‘Baby Doe’ jury deliberations may start as soon as today
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Janet L. Sanders late yesterday cleared the way for jurors to convict Bella “Baby Doe” Bond’s alleged murderer of involuntary manslaughter — a lesser charge that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years — if they are unable to agree on a murder verdict.
The 12 jurors are expected to begin deliberations late today following closing arguments and instructions in the murder trial of Michael P. McCarthy, accused of killing the 2-year-old on Maxwell Street in Dorchester.
The defense rested yesterday after McCarthy, 37, informed the court he would not take the witness stand in his own defense. McCarthy assured Sanders he “absolutely” understood what he was doing. The trial included 15 days of evidence, 26 witnesses for the prosecutor, eight witnesses for the defendant and 169 exhibits.
To find McCarthy guilty of firstdegree murder — with a mandatory life sentence — jurors must be unanimously convinced Bella’s homicide was either premeditated or committed with extreme atrocity or cruelty or both. If jurors find neither theory was proven, they could still convict McCarthy of seconddegree murder, which would mean a life sentence, with a chance of parole in 15 years.
For a manslaughter verdict, jurors must unanimously agree that prosecutor David Deakin proved beyond a reasonable doubt that McCarthy killed the 2-year-old by wanton, reckless conduct or intentionally battering her to death or both in her twin bed in Dorchester.
“Motive is not an element of this case,” Sanders said she will tell jurors.
Sanders gave the trial teams a head’s up that she would permit the predominantly female jury to pick their own foreperson, explaining it was the best way for her to avoid subconsciously being drawn to stereotypes or injecting her own thoughts about the case.
Besides, she said, “I think they just know each other better than I do.”
McCarthy is charged with killing his girlfriend Rachelle Bond’s daughter Bella in the spring of 2015. The cause of her death was never determined.
The tot’s badly decomposed body was found by a dog walker June 25, 2015, washed up on Deer Island in trash bags. Prosecutors say McCarthy tossed her into the South Boston cruise ship channel in a duffel bag weighted with barbells that tore open.
Because Bond never reported her daughter’s death to authorities, the child, dubbed “Baby Doe,” went unclaimed for three months, inspiring a global campaign to identify her.
Bond, 41, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder as part of a cooperation agreement with prosecutors that will free her on time served in exchange for her testimony against McCarthy. She will be sentenced when his trial concludes.