Press Releases

Contact: District Attorney Michael O'Keefe

RE: Arrest of William Romero

October 6, 2006

District Attorney Michael O'Keefe and Bourne Police Chief John Ford announce today the arrest of William Romero, age 69 of 126 Tahonto Road, Bourne on a charge of murder in connection with the death of his wife Elaine Romero, age 66.

The victim was found in a sun porch of an adjacent home at about 6:30 a.m. this morning by a neighbor. The neighbor called 911 and rescue and police units from the Town of Bourne responded followed by members of the State Police Detective Unit attached to the District Attorney's Office.

The case remains under investigation by Bourne and State Police. Mr. Romero will be arraigned today at Falmouth District Court.

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Contact Person: Brian Glenny, First Assistant District Attorney Michael Trudeau First Assistant District Attorney

RE: Arraignment of Alexander Phillips

Monday, October 2, 2006

Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe announced today that Alexander Phillips, 5/14/87, of 20 Cammett Way, Marstons Mills, was arraigned on charges of Murder, Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon, and Assault with Intent to Murder in the Barnstable District Court before Judge Joan E. Lynch. Phillips was held without bail and is scheduled to appear for pretrial hearing on October 20, 2006, in the stabbing death of Anthony Rano, 3/26/87, of 15A Locust Way, South Yarmouth.

Emergency Personnel from the Centerville/Osterville/Marstons Mills Fire Department along with patrolmen from the Barnstable Police Department responded to a reported stabbing near the intersection of Cammett Way and Cammett Road in Marstons Mills in the early morning hours of Sunday, October 1, 2006. Mr. Rano was transported to Cape Cod Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

The case remains under investigation by the Barnstable Police Department jointly with Detectives of the Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Cape & Islands District Attorney's Office.

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Contact: District Attorney Michael O'Keefe

RE: Arrest in Falmouth Burglary

September 15, 2006

Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe and Falmouth Chief of Police David Cusolito announced today the arrest of three individuals involved in the December, 2002, burglary of a home located at 657 East Falmouth Highway, in the Town of Falmouth:

John Rams, Jr. (DOB: 11/4/72)
Charged with: Unarmed Burglary c. 266/15, Larceny from a Building c. 266/20 and
Stealing a Will c. 266/39

Todd M. Reine (DOB: 11/10/66)
Charged with: Unarmed Burglary c. 266/15, Stealing a Will c. 266/39 and
Receiving Stolen Property c. 266/60

Nadia M. Smuliac (DOB: 8/12/82)
Charged with: Unarmed Burglary c. 266/15 and Larceny from Building c. 266/20

John Rams, Jr. is being held at MCI Norfolk where he is currently serving a sentence. Arrangements will be made for him to appear for arraignment in Barnstable Superior Court at a later date.

Todd M. Reine will be brought to Barnstable Superior Court for arraignment.

Nadia M. Smuliac is being held at a Connecticut facility awaiting transfer to Massachusetts for arraignment on these charges.

The charges are the result of an ongoing investigation that is being conducted by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Cape & Islands District Attorney's office and the Falmouth Police Department. There will be no further information released at this time. Further information will be released when appropriate.

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CONTACT: District Attorney Michael O'Keefe

RE: The Justice Initiative

September 5, 2006

District Attorney Michael O'Keefe has today released the Report of the Justice Initiative. The Report contains recommendations by the Attorney General and the District Attorneys of Massachusetts in light of the erroneous convictions uncovered largely by DNA testing.

The Report deals with eye witness identification, forensics, training, resources and implementation and continuing review. District Attorney O'Keefe, who heads the Massachusetts District Attorney's subgroup on forensics said, "This report is our response to the erroneous conviction issue. Even though only 15 of approximately 6 million cases prosecuted over the past twenty (20) years have been found to be flawed, it is our responsibility to do what we can to insure that innocent people are not wrongly convicted. Improvements in forensics in the future will be the single most important deterrent to these wrongful convictions, as well as to the swift punishment of the guilty."

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Contact: Assistant District Attorney Robert A. Welsh III

RE: Appeals Court affirms Rape Conviction of Anthony T. Piver

August 14, 2006

District Attorney Michael O'Keefe announced today that the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the Rape conviction of Anthony Piver, formerly of Brockton, MA. The charge arose from the abduction of a twenty-year old woman as she entered her car at the Cape Cod Mall parking lot in 1987.

