First-Degree Murder
In April, 2002, Matthew G. Lavoie's parents retained attorney Mahoney to defend their son against charges of first degree murder.
Attorney Mahoney wishes to caution readers of the Lavoie news articles that the reporter for the Lowell Sun did no independent investigation into the death of Westley Vanaanen, but instead gleaned the allegations from the prosecutor's bail argument. The Defense strongly disagrees with the accusations as recounted. In many instances, the prosecutor misrepresented facts. In some instances, the prosecutor and/or the reporter are plainly wrong. Further, the articles do not include any reference to the defense's extensive investigation into Vanaanen's murder. Matthew Lavoie maintains his innocence.
TRIAL COVERAGE ARTICLES
Excerpted from article posted on December 17, 2003
Lavoie convicted in Townsend man's slaying
Lowell Sun
By Lisa Redmond
A jury yesterday convicted Matthew Lavoie of shooting a 29-year-old Townsend man three times and setting the body on fire to cover the crime.
Lavoie's mother burst into tears as the jury convicted her 24-year-old son of second-degree murder in the slaying of Westley VaanAnen.
The Middlesex County jury's decision surprised defense attorney Kevin Mahoney, who claimed others had more of a motive to kill VaanAnen.
"I'm shocked,'' Mahoney said after the decision. The murder conviction triggers an automatic appeal to the state Supreme Judicial Court....
...Mahoney argued that Lavoie's confession was the result of police coercion. He claimed Fuller had more of a motive for murder: jealousy.
Mahoney argued that Fuller, who was described as "a maniac'' on drugs, was angry because he believed VaanAnen had slept with Litalien. Fuller, also a reported drug abuser, wanted VaanAnen's stash of drugs and cash, Mahoney said.
Lavoie, Fuller and Litalien were charged with first-degree murder under the "joint venture theory'' that although one person pulled the trigger, each participated in the murder. Lavoie's conviction on second-degree murder suggests there was no premeditation...
Excerpted from article posted on December 16, 2003
Jury enters 3rd day in Townsend murder case
Lowell Sun
By Lisa Redmond
Jury deliberations will enter a third day in the case of a Fitchburg man accused of fatally shooting Townsend drug dealer in March 2001.
After three weeks of testimony, the Middlesex Superior Court jury began its deliberations Friday and continued yesterday without reaching a decision on the fate of Matthew Lavoie, 24....
...Defense attorney Kevin Mahoney argues that Lavoie's alleged confession to the crime was the result of police coercion. He claims Fuller had a motive for murder: jealousy. He argues that Fuller was angry because he believed VaanAnen had slept with Litalien. Fuller, also an alleged drug abuser, wanted VaanAnen's stash of drugs and cash, Mahoney alleges.
Excerpted from article posted on December 13, 2003
Jury gets Townsend murder case
Lowell Sun
By Tom Spoth
Jurors began deliberations yesterday in the case of a Fitchburg man accused of fatally shooting a Townsend drug dealer in March 2001.
The jury heard closing arguments from prosecutors and defense attorneys before retiring yesterday afternoon. It has not yet reached a verdict...
...Walsh also alleges that Lavoie confessed to the crime two days after the shooting. Defense attorney Kevin Mahoney said the police coerced the confession from his client, who was incoherent from drugs and lack of sleep...
Excerpted from article posted on December 13, 2003
Jury deliberating suspect in case of slain drug dealer
Boston Herald
By Associated Press
Jury deliberations have begun in the case of a Fitchburg man accused of fatally shooting a Townsend drug dealer in 2001.
Twenty-four-year-old Matthew Lavoie is on trial in Cambridge Superior Court for shooting 29-year-old Westley VaanAnen twice in the chest and once in the head.
Excerpted from article posted on December 12, 2003
Victim's girlfriend relates grisly call
Lowell Sun
By Lisa Redmond
Liz Bouchard thought it was strange when Kevin Fuller called her one March morning two years ago to ask where he could score some cocaine. Fuller lived with Bouchard's boyfriend, local drug dealer Westley VaanAnnen; why didn't Fuller just ask him?
"He's burnin'," Fuller told her, Bouchard testified in Middlesex Superior Court yesterday...
...Although all three are charged with first-degree murder, Lavoie is being tried first because prosecutors say he was the shooter. But defense attorney Kevin Mahoney argues Lavoie's confession was coerced...
