CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) – Evidence taken from the Hopkinton home of a British man accused of fatally shooting his wife and infant daughter should be kept out of his trial because police should not have searched the house without a warrant, the man’s lawyers argued Monday.
Lawyers for Neil Entwistle argued in court papers that any evidence taken from Entwistle’s home and car were seized illegally and should be suppressed.
Entwistle, 28, is charged with murder in the January 2006 slayings of his wife, Rachel, and 9-month-old daughter, Lillian.
Police initially went to the Entwistles’ home on Jan. 21, after friends showed up for a dinner party and no one answered the door. Police looked in the upstairs bedroom – where the bodies were later found – but did not see anything suspicious.
The next day, police visited the home a second time, after Rachel’s mother filed a missing person’s report. During that search, police found the bodies.
Entwistle’s attorneys argue the two initial searches “cannot be justified by any exigent circumstances,” court documents said.
Because police didn’t have a warrant for the initial two searches, 10 subsequent searches of the home, Entwistle’s car and his computer files were illegal, his attorneys argued. The motion seeks to suppress evidence from those places as well as financial documents.
“It raises significant legal issues, and I expect them to be seriously considered and resolved in our favor,” said Elliot Weinstein, one of Entwistle’s attorneys.
Prosecutors have until April 17 to respond to the motions.
“We are reviewing the defense motion and will respond to their argument in court,” said Corey Welford, a spokesman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone. “We are confident we will prevail on the facts and the law.”
Prosecutors have said they believe Entwistle killed his wife and daughter because he was despondent after accumulating tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and that he had expressed dissatisfaction with his sex life. They also have said Entwistle may have planned to commit suicide, but instead fled to his parents’ home in England.
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