2 held as man critical in vicious Lynn attack
Two Lynn men are held without bail after police say they brutally beat and sexually assaulted another man with a baseball bat and a guitar, leaving him clinging to life in a Boston hospital.
Darrin Stephens, 50, and John Michelin, 31, both of Lynn, will face a hearing to assess their dangerousness April 21, and will both be kept in jail until at least that date.
Both men pleaded not guilty to assault with intent to murder, multiple counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and aggravated rape, among other charges.
Lynn police responded to a Chase Street apartment just before midnight Saturday on a report of an assault. Once inside the home, police said they found the victim “laid out” at the bottom of some stairs that led to the basement.
Police arrested Stephens and Michelin, who were both inside the apartment. The victim was taken by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he remained in critical condition yesterday, an Essex District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman said.
Witnesses told police there was a gathering at the house that night and Stephens and Michelin got into a fight. During the fight, Stephens grabbed a bat and smashed it onto the finger of a different victim, before both men turned their attention to the victim, records state.
A witness “gave no other reason for them fighting with (the victim) other than they did not like him,” documents state, adding Michelin held the victim up by his arms while Stephens repeatedly pummeled the man in the head and face.
A pair of blood-covered shoes were found at the apartment, which police say is consistent with statements that Michelin had been “stomping out” the man in the hallway, documents state. The police report states cops also saw blood on the handle of a wooden baseball bat and on the headstock of a guitar in plain sight, consistent with Stephens’ claims the man had been assaulted “with a guitar and a broom.”
Michelin has a 2014 case out of Lynn District Court in which he was charged with strangulation, assault and battery on a family member, and witness/juror/police/court official intimidation. Revocation of bail will be addressed when he returns to court April 21.