Excerpted from article posted on December 11, 2003
Judge KOs bid to drop murder case
Lowell Sun
By Lisa Redmond
Three weeks into the murder trial, a Superior Court judge rejected a bid by Matthew Lavoie's attorney to toss out the first-degree murder charge against his client in the slaying of a Townsend man.
As the prosecution wrapped up its case yesterday and before defense witnesses began to testify, defense attorney Kevin Mahoney asked Middlesex Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fishman to supercede the jury and find Lavoie innocent of the gruesome slaying of Westley VaanAnen, 29, of Townsend.
"What proof has the commonwealth introduced that my client was anything other than an accessory after the fact (of murder)?'' Mahoney asked. "There is no evidence of his participation in the murder,'' Mahoney said...
...In a later statement, Lavoie allegedly confessed to the killing, but Mahoney had tried to discredit that confession saying the police coerced the confession from his client who was incoherent from drugs and lack of sleep....
Excerpted from article posted on December 4, 2003
Trooper describes blood-stained evidence found in Dumpster
Media News
Lisa Redmond
When Trooper Robert O'Neil opened the eight trash bags used to get rid of evidence of Westley VaanAnen's murder, he found a bloody mess.
Among the eight black trash bags pulled from a Dumpster behind the Townsend House Restaurant in Townsend, he found pillows, socks and latex gloves -- all covered with blood -- O'Neil testified on Wednesday in Middlesex Superior Court....
....In a later statement, Lavoie allegedly confessed to the killing. Defense attorney Kevin Mahoney had tried to discredit that statement and said police coerced the confession from his client who was incoherent from drugs and lack of sleep....
Excerpted from article posted on December 4, 2003
Body's dumping recalled in Townsend case
Lowell Sun
By Vanessa Hughes
Grisly details of the aftermath in a Townsend slaying were recalled by a state trooper at yesterday's murder trial.
A state trooper testified yesterday that Matthew Lavoie told him he suggested dumping Westley VaanAnen's body near the old Revolutionary Cemetery on Caswell Road in Fitchburg because he was familiar with the area and knew there were no houses around, according to the state trooper....
...Prosecutor Christopher Walsh cites VaanAnen's stash of $3,200 in cocaine as a possible motive in the killing. But defense attorney Kevin Mahoney argued that Fuller had the motive to kill VaanAnen, an alleged local drug dealer whom Fuller suspected was Litalien's lover.
Mahoney yesterday questioned the times that Trooper Richard's cited to describe when police entered the home three days after the murder and when he arrived at the Fitchburg police station with Lavoie....
...Mahoney said Lavoie was exhausted and unable to make reasonable statements after six hours of interrogation that lasted from about 11 p.m. on March 9 to 5 a.m. the next day.
Richard said he saw no signs that Lavoie was using drugs or alcohol when he confessed to police. Walsh said he does not know of a prescription medicine bottle Mahoney alleges Lavoie had on him at the police station.
Mahoney also questioned interview tactics, alleging that two police detectives blocked Lavoie from leaving the room where he was being questioned, which Richard denied. He said a suggestion that Lavoie's hands could be tested for gunpowder residue was a scare tactic used to encourage a confession because gunpowder would have washed off three days after a crime....
...Mahoney also asked why Richard did not take any handwritten notes when he questioned Lavoie and did not record the police interrogation and confession.
"If you had recorded his statement, the jury would know exactly what happened in that room," Mahoney said.
Mahoney threw out the name of a man unrelated to the 4 Sumac Drive murder, who allegedly told Winchendon police a month after the murder that he had killed the VannAnen.
Mahoney said after the hearing that he is not contending that the man is the murderer but trying to show that people on drugs can make false confessions.
"Anything that comes out of the mouth of someone who is on drugs or fatigued is unreliable," Mahoney said.
Excerpted from article posted on December 2, 2003
Slay suspect testifies he saw friends walk into room, then heard gun shot
Lowell Sun
By Lisa Redmond
Matthew Lavoie stood stunned as he watched his two friends walk into Westley VaanAnen's room armed with a 9-mm handgun and heard a gun shot, state police Trooper Daniel Richard testified Lavoie told him.
Lavoie heard a gurgling sound coming from VaanAnen, then a second shot and more gurgling before a third shot and silence, Lavoie told police....
