Lawrence beheading suspect indicted for murder
Prosecutors have reviewed video surveillance, social media profiles and cellphone records in the case against a teen accused of decapitating a 16-year-old in Lawrence, according to new court filings.
Mathew Borges, 16, was indicted by a grand jury on a single count of murder for the gruesome Nov. 18 slaying of Lee Viloria-Paulino. Yesterday, he pleaded not guilty at his Essex Superior Court arraignment and was ordered held without bail.
According to an index of the evidence presented to the grand jury — and yesterday turned over to the defense — there are snippets of video surveillance footage gathered by investigators, including one that shows Borges and Paulino together on the day of the murder.
Other documents include a Department of Children & Families abuse and neglect report from January 2011, Google’s records for a profile maintained by the victim, the Facebook page of the suspect, receipts and surveillance video from a Family Dollar store, school attendance records, and cellphone records, with one document labeled “crime scene photos ... Borges phone.”
A note dated March 8 — handwritten by Borges while in Department of Youth Services custody — also was submitted.
Edward Hayden, Borges’ lawyer, said his client remains in DYS custody.
“He’s in a bad situation, but he’s holding up as well as he could,” he said.
Borges was 15 on Dec. 3, when he was arrested for the slaying. Viloria-Paulino, known as a warm and gentle boy who loved poetry, had been missing for nearly a week, sparking a citywide search by his desperate friends and relatives before a dog walker found his remains on the banks of the Merrimack River.
Relatives of the victim and accused killer were in court yesterday. Viloria-Paulino’s grandmother wept as Borges faced Judge Timothy Feeley.
He is due back in court on May 3.