MA - Bella Bond, 2, found dead, Deer Island, Boston Harbor, June 2015 - #4

[Bootsctr]

A good websleuther :sleuth: posted this link yesterday (sorry I cannot remember who, but :tyou

By the looks of it, RB may only be looking at 2-1/2 to 7 years at the most for "accessory after the fact".

Still early. Hoping for more time...

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter274/Section4

"...be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than seven years or in jail for not more than two and one half years or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars."

 

[eileenhawkeye]

well, this sure isnt a public defender.. this guy is a legend in Massachusetts.. wonder who MM's family is? JMO

He probably took the case pro-bono. I'm a little surprised as I don't expect the trial to be high-profile outside of Boston, or even in the national media in a week.

 

[Bootsctr]

well, this sure isnt a public defender.. this guy is a legend in Massachusetts.. wonder who MM's family is? JMO

Oh really? Do Tell.... or I can google his name. Interesting! Yes! I'm definitely wanting to know when MM and RB hooked up. Did he ever have a job? What is his criminal history?

Shapiro..... Any relation to Robert Shapiro?

 

[Bootsctr]

He probably took the case pro-bono. I'm a little surprised as I don't expect the trial to be high-profile outside of Boston, or even in the national media in a week.

Really? From reading about RB's mother, she had put RB's son in private school. I thought that meant she might have money, but I don't know. Just fleeting thoughts that she could have money.

 

[bestill]

What about her attorney, is she court appointed?

[video=youtube;Dppc2x7EUkw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dppc2x7EUkw[/video]

 

[Sherbie]

Apologies in advance if someone has already mentioned this. What if RB and MM gave an injection to Bella to keep her docile, and it killed her. Would the length of time/amount of decomp from death to autopsy preclude discovering that, or would it still show up?

 

[Bootsctr]

Here's the private school link:

Ms. ****** said she believes ****** Bond took custody of Bella's brother when he was just a baby. The brother attends private school in the area, she said. The Department of Children and Families called her to ask her questions at the time, she said. D*****, she said, gave Bella’s sister up for adoption because DCF was “asking too many questions.”

http://www.telegram.com/article/20150918/NEWS/150919148

 

[Bootsctr]

I can't find Rachelle Bond's attorney mentioned any where. Could she be appointed one on Monday? Or if she agrees to testify against MM is the DA her attorney?

I'm sure she needs an attorney though...

I just had a horrible thought about RB's 2 other children seeing this unfold on TV and now know that Baby Bella was their little sister... That's just awful! I feel like I have been punched in the gut! Poor babies!

ETA: Duh! If it had been a :snake: it would have bitten me.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

I found this comment on Wikipedia:

Should it be pointed in the article that once again, forensic facial artists made the recon of a female victim a lot more idealised/prettier/cuter than the human reality?

The person didn't mince words, and I thought about rephrasing it myself, but I figured I would just quote him. Do you agree and if so, do you think it was done on purpose?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Murder_of_Bella_Bond

 

[Bootsctr]

Apologies in advance if someone has already mentioned this. What if RB and MM gave an injection to Bella to keep her docile, and it killed her. Would the length of time/amount of decomp from death to autopsy preclude discovering that, or would it still show up?

That's an excellent question! We need JoyPath to answer...

I wonder if they were packing ice or anything. Who was going out and buying the cigarettes if MM was keeping RB hostage and docile with heroin injections?

 

[bestill]

I can't find Rachelle Bond's attorney mentioned any where. Could she be appointed one on Monday? Or if she agrees to testify against MM is the DA her attorney?

I'm sure she needs an attorney though...

I just had a horrible thought about RB's 2 other children seeing this unfold on TV and now know that Baby Bella was their little sister... That's just awful! I feel like I have been punched in the gut! Poor babies!

"Bond’s relatives could not be reached for comment. She is being represented by attorney Janice Bassil, who said she met briefly with her client. In 2009, Bassil argued insanity in the 2009 murder trial of Angela Vasquez, who killed her two children in Roslindale and was found to be insane."