...But defense attorney Kevin Mahoney claims Fuller, who Mahoney describes as a "maniac'' when on drugs, had the motive to kill. He claims Fuller believed VaanAnen had slept with Litalien.
As for his client's confession, Mahoney told the jury that Lavoie, who had been addicted to drugs for years, was dope-sick and exhausted when police coerced a confession from him....
Excerpted from article posted on November 27, 2003
Man who found charred body testifies in slay trial
Lowell Sun
By Lisa Redmond
Daniel Tully was on his way to work on a cold March morning when he made a grisly discovery.
At first, the resident of Caswell Road in Fitchburg thought a tree branch had fallen across the snow-covered rural road.
But as he drove closer, Tully testified yesterday in Middlesex Superior Court, he could see the object was a charred body, laying face-up and burned beyond recognition.
Twenty-nine-year-old Westley VaanAnen's body had been dumped and burned on the dead-end....
Excerpted from article posted on November 27, 2003
Prosecutor: Fitchburg man shot friend in Townsend drug house
Lowell Sun
By Lisa Redmond
As police tried to identify the charred body found on a dead-end Fitchburg street nearly three years ago, all they had to work with was a piece of cloth, some jewelry, the dead man's burned tattoos and tire marks left at the scene.
Those tire marks would lead police right to the killer's front door, prosecutor Christopher Walsh told a jury yesterday. The tires would match a Jeep Cherokee belonging to Kevin Fuller, 30, and the body was identified by a fingerprint as local....
PRETRIAL COVERAGE ARTICLES
Excerpted from article posted on August 26, 2002
Townsend man wants police tapes for his murder trial
Lowell Sun
By Lisa Redmond
The attorney for Matthew G. Lavoie, accused along with two others of murdering his friend in their Townsend home, has received dozens of photographs, police and lab reports from prosecutors in Westley VaanAnen's murder case. But when defense attorney Kevin Mahoney, representing Lavoie, returns to court in two weeks, he will ask a judge to order prosecutor Edward Bedrosian to hand over all "tangible evidence" that the state has refused or failed to allow him to inspect. Mahoney's motion is not specific about what evidence he believes the district attorney has not turned over, but he has asked the DA's office to provide copies of all police surveillance tapes taken inside or outside the 4 Sumac Road home where the killing took place.
A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 9 in Middlesex Superior Court.
After being fatally shot on March 7, 2001, the 29-year-old Townsend man's body lay wrapped in cellophane and bedding for two days as Lavoie and VaanAnen's two roommates Samantha Litalien and Kevin Fuller allegedly worked to cover up the crime by stuffing evidence into trash bags and loading them into a trash bin behind the Townsend House Restaurant, Bedrosian alleges.
In this bizarre murder case, prosecutors so far have provided the three defense attorneys with more than 100 pieces of evidence ranging from grisly crime scene photographs to tire tracks....
March 19, 2002
Lowell Sun
By Lisa Redmond
Court asked to throw out evidence on slay suspect
CAMBRIDGE -- The attorney for a former Townsend woman accused of helping to fatally shoot her roommate, then dump his burning body on a dead-end street, wants all evidence against her thrown out, claiming investigators violated her rights.
Defense attorney Edward Ryan Jr., representing murder suspect Samantha LiItalien, has filed a motion to suppress all statements his client made to police, and all physical evidence generated by searches of several cars and her former Sumac Drive home, where the March 7, 2001, slaying of Westley VaanAnen took place.
Ryan alleges that statements Litalien, 23, formerly of 4 Sumac Drive, Townsend, made to police were not voluntary and were made without a lawyer present. He also contends that when police stopped Litalien, while she was driving a 1990 Jeep Cherokee that police believe was used to transport VaanAnen's body, it was done illegally without probable cause.
Litalien, along with her boyfriend, Kevin Fuller, 30, also formerly of 4 Sumac Drive, and Matthew Lavoie, 21 of 732 Scott Road, Fitchburg, are all being held without bail, charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of VaanAnen, 29. VaanAnen was the roommate of Litalien and Fuller.
Fuller has a similar motion to suppress, claiming he was forced to the floor at gunpoint when police arrested him and charged him with VaanAnen's murder. Fuller claims his rights were violated when police refused to show him a search warrant, then ignored his request to call his lawyer.