The victim was forced to drive to a wooded area in Yarmouth where she was raped. The case was the first CODIS (DNA Database) case tried in Barnstable County. The defendant was convicted in May, 2005, and received a 12-15 year State prison sentence. The Appeals Court rejected defense arguments regarding the Judge's instructions to the jury and the statute of limitations.

"The DNA database was instrumental in solving a case which would otherwise have gone unsolved. I am happy the victim received some justice in this case," said Assistant District Attorney Robert A. Welsh III, the trial prosecutor in the case. The Appeal was handled by Assistant District Attorney Julia Holler.

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Contact: Assistant District Attorney Sharon J. Thibeault

RE: Commonwealth v. Everett Connolly

August 4, 2006

Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe announced today that Everett Connolly of Jamaica, residing in Harwich, Massachusetts, was convicted by a Barnstable County Superior Court jury of Trafficking and Distribution of Cocaine.

After a three day jury trial Everett Connolly was sentenced to 12 years to 15 years committed to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Cedar Junction on the Trafficking charge, and to 7 years to 10 years committed to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Cedar Junction on the Distribution charges to run concurrent with the Trafficking sentence.

The trafficking weight of 124 grams of cocaine was found by a Massachusetts State Police narcotics canine team hidden under the dashboard of Everett Connolly's van, after he was pulled over off of Exit 8 on Rte. 6 on September 9, 2004. Two undercover purchases of crack cocaine in Harwich in late August of 2004 were the basis for the warrants for Everett Connolly's arrest which led to the stop and the search of the van. Investigators employed the use of a Global Positioning Satellite device (GPS) to monitor his activities culminating in his arrest on a return trip from New York City and after a year long investigation. This was the first time that GPS technology, now available through a special State Police GPS installation team, was used in this manner in the Cape and Islands District.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Sharon J. Thibeault and investigated by members of the Massachusetts State Police and the Harwich Police Department assigned to the Cape Cod & Islands Drug Task Force.

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Contact: J. Thomas Kirkman, Assistant District Attorney

Date: July 19, 2006

SUPREME JUDICAL COURT AFFIRMS CONVICTIONS OF EDWARD MARTIN FOR ASSAULT WITH INTENT TO RAPE A CHILD; ASSAULT WITH INTENT TO KIDNAP; AND ASSAULT AND BATTERY

District Attorney Michael D. O'Keefe announced today that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has affirmed the conviction of Edward Martin for assault with intent to rape a child; assault with intent to kidnap; and assault and battery all involving a fifteen year old girl in Yarmouth, Massachusetts on July 20, 1994. The charges arose at noontime on July 20, 1994, the fifteen year old victim left the beach in Yarmouth to return to her grandparents' house. As she walked along a dirt road that leads from the beach, she saw a man about ten feet away from her. Shortly thereafter, she was grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground on her back. She screamed as the attacker hit her in the face numerous times. He told her to "shut up" and tried to drag her into a bog area that bordered the path. The approach of another person caused the assailant to flee into the bog. The attack lasted approximately three minutes, during which time the victim had a "full frontal view" of her attacker's face. The Yarmouth police responded and found a "shaken and upset" victim with an apparent injury below one eye. After getting a description from the victim of her assailant, the police spent the next four days with the victim driving her around the mid-Cape area looking for the assailant. Finally, on July 25, 2004, the victim's father notified the police that he had found a suspect in Hyannis. The police took the victim to the place where her father had seen the defendant and she identified the defendant as her assailant. He was arrested and charged, but his first trial resulted in a mistrial in June, 1996, because of the defendant's misbehavior in the courtroom. He was found not competent to stand trial until 2001.

On August 15, 2001, a Superior Court jury found the defendant not guilty of assault with intent to murder, but found the defendant guilty of assault with intent to rape a child; assault with intent to kidnap; and assault and battery. He was sentenced to serve nine to ten years in state prison on one charge and ten years probation on the other charges. The Appeals Court overturned the convictions on the grounds that the process by which the victim identified the defendant was unfairly suggestive and therefore violated the defendant's rights under the federal and state constitutions. The District Attorney's office appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court which led to today's decision that reversed the Appeals Court's decision and reinstated the defendant's convictions. The Supreme Judicial Court held that the defendant's constitutional rights were not violated by the manner by which the victim identified the defendant.

Assistant District Attorney Peter Lloyd prosecuted the case at trial. Assistant District Attorney J. Thomas Kirkman briefed and argued the appeals for the Commonwealth.

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Contact: District Attorney Michael O'Keefe

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