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It is very likely that the state will call its final witness Friday in the double murder trial of Neil Entwistle. He is the Englishman accused of killing his wife Rachel and their nine month old daughter Lillian in their rented Hopkinton home in January of 2006.

And as the state prepares to rest its case, the defense is giving jurors something new to consider: that Rachel Entwistle killed her baby before turning the gun on herself on that awful January day.

This theory came in the form of ferocious cross examination of state medical examiner William Zane. He testified that Rachel's death was "immediate" when she was shot in the head. And that baby Lillian, shot in the chest, likely died within a "minute or minutes" of her fatal gunshot.

Both mother and child were discovered in Neil and Rachel's bed with Rachel's arm draped over her baby daughter.

We already know that gun residue, which occurs when a gun is fired, was found on Rachel's hands, but no gun residue was found on anything associated with Neil Entwistle.

Under cross examination William Zane revealed he determined Rachel and Lillian were murdered without knowing about the gun residue on Rachel's hands.

Now, during earlier testimony the jury was told that a person could get gun residue on himself in one of three ways: by handling the gun as it is fired, by being near the weapon as it is fired, or by touching the weapon soon after it is shot.

When Lillian was shot, she was immediately in front of her mother. That bullet passed through the baby and into Rachel's left breast. A separate shot, to the top of Rachel's head, above the hairline killed Rachel.

I'm having a hard time imagining how Rachel could place the baby in front of her, pull the trigger, and then put the barrel of the .22 long Colt to the top of her head and fire again. There is also testimony that Rachel may have been standing in another part of the room when she was killed, as there is blood on the walls away from the bed, four feet nine inches up from the floor.

We also know that Rachel's DNA was found on the gun muzzle, but Neil's was found on the grip, and five other areas associated with the gun.

There is another hole in this theory: the gun was found locked up in Rachel's step father's house in Carver. If Rachel killed the baby and herself, how did she put the gun back?

And if Neil Entwistle stumbled on the scene as he told his friends and police, why did he never mention the gun? It would seem a very important detail.

Also today, we learn more about Neil's profile on Adult Friend Finder, the swinger's website. According to testimony, Neil's profile described himself as an Englishman recently moved to America who was looking for American ladies for 1 on 1 discreet relationships.

Going back to the suicide theory that's emerging from the defense, we won't know for some time if it will take hold with any jurors.

What do you think?

Is the suicide idea a workable one? Can it explain any of the discrepancies in this case?

What do you think of the state's case? It looks like the state will rest on Friday.

Bob Ward

Bob_Ward's Blog

Entwistle Murders Suicide?

Bob_Ward

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