As a result, Fuller, through his attorney, John Bosk of Fitchburg, will ask a judge to suppress statements he allegedly made admitting his role in the murder.
A suppression hearing for all three defendants is tentatively scheduled for April 1 in Middlesex Superior Court.
According to court documents, after his arrest, Lavoie allegedly gave police a grisly account of how he used a head of lettuce to muffle the sound of the bullet he fired into VaanAnen's head as he slept in his bedroom.
Then Lavoie pumped two more bullets into the dying man's body, prosecutors say. He and Fuller allegedly used Fuller's Jeep Cherokee to transport the body and dump it on a dead-end street in Fitchburg.
Before they left the body, the two men allegedly set it on fire. A passer-by saw the burning body and called the police.
Based on interviews with the three defendants, prosecutors allege that around noon on March 7, 2001, after a night of doing drugs, Fuller pulled a handgun from under the couch. Fuller allegedly told his friends, "I should just shoot him now," referring VaanAnen, who was asleep in his bedroom.
Fuller allegedly went to VaanAnen's bedroom with the gun, but couldn't pull the trigger. He then handed the gun to Litalien, who also lost her nerve, according to court documents.
Then Lavoie allegedly took the gun, which belonged to Litalien, and got a head of lettuce from the refrigerator. From three feet away, Lavoie used the lettuce to muffle the sound as he shot VaanAnen in the head, prosecutors allege.
While discussing how to dispose of the body, Lavoie allegedly shot VaanAnen twice more in the chest, muffling the sounds of gunshot with a pillow.
The body remained in the house for the next 10 hours, during which time the trio rummaged through VaanAnen's clothes and stole $1,500 cash, according to court documents.
Hours later, at around midnight, Fuller and Lavoie allegedly drove the body to a remote spot on Caswell Road in Fitchburg, doused it with two gallons of kerosene and set it on fire.
A neighbor on his way to work made the gruesome discovery of VaanAnen's charred body at about 5 a.m. on March 8, according to court documents.
Police were able to identify VaanAnen from fingerprints and other forensic evidence.
Investigators allegedly saw the three defendants taking bags from the Sumac Drive house and loading them into cars, documents state. As Litalien drove away in the Jeep, investigators stopped her based on an outstanding warrant. When they approached the car they detected a strong gasoline-like smell, documents state.
Investigators linked the three suspects to the slaying by tire tracks, which were made by Fuller's Jeep and led away from the dump site, investigators allege.
The tire tracks led investigators to the Sumac Drive home and VaanAnen's two roommates, as well as Lavoie, who was staying there for several days, according to court documents.
In his motion, Ryan alleges that Litalien was illegally stopped by Fitchburg police without probable while driving the Jeep. Police allege that after Litalien was stopped and the tire treads checked, she was arrested on outstanding warrants.
Ryan argues that all evidence seized from the Jeep and any subsequent statements Litalien made or evidence seized is now tainted and should be suppressed.
Police arrest trio in `bizarre' killing of pal
March 11, 2001
Boston Herald
by Dave Wedge
A Townsend couple and their Fitchburg pal allegedly gunned down their friend during a drug-fueled robbery Wednesday and then lit his kerosene-soaked body ablaze on a rural road, police and sources said.
``It's bizarre,'' Fitchburg police Sgt. John O'Leary said of the horrifying murder of 29-year-old Westley Vaananen. ``They were all friends.''
Arrested early yesterday for the grisly slaying were Vaananen's roommates, 23-year-old Samantha L'Italien and her 30-year-old boyfriend Kevin Fuller, and another friend, 21-year-old Matthew Lavoie of Fitchburg.
According to prosecutors, Vaananen was shot once in the head and twice in the chest in his Townsend home around 11 p.m. Wednesday, wrapped in bedding and cellophane and then torched on rural Caswell Street in Fitchburg. A passer-by found the smoldering corpse just before 6 a.m. Thursday and called police who had to wait for autopsy results before they even knew if the body was male or female.
Middlesex County District Attorney Martha Coakley said L'Italien, Fuller and Vaananen all lived at 4 Sumac Drive in Townsend, where the murder allegedly took place.
One police source said the group may have been smoking crack in the hours before the murder and that there was an argument involving L'Italien's relationship with one of the men.
