REGION IN BRIEF
1 killed, 1 hurt in Providence shooting
PROVIDENCE (AP) — One person was killed and another was injured in a double shooting in Providence early Friday, police said.
The men were shot while sitting in a car in the Olneyville section of the city, Maj. Thomas Verdi said.
Both men were taken to the hospital where one was pronounced dead and the other was taken into surgery in serious condition, police said.
Their names were not made public.
No arrests were announced and no additional information was released.
It was the second fatal shooting in Providence this week. A 33-year-old man was shot and killed at a city apartment complex on Monday morning. A 50-year-old woman was also injured by a stray bullet.
Body found in Florida was that of missing Massachusetts teen
MASHPEE, Mass. ( AP) — A body found in Florida last week has been confirmed as that of a missing Massachusetts teenager who authorities suspect was kidnapped by a 37-year-old man who was shot and killed by law enforcement, officials said Friday.
The Saint Lucie County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed that the body found in a field off Interstate 95 in Fellsmere, Florida, is that of Jalajhia Finklea, 18, of Mashpee, according to a statement from Bristol District Attorney Thomas Quinn III.
The autopsy determined that Finklea’s death was caused by two gunshot wounds and that the death was a homicide, he said.
Luis Zaragoza, the man wanted in connection with the disappearance of Finklea, died in Crestview, Florida on Nov. 5 when a U.S. Marshals Service task force trying to take him into custody fired on him when he fired at them, authorities said.
Finklea, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, had been missing since Oct. 20. She was last seen getting into Zaragoza’s rental car, Quinn said.
“This is a terrible tragedy for the family and my heart goes out to them,” Quinn said in the statement. “This brutal crime was clearly committed by somebody with a depraved mind.”
Theater company gets go-ahead for new outdoor
stage
LENOX, Mass. (AP) — Shakespeare & Company has received permission to demolish two dilapidated structures on its campus to clear the way for a new outdoor stage.
The Lenox Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously to grant a special permit that would allow the theater company to create a theater venue for advertised and ticketed performances, The Berkshire Eagle reported Thursday.
The new stage is critical to help the company after a massive loss of revenue caused by the cancellation of live performances because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re anticipating that next summer, COVID is not going to be gone,” Shakespeare & Company attorney Lori Robbins said. “The theater company needs to survive by offering outdoor performances.”
Theater board Chairman and President Ken Werner said the pandemic has caused the loss of more than $1 million in ticket revenue.
The new outdoor stage would operate during daylight hours from Memorial Day to Columbus Day with as many 543 seats, but only about 200 if the pandemic persists.
The town’s Historical Commission also must sign off on the demolition of the buildings.
Man convicted in psychiatric ward killing
gets new trial
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts man whose conviction in the killing a fellow patient in a hospital psychiatric ward was overturned by the state’s highest court will remain in custody while he awaits his new trial.
Aldo Dunphe, of Spencer, was held without bail at a court appearance Thursday, The Telegram & Gazette reported. His attorney, Michael Hussey, reserved the right to request a bail hearing in the future.
Dunphe was granted a new trial by the Supreme Judicial Court, which determined that a problem involving jury instructions created the possibility of a miscarriage of justice.
Dunphe was convicted in 2016 of beating and strangling Ratna Bhattarai in the psychiatric unit at UMass Memorial Medical Center in November 2013. Bhattarai died two days later.
His was convicted of first-degree murder by a Worcester Superior Court jury that rejected his insanity defense.