Mass. man convicted of killing mother with fireplace log
02/15/2023 7:48 am PST
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (TCD) -- A jury has found a 39-year-old man guilty of killing his 72-year-old mother in 2017 with a fireplace log.
Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz announced Danny Lopes’ conviction in a statement Tuesday, Feb. 14, saying he was found guilty of first-degree murder under premeditation and extreme cruelty. The trial lasted 12 days and the jury deliberated for about 2 1/2 hours before reaching the verdict.
On Aug. 27, 2017, just before 6 p.m., West Bridgewater Police Department officers went to 93 Columbus Avenue after learning about a woman who had been killed. Police located 72-year-old Julia Fernandes and said she suffered "obvious signs of trauma."
Emergency responders declared her dead at the scene.
Detectives obtained a warrant to search the house and identified Lopes as their sole suspect. He was located in North Providence, Rhode Island, where he was arrested.
Cruz said in his statement the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined Fernandes died from blunt force trauma and said her manner of death was homicide. Detectives found a fireplace log at the scene, which Lopes used to kill his mother.
Lopes was also convicted of intimidation of a witness because he sent a “threatening letter” from jail to a witness who testified at a grand jury.
He will be sentenced March 1.
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