Homicide case takes twist with charges

Housemates of victim accused of stealing from her

QUINCY — Authorities investigating the apparent homicide of a Weymouth woman are charging the woman’s housemate and the housemate’s boyfriend with crimes of theft, but not homicide, officials said Thursday.

Christine Mello, 56, was found dead in her home at 34 Lake St. on Monday, after she was reported missing.

Prosecutors said Mello’s housemate, Kelly A. Shaw, 44, and Shaw’s boyfriend, John J. “Jack” Harper, 45, who has no permanent address, are being charged with crimes related to the handling of Mello’s finances.

Little information was available about Mello’s death. Assistant District Attorney Aubrey Burr said it appeared Mello had been dead for “quite some time,” and Harper was a “person of interest” in that investigation. Burr said Harper and Shaw had been using Mello’s debit card before her body was found.

Harper pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Quincy District Court on Thursday afternoon to charges of larceny over $1,200, improper use of a credit card over $1,200, drug possession, possession or use of a false or stolen RMV document, and receiving a stolen vehicle (a car belonging to Mello).

His bail was revoked on three previous open fraud cases and set at $50,000 cash or a $500,000 bond on the new charges. He was ordered held at the Norfolk County Correctional Center, records show. He is due back in court May 7.

Shaw was expected to be arraigned Friday morning.

A man who said he was a relative of Harper’s said he is a “beautiful person” who struggles with addiction. Speaking as he left the courthouse, he denied that Harper could have had anything to do with Mello’s death.

Shaw moved into Mello’s home in January after meeting her on a website looking for roommates, according to a police report. Harper, who Shaw identified as a friend of hers, joined them in mid-February, Shaw told police.

The pair allegedly had been using Mello’s debit card for a month before their arrest, according to the report. Security video showed each of them doing so on different dates going back to March 2, when Shaw used it at a Walmart in Weymouth, according to police.

Harper allegedly sold Mello’s car, a 2017 Buick LaCrosse in mid-March, he told police.

Mello’s cousin reported her missing March 30. The cousin said he hadn’t seen her since January and had not definitively communicated with her since Feb. 21. The cousin had texted her later, but, “the writing style in not indicative of Ms. Mello’s typical responses,” he told police.

The cousin — who is the executor of the estate of Mello’s mother, Nina, who died in January — was also curious because Mello was due to receive $29,000 from her mother’s life insurance, but the check hadn’t been cashed. Two other checks from the cousin had been cashed on Feb. 28 and March 20 but had “vastly” different signatures from each other and from the signature on her lease, police wrote.

Shaw allegedly admitted to signing the March check and told investigators Mello had given them her bank card to use, according to police.

Harper has been arraigned on other charges 26 times, police wrote in a recent criminal complaint. Shaw has previous larceny and drug charges that had been dismissed out of Quincy District Court, according to documents.