From todays article in the Boston Globe...https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/09/19/bella/gTUv3lRRWmVY5uIdrbW0SP/story.html#comments

 

[ilovepierre]

Apologies in advance if someone has already mentioned this. What if RB and MM gave an injection to Bella to keep her docile, and it killed her. Would the length of time/amount of decomp from death to autopsy preclude discovering that, or would it still show up?

IMO, if there were any drugs in her system, they would have shown up during autopsy.

 

[Bootsctr]

I found this comment on Wikipedia:



The person didn't mince words, and I thought about rephrasing it myself, but I figured I would just quote him. Do you agree and if so, do you think it was done on purpose?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Murder_of_Bella_Bond

I disagree. I think the forensic facial artist did the best she could with what was left of little Bella. I always thought Baby Grace's forensic portrait was pretty spot on when we finally saw Riley Ann Sawyer. I think this lady got Bella's hair correct. I think the eyebrows should have been darker, but if there were none on the child when she was found then one could not really know. They couldn't even tell us her ethnicity and not that it mattered to any of us. I'm just glad she has her name back. All children deserve that dignity.

 

[justwannahelp]

I am also a previous child welfare worker and will be going back into the social work field next month. I agree that its not fair to blame DCF but I do have major questions as I'm sure the state does as well and you can bet they will be reviewing every single syllable written in the DCF file and with good reason. Without knowing what the initial referral to DCF in regards to Bella alleged, and the justification for closing the case the first time it's impossible to know what they did. For all we know, after the second referral came in, DCF could have helped RB get into that women's shelter and into stable housing and then closed the case if she met all the goals on the family service plan. Then once she got into that house Bella was murdered in, things fell apart as we heard people who know her say in interviews about her drug use. With all that being said, it still needs to be reviewed just like all child deaths. In my state, we have a child death review board that reviews all child deaths whether or not CPS was involved and one of the people on the board is the CPS director.

The problem is, everything is geared toward reunification and helping the parents. Literally, in your paperwork you have to identify "protective factors" that each parent has that show they can be a good parent. Reunification is always the goal up until the very end and throughout the course of a case you will see families who have kids in and out of placement for years, then the cycle repeats.

I'm as curious as anyone as to what the reasoning was that the case was opened and closed the first and second time, but we won't ever know that unless the caseworker testifies during the trial, which the defense might subpoena him or her to try to show RB was a good mom or they wouldn't have closed the case.

The fact of the matter is that DFS can't put cameras in peoples homes to monitor them. The laws are written in favor of the parents and working within those parameters is rough at times. I can't even begin to tell you how many sleepless nights I had worried about kids that I felt needed to be in protective custody but was told no by my supervisor because there wasn't enough and it wouldn't hold up in court. It's a thankless job and I wish there were better policies in place. I really do wonder the reasoning for closing the case. I know you can't keep them open forever but I had some families for a few years when I was in the ongoing services department and the kids were never removed from the home but I was there at a minimum once a month, usually bi weekly just making sure mom was doing what she needed and assessing safety at every visit. Anyway, sorry for the rant I guess I'm just annoyed with the system as a whole and am curious to know the reasoning for the case being closed.

Do they drug test the mothers before closing a case? Seems like they would.

 

[KaraKitty]

THANK YOU, EffyElsewhere for the cheat sheet!!!

Here's a little cheat sheet of all the information I have seen reported within the last couple of days.

- Bella’s body was found on Deer Island June 25th & she was identified September 18th.

- Michael Patrick McCarthy charged with murder

- Rachelle D. Bond charged as accessory after the fact

- It is believed that McCarthy deliberately murdered Bella, and Rachelle D. Bond helped cover it up

- Bella's body was allegedly stored in a freezer up to a month before she was placed on Deer Island

- Neighbors report last seeing Bella sometime around March or April.

- Rachelle is claiming that McCarthy punched Bella in the stomach several times, leading to her death. She claims that McCarthy believed that Bella had ‘demons inside of her’.

