Man accused of murdering wife and baby arrives for trial

BRITON Neil Entwistle arrived at court yesterday charged with murdering his American wife and baby.

The first few days of the hearing are expected to be taken up with legal arguments and jury selection.

Entwistle is charged with shooting dead his 27-year-old American wife Rachel and their nine-month-old daughter Lillian Rose at their Hopkinton home in Massachusetts on January 20, 2006.

Entwistle arrived at the Middlesex Superior Court behind the darkened windows of the middle vehicle of a three-car convoy. Two helicopters circled overhead as the convoy reversed into the court compound.

Up to 150 potential jurors will begin the selection process in front of judge Diane Kottmyer at the court in Woburn, Massachusetts, ahead of the trial, which is expected to last at least three weeks.

Entwistle, a 29-year-old former IT worker originally from Worksop, Nottinghamshire, denies two counts of murder and related gun charges — carrying a firearm without a licence, and possession of a firearm without a federal ID card.

Prosecutors believe he shot and killed his wife and daughter in the house they were renting in Hopkinton before fleeing the US for his parents’ home in Worksop the following morning.

He entered not guilty pleas at Framingham District Court in February 2006.

According to court papers, prosecutors believe Entwistle ran up debts of tens of thousands of pounds before the murders, his internet businesses had failed and he had no visible means of support.

He also allegedly searched the internet for information on how to kill people and commit suicide days before his wife and daughter were shot.

Entwistle has told police that he panicked and fled the US for his parents’ house in Worksop after finding the bodies.

He was arrested on February 9, 2006, at the Royal Oak underground station in London, and was transported back to America, escorted by US Marshals, on February 15. He was refused bail.

Elliot Weinstein, defending Entwistle, has said his client could not get a fair trial in the US because of media interest in the case.

Entwistle faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of the double murder.

Entwistle, wearing a dark suit and tie with a white shirt, stood between his lawyers in front of a total of 165 jurors in the assembly room below the court as the judge explained the initial stages of the selection process.

Entwistle faced the potential jurors as dozens of reporters from both the US and Britain stood at the back of the room.

Each juror was given a questionnaire containing 27 general questions and asked whether they knew any of the 164 potential witnesses, 29 of whom were from Britain.