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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Briton guilty of family murders | Briton guilty of family murders |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| A British man has been found guilty of the murder of his American wife and nine-month-old baby by a US jury. | A British man has been found guilty of the murder of his American wife and nine-month-old baby by a US jury. |
| Neil Entwistle, 29, of Worksop, Notts, had denied killing wife Rachel, 27, and Lillian Rose, at their home in Massachusetts in January 2006. | Neil Entwistle, 29, of Worksop, Notts, had denied killing wife Rachel, 27, and Lillian Rose, at their home in Massachusetts in January 2006. |
| Entwistle now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when sentence is passed on Thursday. | Entwistle now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when sentence is passed on Thursday. |
| Shortly after the verdicts were announced, his lawyers said that they would appeal. | Shortly after the verdicts were announced, his lawyers said that they would appeal. |
| After 13 hours of deliberation, jurors rejected Entwistle's defence that his wife had killed their baby before turning the gun on herself, and that Entwistle had covered it up to "protect her honour". | After 13 hours of deliberation, jurors rejected Entwistle's defence that his wife had killed their baby before turning the gun on herself, and that Entwistle had covered it up to "protect her honour". |
| We will continue to fight for our innocent son in the hope that some day justice will prevail and our little grand-daughter Lilly will rest in peace Clifford Entwistle | We will continue to fight for our innocent son in the hope that some day justice will prevail and our little grand-daughter Lilly will rest in peace Clifford Entwistle |
| Entwistle, wearing a black suit with a blue tie, looked down as the jury returned its verdicts, before closing his eyes. | Entwistle, wearing a black suit with a blue tie, looked down as the jury returned its verdicts, before closing his eyes. |
| As well as being found guilty of the first degree murders of his wife and daughter, he was also convicted on two other charges: illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition. | As well as being found guilty of the first degree murders of his wife and daughter, he was also convicted on two other charges: illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition. |
| Immediately after the verdicts were announced and Entwistle was led away to the cells, his parents Clifford and Yvonne made statements in which they maintained their son was innocent. | Immediately after the verdicts were announced and Entwistle was led away to the cells, his parents Clifford and Yvonne made statements in which they maintained their son was innocent. |
| Neil Entwistle had denied killing his wife and daughter | Neil Entwistle had denied killing his wife and daughter |
| Speaking outside Middlesex County Superior Court in Woburn, Massachusetts, Mrs Entwistle said she still believed that her daughter-in-law had been depressed at the time she died. | |
| Clifford Entwistle said: "We will continue to fight for our innocent son in the hope that some day justice will prevail and our little grand-daughter Lilly will rest in peace." | Clifford Entwistle said: "We will continue to fight for our innocent son in the hope that some day justice will prevail and our little grand-daughter Lilly will rest in peace." |
| Entwistle's lawyer Elliot Weinstein said that "in a different environment" another jury would have reached a different result. | Entwistle's lawyer Elliot Weinstein said that "in a different environment" another jury would have reached a different result. |
| He said he was confident that an appeal against the conviction would succeed, claiming that the police had made "unlawful entries" when they entered the Entwistle house after the killings. | He said he was confident that an appeal against the conviction would succeed, claiming that the police had made "unlawful entries" when they entered the Entwistle house after the killings. |
| Speaking after the verdict, district attorney Gerry Leone said it was a "true, just and right verdict". | |
| He said that this April, Lilian Rose would have been three years old. | |
| "She should have been here walking, talking, playing," he said, but, this had not happened because of the "reprehensible acts of Neil Entwistle". | |
| "I condemn Neil Entwistle for his unspeakable, unforgivable acts, but I condemn Neil Entwistle for compounding the unspeakable nature of what he has done by disparaging the memory of his wife and vilifying the entire Matarazzo family by his decisions during the course of this trial," he continued. | |
| During the two-week trial the jury heard that Entwistle had a secret life in which he trawled the internet for escorts and looked at websites about bankruptcy, killing and suicide. | During the two-week trial the jury heard that Entwistle had a secret life in which he trawled the internet for escorts and looked at websites about bankruptcy, killing and suicide. |
| Post-mortem | Post-mortem |
| The defence insisted that Mrs Entwistle had been depressed and had killed her daughter, then herself. | |
| Prosecutors said Entwistle researched methods of killing | |
| They said that Entwistle had returned the gun used to kill the pair to his father-in-law's house in an attempt to protect his wife's honour. | They said that Entwistle had returned the gun used to kill the pair to his father-in-law's house in an attempt to protect his wife's honour. |
| A post-mortem examination found Mrs Entwistle had been shot in the forehead at close range, and Lillian was killed with a bullet which passed through her abdomen and lodged above her mother's left breast as she cradled her child protectively on the bed. | A post-mortem examination found Mrs Entwistle had been shot in the forehead at close range, and Lillian was killed with a bullet which passed through her abdomen and lodged above her mother's left breast as she cradled her child protectively on the bed. |
| Entwistle's defence was that after discovering the bodies he did not call the emergency services but instead got a knife to kill himself, but could not go through with it. | Entwistle's defence was that after discovering the bodies he did not call the emergency services but instead got a knife to kill himself, but could not go through with it. |
| Instead, he bought a one-way ticket to London and flew out without any luggage, eventually arriving at his parents' house in Worksop. | Instead, he bought a one-way ticket to London and flew out without any luggage, eventually arriving at his parents' house in Worksop. |
| From there he wrote a letter handing over all burial arrangements to his in-laws. He did not attend his wife and daughter's funeral. | From there he wrote a letter handing over all burial arrangements to his in-laws. He did not attend his wife and daughter's funeral. |
| In total, 46 witness gave evidence and the trial attracted huge media interest on both sides of the Atlantic. | In total, 46 witness gave evidence and the trial attracted huge media interest on both sides of the Atlantic. |
| From the start of the case Entwistle's lawyers argued that a fair trial was impossible because the case had received so much publicity. | From the start of the case Entwistle's lawyers argued that a fair trial was impossible because the case had received so much publicity. |