When asked about the possible drug link, Coakley said, ``we won't rule anything out.''
``We're exploring the relationship between the victim and the defendants,'' Coakley said. She added that the trio allegedly stole an undisclosed amount of cash from Vaananen but declined further comment on a possible motive.
Police searched the Townsend home shortly after identifying Vaananen through fingerprint records. Coakley said evidence found at the scene where the body was dumped is tied to the Townsend house.
Investigators also recovered a gun and are running ballistics tests to see if it matches the murder weapon.
All three of the alleged killers, as well as Vaananen, are known to local police, Coakley said.
L'Italien, formerly of Taunton, has two outstanding default warrants - one in Attleboro for marijuana possession and another for a driving offense in Orange, a source said.
All three face charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, possession of a firearm and ammunition and larceny. Lavoie and Fuller are also charged with unlawfully disposing of a body.
All three are scheduled for arraignment at Fitchburg District Court Monday morning.
Vaananen's stepfather, Kendrick Young, said yesterday he knew nothing about the killing and said Vaananen was always friendly.
``He was always good to me,'' Young said.
L'Italien's stepmother, Brenda L'Italien of Taunton, said she had ``no idea'' why her stepdaughter would be allegedly involved in such a horrific crime.
``I just knew they were friends,'' she said of Vaananen and Samantha L'Italien. ``I'd hear her mention his name from time to time in passing, but that's it.''
She said she didn't know of any problems within the group and knew little of their activities.
``She's my stepdaughter and I love her very much. And that's all I want to say,'' she said.
Third person charged with murder of Townsend man
Wednesday, June 13, 2001
Portsmouth Herald
By Associated Press
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A third person has been arraigned on murder charges in connection with the shooting death of a Townsend man whose burned body was found on a remote Fitchburg road.
Kevin Fuller, 30, of Townsend, pleaded innocent Tuesday to charges of murder, possession of a firearm, and accessory before the fact, according to a spokesman for Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley.
Fuller is being held without bail and is scheduled to appear in court again July 9 for a pretrial conference.
Fuller was charged with killing Wesley Vaananen, 29, whose body was discovered on March 8 on Caswell Road in Fitchburg.
He had been shot twice in the chest and once in the head before being set on fire.
Vaananen was shot to death at a Townsend home, his body was wrapped in bedding and cellophane, doused with kerosene, and set on fire, authorities said.
Fuller, Matthew Lavoie and Samantha L'Italien were arrested two days after the body was discovered. Lavoie and L'Italien have also been charged with murder and are being held without bail.
Three charged with killing man, burning body
By Associated Press
FITCHBURG, Mass. (AP) — Three people were arrested Saturday for killing a Townsend man, then burning his body and leaving it on a dead-end street.
Kevin M. Fuller, 30, and Samantha A. L'Italien, 23, both of Townsend, and Matthew G. Lavoie, 21, of Fitchburg, have been charged with murdering Westley A. Vaananen. They were ordered held on $1 million bail.
"We're still investigating a motive," said Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley.
A passer-by found Vaananen's body early Thursday morning on Caswell Road.Prosecutors said Vaananen, 29, was shot once in the head and twice in the chest at his home Wednesday night. Early the next morning, the body was wrapped in bedding and cellophane and dumped on the Fitchburg street, where it was doused with kerosene and lit on fire.
Prosecutors said Fuller and L'Italien, who were involved in a relationship, also lived at the same address with Vaananen in Townsend.
After Vaananen was identified, local and state police searched the home Vaananen shared with Fuller and L'Italien.
All three were arrested in the Townsend area early Saturday morning. They were charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, possession of a firearm and ammunition, and larceny. Lavoie and Fuller are also charged with unlawfully disposing of a body.
All three are scheduled to be arraigned at Fitchburg District Court on Monday morning.
Gruesome murder in Townsend described in court
Second of three suspects arraigned
June 08, 2001
Sun Staff
By Lisa Redmond
CAMBRIDGE -- Standing in the doorway to Westley VaanAnen's bedroom with a loaded gun in her hand, Samantha Litalien steeled herself to shoot her sleeping roommate, prosecutors say.
But the 23-year-old Townsend woman couldn't pull the trigger.
Instead she returned to the living room of their 4 Sumac Drive home where her boyfriend Kevin Fuller, also her roommate, sat with their friend, Matthew Lavoie.