- The medical examiner found *no signs of external bruising or internal bleeding* that would be consistent with blunt force to the victim’s stomach. But investigators are operating under the theory that McCarthy did something violent to the girl’s midsection in such as way that she was unable to breathe.

- Rachelle is claiming that McCarthy had been keeping her hostage, shooting her with heroin in her jugular to keep her docile. She claims she was only able to escape after McCarthy was hospitalized for abscesses from heroin use.

- Rachelle spent 24 hours with Joe Amoroso, Bella’s biological father, before confessing to him that McCarthy murdered Bella. (according to Amoroso)

- After acquiring information about Bella being ‘Baby Doe’, Amoroso and Rachelle DID NOT contact authorities. Instead, according to Amoroso, Rachelle sent a text to a third party with her confession, and that person tipped it in to LE.

- Amoroso had never met Bella. Joe Amoroso went to Rachelle Bond’s apartment in Dorchester twice since she died, supposedly looking to meet his daughter for the first time, but Rachelle told him she was in Cape Cod.

- Rachelle already had two other kids taken by DCF. Bella’s DCF case was closed in 2013. Bond was arrested at least three times for prostitution in Boston -- twice in 2010 and again in 2011. In Dorchester, she was charged with sexual conduct for a fee after soliciting an undercover police officer. She was arrested twice near the Pine Street Inn for offering sex for a fee, and in 2011 police nabbed her for possession of heroin in the same area.

- McCarthy has also had a problem with drugs. In 2005 he was arrested in Dorchester and charged with possession of narcotics equipment -- a hypodermic syringe.

- There will be an arraignment tomorrow, 9/21/15

So now bio father (JA) is out there talking to all the media about his daughter Bella that was murdered BUT JA did not contact the Police..........WTH??????

I wonder what HIS plans were with that INFO???????

 

[bestill]

MM's attorney Jonathan Shapiro?...http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/28/style/weddings-jonathan-shapiro-and-hank-ryan.html

http://www.sswg.com/attorneys/jonathan-shapiro/

 

[ilovepierre]

I don't live in MA but our well-visits are something like 5 days, 2 weeks, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 1 year, 18 months, 2 years, and then yearly. I may be off on the ones in the first year a bit but ours start being yearly at 2 years old.

Here in Canada, there's one a few days after the baby is back from hospital (it's usually a home visit), and then after that there's a visit at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 12 months, and then a final one at 18 months. After the 18 month visit, most children aren't seen again until they are ready to start school-so around 5 years old. Even then, it's not required.

But then again, this is for immunizations. I don't know what well-visits in the States consist of. I just know that in Canada, those ages are the ages they are required to get their shots. There's no checkup or anything done on the child.
My brother is 3.5 and the last visit to the doctor was I think his 18 month visit for his last set of immunizations.

Anyways, I highly doubt RB took Bella to any of her well-visits.

 

[bestill]

Both of these attorneys are heavy hitters, what is the world are they doing representing two druggies in a murder case??

 

[jjenny]

I disagree. I think the forensic facial artist did the best she could with what was left of little Bella. I always thought Baby Grace's forensic portrait was pretty spot on when we finally saw Riley Ann Sawyer. I think this lady got Bella's hair correct. I think the eyebrows should have been darker, but if there were none on the child when she was found then one could not really know. They couldn't even tell us her ethnicity and not that it mattered to any of us. I'm just glad she has her name back. All children deserve that dignity.

If she was refrigerated for a month (or more) then there was quite a bit of decomposition. People seem to expect that sketch should look like a photo (and it's not).

 

[Bootsctr]

What about her attorney, is she court appointed?

[video=youtube;Dppc2x7EUkw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dppc2x7EUkw[/video]

:tyou: She is a very smart lady. She has her work cut out for her, but if she has previously gotten a client out whom killed 2 children then she will probably be successful with securing RB's freedom at some point. I agree, crazy doesn't always look like James Holmes...