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Man Indicted For Fatal Shooting In Central Mass Last Year
A Worcester man was indicted last week with fatally shooting a 29-year-old on a Worcester street in November 2023, authorities said.
Jose Ortiz Maldonado, 25, is charged with murder, as well as kidnapping, strangulation, two counts of armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a family or household member, possession of a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without an FID card, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, the Worcester County District Attorney said.
Mald…
'Barbaric Attack': 2 Men Who Burned Victim During Springfield Home Invasion Sentenced
Two men found guilty of torturing and permanently disfiguring a Springfield man during a 2019 home invasion were sentenced to decades in prison on Thursday, June 27, authorities said.
Paul Gayle, 30, and Malik Erskine, 24, both of Springfield, were found guilty of multiple violent felonies in the "barbaric attack," Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni. Markendall Johnson, now 21, who was charged as a youthful offender because of his age on the day of the robbery, was also convicted in the case.
Gayle was sentenced to 35 to 40 years in state prison, and a judge gave …
Jamie Dodge Charged With Decades-Old Rape, Kidnapping: DA
A 48-year-old Maine man is behind bars on Wednesday, May 8, after DNA tests linked him to the violent rape of a woman in the woods of Hampden County in 2000, authorities said.
Jamie Dodge, of Brownville, Maine, is charged with aggravated rape and kidnapping in connection with an attack that happened in Holland, which is just outside of Springfield, the Hampden County District Attorney's Office said. He was being held on a $250,000 bail.
A woman told police on July 23, 2000, that a man had grabbed her, dragged her into a nearby wooded area, and raped her. She described the m…
'True Monsters Exist': Philip Chism Admits To Vicious Attack On Social Worker
A social worker who was attacked by a convicted rapist and murderer said she has lived in fear for nearly a decade since that beating. However, she refuses to let it define her life.
Philip Chism, 25, of Danvers, admitted on Friday, April 26, to attempted murder, assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon (cinder block), and kidnapping, the Suffolk County District Attorney announced.
The attack happened in 2015 when Chism was on trial for the rape and murder of this Danvers High School algebra teacher Colleen Ritzer a year earlier, the prosecutor said. C…
Police ID Man Who Stole Car With Baby Inside In Western Mass
Police have identified the man who sparked a statewide Amber Alert when he stole a vehicle in Western Massachusetts, on Friday morning, March 29, that had a 3-year-old baby inside.
Vadim Vorobyov, age 52, of Springfield, is charged with kidnapping, child endangerment, and fugitive from justice in Connecticut and is also expected to be charged with kidnapping, child endangerment, and motor vehicle larceny in Massachusetts, State Police said.
Vorobyov stole the running car when he came across it outside of a home on Exchange Street in Chicopee around 8:40 a.m., police said. T…
Man Kidnaps Woman At Knifepoint In Western Mass, Forces Her Into Hotel Room: Police
A Hampden County man is accused of robbing a couple in West Springfield before forcing the woman at knifepoint to go with him to a hotel, where he planned to rape her, authorities said.
Michael Hunter, of Leeds, is charged with armed robbery, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, kidnapping, assault to commit rape, and assault and battery, West Springfield police said.
Officers were called to the area of 1130 Riverdale St. in West Springfield around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 7, to reports of a man assaulting a man and woman at knifepoint. Witnesses said the man forced the …
Wanted Violent Kidnapper Found Hiding In Worcester Crawl Space: Police
A 32-year-old man wanted on several violent charges tried to hide from Worcester police and federal agents in a home's attic crawl space Friday morning, Aug. 11. It did not work out for him.
Jarrell Grayson, of Worcester, had outstanding warrants on charges of armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (knife), kidnapping, and strangulation, Worcester police said.
Worcester officers, state troopers, and US Marshals went to a home on Dorchester Street to serve those warrants, but when they arrived, they saw Grayson scurry across the roof and climb into a third-sto…
Serial Rapist: Attorney Charged With 4 Cold Case Attacks In Mass, FBI Says
The FBI and Boston police said a New Jersey attorney is behind a string of rapes and kidnappings in Boston more than 15 years ago, officials said. Officials arrested the Weehawken man on Tuesday, May 30.
Matthew Nilo, 35, is charged with three counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, one charge of intent to rape, and one account of indecent assault and battery, the Boston Police Department announced. The alleged attacks happened in August and November 2007 and August and December 2008 in Charlestown, authorities said.
Investigators linked Nilo to the rapes through investigati…
Man Admits To 3 Springfield Slayings While Awaiting Federal Murder Trial: DA
A Waterbury, Connecticut, man awaiting a federal trial on kidnapping and murder charges admitted to killing three people in Springfield beginning in 2006, authorities said.
Calvin Robertson, 41, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, April 18, to three counts of manslaughter, the Hampden County District Attorney announced. Prosecutors chose to charge him with manslaughter to not interfere with his upcoming federal trial, where he faces a minimum of life in prison or a potential death sentence if convicted, DA Anthony Gulluni said in a news release.
Robertson admitted to the following s…
Violent Kidnapping: 5 Busted In Central Mass Held Victims For Hours, Beat Them, DA Says
Five people are expected to be arraigned Friday, Feb. 17, that they took part in a violent assault and kidnapping at an Athol home earlier this month, authorities said.
The five were arrested in connection with a Feb. 1 kidnapping where two victims were held at a house for four hours against their will, robbed, and assaulted, the Northwestern District Attorney's Office said. One victim reported the incident to Athol police the following day.
This week, investigators arrested multiple people in the case. They are:
Franklin Payne, age 46, of Athol. He is charged with armed…
RI Man Who Kidnapped, Killed MA's Jassy Correia Sentenced To Life In Prison
A Rhode Island man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for kidnapping and killing a 23-year-old mother from Boston, the US Attorney's Office for Massachusetts reports.
Louis Coleman, of Providence, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for the death of Jassy Correia, of Dorchester on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
Corriera was reported missing after leaving her birthday celebration at Venu Nightclub in downtown Boston in the overnight hours of Sunday, February 24, 2019, authorities reported.
Shortly after 2 a.m., Correia got separated from her friends and tried to getting a…
Risk Of Kidnappings, Violent Crime Prompts US State Department To Issue Mexico Travel Advisory
A new travel advisory has been issued for Americans who may be planning on heading to Mexico, warning them of "violent crime and kidnapping.”
The US State Department advisory comes after incidents of vandalism, looting, and other crimes in the northern part of the Mexican state of Baja California, including the city of Tijuana, along the southern-most border of California.
"Violent crime – such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery – is widespread and common in Mexico," the advisory states, noting that the US government "has limited ability to provide emergency services" to US ci…
