The man accused of murdering two respected doctors in their 11th floor penthouse was arraigned in an unusual court hearing in which he was lying in a hospital bed and didn’t open his eyes.
You can watch bizarre proceedings in the above video. Bampumim Teixeira was arraigned in Boston on May 8 at Tufts Medical Center on charges of “two counts of murder for the homicides of Lina Bolaños and Richard Field,” according to the District Attorney’s spokesman. The judge ordered him held without bail.
A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.
The court proceeding provided new details on the horrific murders of Bolanos and Field, married doctors who were found, reportedly with their throats slashed, in Field’s $1.9 million condo in South Boston.
At 8:38 p.m. on May 5, police received a call from the front desk of the penthouse describing a call they received from a friend of Field’s, the prosecutor, Suffolk Chief Trial Counsel John Pappas, said in court. According to the prosecutor, the friend said Field had sent a text message that was a “plea for help” shortly after 8 p.m. on May 5, requesting that police be notified because there was a gunman in the apartment, and it was a “serious situation.” There was a second 911 call to operations of the Boston Police Department that came from the same friend of both victims, imparting the same information.
Police were dispatched and went upstairs to the condo on the 11th floor, and “observed a set of keys on the floor in front of the apartment door,” the prosecutor said.
They knocked and announced their presence multiple times, receiving no response, and used the set of keys to open the door. As they entered the apartment, they found the lights off and encountered a male dressed in dark clothing and “in the ensuing moment, there was an exchange of gunfire,” according to the prosecutor. That male was identified as Teixeira, who was shot in the abdomen, hand and leg, the prosecutor said, adding that the suspect was wearing dark colored gloves.
He is accused of telling police there was another person in the building that would open gunfire on them (no such person was ever found). He was transported to the hospital.
Boston police then entered the apartment and discovered the bodies of Bolanos and Field. “Both were bound, both were deceased, having sustained obvious trauma,” the prosecutor said. “Just inside the apartment door, a black backpack was located…inside of that backpack was filled with jewelry, presumably belonging to Ms. Bolanos.”
The suspect was recently released from custody after having been convicted of a larceny, the prosecutor, adding that he was still on probation. The defense attorney said he had a brief time to discuss with the suspect and was not requesting bail.
Teixeira, 30, is an immigrant from West Africa who had worked as a security guard.
Prosecutors have implied that robbery may be the motive, according to WBZ, because they discovered a bag full of jewelry in the apartment that they say likely belonged to Bolanos. However, the prosecutor did not specifically say they believed the motive was robbery.
The Boston Globe has reported that the suspect was born in Guinea-Bissau and raised in Cape Verde by an aunt.
Heavy asked Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney, about Teixeira’s immigration status, and he said, “From what I gather, Teixeira is a lawful permanent resident. Questions about immigration law and sanctions are best posed to federal authorities such as ICE, since state prosecutors have no jurisdiction or standing in those matters.” Heavy has also reached out to ICE and will update this story when a response is received. Teixeira had a criminal history before the murders in the United States.
A legal permanent resident, according to Cornell University, “is a non-citizen who has been granted authorization to live and work in the United States on a permanent basis. As proof of that status, a person is granted a permanent resident card, commonly called a ‘green card.'”
The scene was horrific. The doctors’ throats were slashed, according to local several media reports, and, reports The Boston Globe, a “message of retribution” was left behind, the doctors’ hands were bound, and photos of the doctors were cut up.
It’s still unclear how the suspect gained access to the penthouse apartment, which required key access even to use the elevator, however, he once worked as a security guard at the complex.
The District Attorney walked back previous police comments that the suspect and victims likely knew each other, saying there was no evidence of that. He also said that Teixeira did not fire a weapon at police.
“These are two well-respected people killed in their penthouse apartment,” the Boston police commissioner said.
Here’s another view of the arraignment:
Read more about the suspect here:
See photos of the victims here: