Before Doctors Were Killed in Penthouse, a Text: 'Serious'

Bampumim Teixeira pleaded not guilty in deaths of Dr. Richard Field, Dr. Lina Bolanos in Boston
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 25, 2019 9:44 AM CST
Updated Nov 30, 2019 11:35 AM CST
Trial Begins in Case of Doctors Murdered in Boston Penthouse
In this July 10, 2017, file photo, Bampumim Teixeira, center, is arraigned in Suffolk County Superior Court before Clerk Magistrate Edward Curley in Boston.   (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool, File)

Two doctors who were planning to spend the rest of their lives together ended up dead in May 2017. Last Thursday, the man accused of murdering them went on trial. Dr. Richard Field and fiancee Dr. Lina Bolanos were found slain in their South Boston penthouse with their throats slit and hands bound. Police who responded to the scene fired at Bampumim Teixeira, who was in the apartment and was shot twice. Teixeira has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. The case so far:

  • Teixeira worked for a short time as a concierge in the Macallen Building, and prosecutors allege he used the insider knowledge he acquired to access the 11th floor. WCVB quotes prosecutor John Pappas as saying in his opening statement, "Although the why to this story may never be fully explained to your satisfaction, the who will absolutely never be in doubt." Teixeira was "looking, waiting, lurking, out front, out back, for just the right opportunity to present itself," Pappas continued, per CNN.
  • The Boston Globe reports Pappas offered this timeline: That on May 5, 2017, Teixeira spent two hours waiting outside the building. Just before 4pm, he allegedly entered the parking garage by following an incoming car and then used an unlocked staircase to get to the penthouse. Teixeira was allegedly in the apartment when Bolanos got home just shy of an hour later, per Pappas.

  • Teixeira's defense attorney countered that the evidence just doesn't hold up, per CNN: "No video, no audio, no scientific evidence, no credible evidence will tell you that Bampumim Teixeira broke into the home of Lina Bolanos and Richard Field and murdered them. And that's because he didn't."
  • Last Friday, the building's manager testified that the building's hallways didn't have surveillance cameras, and that the video that was taken in the building sometimes bore an incorrect time stamp.
  • CNN reports Matthias Heidenreich, a friend of Field, took the stand that day to testify about the texts he received from Field in his final moments of life. "I was confused for the first minutes," he said, saying he "wasn't sure" what the texts, in which Field was trying to get Heidenreich to call 911, meant.
  • The Boston Herald reports the series of texts began with "Call 111." Then came "Gun man" and "in house." The final text read "Serious." Heidenreich said he texted Field back but got no reply. His fiancee then phoned the building's concierge, and both she and the concierge then called the police.
  • CBS Boston reports the jury planned this week to visit the penthouse where the doctors, who were to marry in 2018, were killed. The trial is expected to last two weeks.
(More murder stories.)

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