Suspect in court on 1st Needham slay in a decade
Neighbor: Victim ‘elegant lady’
An elderly Russian scientist was robbed and brutally stabbed to death in her Needham home by a 47-year-old neighbor who was later found with a bloodstained purse linked to the crime, authorities said.
Tammie P. Galloway was ordered held without bail yesterday in Dedham District Court for the May 28 murder of 81-year-old Laura Shifrina inside her apartment in a Needham housing complex.
“Ms. Shifrina had eight lacerations on her neck, including a punctured jugular,” prosecutor Greg Connor told the court. “She had four superficial slashing wounds to her left arm, three broken ribs on her left side, and one broken rib on her right side. All of these injuries occurred before death.”
Shifrina’s daughter discovered the grisly scene when she went to check on her mother on May 31, Connor said, noting Shifrina’s red Ford Fiesta was also missing along with her wallet, checkbook, cellphone, earrings and a ring.
The missing cellphone was used to place two calls to a Dorchester man with whom Galloway had a relationship, Connor said. Two days after the murder, Galloway brought the man a new pair of sneakers and a large sum of cash, the prosecutor added. About $3,000 in cash the victim was saving for dental work was also never found, according to court records.
As the investigation unfolded, police linked Galloway to the crime through video surveillance that showed her with Shifrina’s car and found a purse in an apartment linked to Galloway with the victim’s blood on it, Connor said. Cops also found a gun that led to Galloway’s arrest on a weapons charge, the prosecutor added.
Arraigned in Dorchester in mid-June on the gun charge, Galloway has been in jail since then and her name was only revealed in connection with the Needham murder yesterday. She is also charged with larceny of a vehicle and is due back in court July 28. Her record includes drug crimes and a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in North Carolina back in the ’ 90s, Connor said.
The murder is the first in the affluent suburb in a decade and rattled residents of the Needham housing complex. One woman who lives nearby said the alleged killer had moved in less than a year ago and kept mostly to herself.
The neighbor described Shifrina as an “elegant lady.”
Another neighbor who also declined to give her name said the residents were happy the case had been solved and praised state and local police for their work. She said Needham police Chief John Schlittler personally came to the housing complex Thursday to reassure nervous residents.
Before coming to the U.S., Shifrina was an engineer who worked for the Moscow Aviation Institute. Alexandr Yufa, president of the Massachusetts Club of Russian Speaking Scientists, called Shifrina, “an excellent person, a high-level professional, and a dear friend.”