with the deaths of Chesna and Adams on July 15, 2018. He has been held without bail since.

He is facing 11 charges, including two counts of murder and armed assault with intent to murder involving a firearm. He is being held at the Suffolk County jail.

SCANNER AUDIO: Girlfriend called 911 to warn about Lopes

Jury selection started in Worcester Superior Court on May 31 and took until Wednesday. A jury was selected from Worcester County because of the high-profile nature of the case. The trial is expected to last several weeks.

Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone began by giving jurors instructions on the case, including the definition of a mental disease or defect. If the jury determines Lopes was mentally ill when he committed the crimes and is dangerous, he could spend the rest of his life in a mental health facility.

"You must decide the case based on the evidence presented within the walls of this courtroom," she said.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Opening arguments in trial of man accused of killing Weymouth's Chesna