BOSTON (AP) – Investigators found information about several area escort services on the computer of a man accused in the slayings of his wife and infant daughter, according to search warrant documents released Monday.
Authorities said Neil Entwistle, 27, visited the escort services’ Web sites and accessed directions to at least one of them two days before the slayings, according to the documents, which were released under court order.
The information could shed new light on the case against Entwistle, 27, who was arrested in his native England last week and charged with first-degree murder in the Jan. 20 shooting deaths of his wife, Rachel, and their 9-month-old daughter, Lillian, at their home in suburban Hopkinton. The case has drawn widespread media attention in both the United States and United Kingdom.
Prosecutors said they believe Entwistle killed his wife and daughter after becoming despondent over mounting debts. They also said Entwistle may have planned to commit suicide, but instead fled to England.
British authorities signed an order Friday authorizing Entwistle’s return to face the charges in Massachusetts, but it wasn’t clear when he would arrive.
In an arrest warrant affidavit released last week, investigators said Entwistle had tens of thousands of dollars in debts, and “had recently expressed a dissatisfaction with his sex life.”
The court filings released Monday include affidavits filed in support of search warrants for Entwistle’s home, car and computer.
Sought by media organizations, they include affidavits in which investigators spell out their reasons for seeking a warrant, as well as the search warrant “returns,” which list the items found during the searches.
Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley opposed their release, but Framingham District Court Judge Robert Greco agreed Monday morning to make public more than 200 pages from the file. He ordered that some of the information remain under seal, but it wasn’t immediately clear what that included.
Prosecutors said Monday they were not aware that Entwistle has hired an attorney in Massachusetts. He may be assigned a lawyer by the state Committee for Public Counsel Services, the state agency which oversees private attorneys for the poor in state courts.
Anthony Benedetti, general counsel for the committee, said Coakley’s office contacted the committee and said they expect Entwistle to declare himself indigent. In that case, an attorney would be chosen from a list of private attorneys with experience in murder cases, he said.
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