Moments later, Lavoie, 21, of 732 Scott Road, took the gun from Litalien, went to the kitchen and retrieved a head of lettuce from the refrigerator. Using the lettuce to muffle the sound of the gun shot, Lavoie put a bullet into VaanAnen's head, prosecutors allege. Two more shots rang out as Lavoie allegedly pumped two more bullets into VaanAnen's chest.
In the days following the March 7 shooting, the trio allegedly robbed the 29-year-old dead man of $1,500 in cash he had in his pockets and bound his body in bedding before Fuller and Lavoie dumped the VaanAnen on a dead-end street in Fitchburg.
As their last act in this grisly murder, the two men doused the body with gasoline and set it on fire, prosecutors allege.
Prosecutor Christopher Walsh said investigators are still working on a motive for the murder.
In Middlesex Superior Court yesterday, Litalien was ordered held without bail after pleading innocent to first-degree murder, accessory after the fact of murder and two counts of possession of a firearm.
Defense attorney Edward Ryan deferred his argument on bail until a later date.
A pretrial conference is scheduled for July 9.
Earlier this week, Lavoie was also ordered held without bail after he pleaded innocent to first-degree murder and possession of a firearm in the brutal slaying.
Fuller was initially supposed to be arraigned on Thursday, but a conflict with his defense attorney's scheduled postponed that court date until Tuesday.
Based on interviews with the defendants, prosecutors allege that around noon on March 7, after a night of doing drugs and partying, Fuller pulled a handgun from under the couch in the house he shared with roommates Litalien and VaanAnen. At the time, Lavoie had been staying with his friends for several days.
As VaanAnen slept in his bedroom, Fuller was the first to attempt to shoot VaanAnen, prosecutors say. Fuller allegedly told his friends, "I should just shoot him now."
Fuller allegedly went to VaanAnen's bedroom with the gun, but left the room without pulling the trigger. He then handed the gun to L'Italien, who lost her nerve, according to court documents.
Lavoie then took the gun and shot VaanAnen using the head of lettuce, prosecutors allege.
As all three defendants discussed how to dispose of the body, they heard gurgling noises coming from the dying man, prosecutors said. Lavoie allegedly shot VaanAnen twice more in the chest, muffling the sounds of gunshot with a pillow.
VaanAnen's body remained in the house for the next 10 hours, during which time the trio rummaged through his clothes and stole $1,500 in cash from a pocket, according to court documents.
The trio allegedly used a blanket, cellophane wrap, a foam mattress and duct tape to wrap VaanAnen's bloody body, according to court documents. Hours later, at around midnight, Fuller and Lavoie allegedly drove the body to a remote spot on Caswell Road in Fitchburg, doused it with two gallons of kerosene and set it on fire.
A neighbor on his way to work made the gruesome discovery of VaanAnen's charred remains at about 5 a.m. on March 8, according to court documents.
Police were able to identify VaanAnen from fingerprints and other forensic evidence.
When told of their friend's death, Litalien, Fuller and Lavoir "feigned surprise and shock," the prosecutor said.
Over the next two days, the three defendants worked to cover up the crime by stuffing evidence into trash bags and disposing of the bags in a trash container behind the Townsend House Restaurant, court documents state.
In addition, rugs in VaanAnen's bedroom were cut up and loaded into a parked car in the driveway, prosecutors allege. Litalien stashed the gun and the gas can at an unsuspecting friend's house, documents state.
Investigators saw the three defendants taking bags from the Sumac Street house and loading them into cars, documents state. As Litalien drove away in a Jeep, investigators stopped her on an outstanding warrant. When they approached the car they detected a strong gasoline-like smell, documents state.
Investigators said they linked the three suspects to the murder by tire tracks, which were made by the Jeep Cherokee owned by Fuller. The tire tracks led away from the site where VaanAnen's burned body was found.
When questioned by police, Lavoie at first fingered Fuller and Litalien, but then admitted he was the shooter and demonstrated for police how he killed VaanAnen, investigators allege.
All three defendants gave statements to police that allegedly implicated them in the murder, Walsh said.
In addition to the Middlesex County charges, Fuller and Lavoie also face charges in Worcester Superior Court of improperly disposing of a body, Walsh said. Fitchburg is in Worcester County.
