Episode 169: The Murders of Rachel and Lillian Entwisle
Rachel Souza was studying abroad at the University of York, England from her home state of Massachusetts, and she was on the university’s crew team. She was the coxswain, steering the boat and shouting out instructions to the rowers in her Boston accent. One of the boys on the team was named Neil Entwistle, and he was drawn to Rachel as she was kind and full of energy. The two started dating in 1999, and by late summer of 2000, Rachel’s study abroad term had ended and she was back in Massachusetts. She graduated in 2001 from the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts and went back over to York, England to enroll in a teacher training program and pick things up where they left off with Neil. They ended up getting married on August 23rd, 2003. After moving to Worcestershire, they welcomed their daughter Lillian on April 9th, 2005.
Neil was working in computers and Rachel was teaching English, Drama and Theater Studies at St. Augustine's Catholic High School, both very happy in their marriage and with their new lives as parents. Just a few months after Lillian was born, the family moved to the U.S. and stayed with Rachel's mother and stepfather, Joseph and Priscilla Matterazzo, in Carver, Massachusetts. They eventually found a beautiful 4-bedroom home to rent in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, 26 miles outside of Boston, in January of 2006. They signed a three-month lease with a monthly rent of $2,700, and Neil also leased a beautiful white BMW SUV for another $400 a month. What was not obvious to outsiders or even to Rachel was that Neil was struggling financially and was having difficulty finding a job. He prevented Rachel from having her own bank account and kept his financial struggles a secret from her.
On January 19th, Rachel had set up plans to see her longtime friend so they could catch up and so she could meet baby Lillian. They were going to throw a dinner party and have some friends and family over in their new house, and Rachel also had plans to get lunch with her mom and a friend. Her friend showed up as planned on January 21st to the house being quiet with just one light on upstairs. She thought maybe there had been a misunderstanding but saw a note taped to the front door from Rachel’s mom Priscilla, who had stopped by for their lunch date and saw that no one was home. A welfare check was done by police, who found that the family car wasn’t in the garage and the family dog was inside barking in the crate, which was unusual.
Police observed no signs of a struggle or anything abnormal once inside and allowed Rachel’s friend to let the dog out to use the bathroom. Not convinced that everything was okay, Rachel’s friend spent the night sleeping in her car in their driveway. Rachel, Neil and baby Lillian didn’t return home the next morning and Rachel’s parents reported her missing.
This prompted police to do a second and more thorough search of the home, and this search revealed something absolutely horrifying. Upon reentering the home, police noted a foul odor that had not been there during the first search. The odor lead them to the master bedroom. Under the comforter were the bodies of 27-year-old Rachel and 9-month-old Lillian. A frantic search of the home for Neil turned up nothing, and officers secured the premises, obtained a search warrant and called in a BOLO alert on the family car. The car was found at Boston’s Logan Airport, and further investigation revealed that Neil had purchased a one-way ticket to London to be with his parents the day before Rachel and Lillian’s bodies had been found.
Autopsy revealed that Rachel was shot fatally in the head, while baby Lillian died from a gunshot wound to her torso. The bullet had passed through Lillian and into Rachel’s left breast, indicating that Rachel was holding Lillian when she was shot. The bullets were so small that the gunshot wound to Rachel’s head was only noted during the autopsy. Autopsy also pointed to the murders having occurred on January 21st, the day before the bodies were found.
Investigators found Neil’s DNA on the handle of his father-in-law’s .22 caliber handgun, and on the muzzle of the gun was Rachel’s DNA. To add to the mounting evidence against Neil, a set of keys to his father-in-law’s house was found in the car Neil left at Logan Airport in Boston. Police searched Neil’s computer and found that just days before Rachel and Lillian were murdered, he had spent time on a website with detailed information on how to kill people, and he also was searching for escort services. On January 16th he had searched the phrase "how to kill with a knife" and on the afternoon of January 17th, there were searches for "knife in neck kill" and "quick suicide method." He was also $30,000 in credit card debt and was being actively investigated by eBay for multiple fraudulent transactions for selling fake computer equipment that would never arrive once purchased. A financial motive for the murders was suspected.
On February 9th, 2006, Neil was arrested on a London Underground train at Royal Oak station after a detailed search of his parents' house. He initially requested that he not be sent back to the U.S., but later agreed to be extradited. He was brought back on February 15th. On March 28th, Neil Entwistle was indicted on two counts of murder, the illegal possession of a firearm, and the illegal possession of ammunition. He pleaded not guilty.
The trial started in June of 2008 in Woburn, Massachusetts. A forensic chemist had testified and reported that based on tests for gunshot residue, Rachel was probably shot from 18-inches away, while baby Lillian had had the revolver's muzzle pressed against her chest. The defense team tried to say that Rachel was suffering from postpartum depression and that the crime was a murder-suicide, but this was quickly disproven.
On June 25th, Neil Entwistle was found guilty of all charges and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the mandatory sentence for first-degree murder in the state of Massachusetts. Judge Diane Kottmyer had imposed two life sentences on the murder charges and ten years of probation on the firearms and ammunition charges, all to run concurrently, and the condition that he never profit from the sale of his story.
Image sources:
findagrave.com - “Rachel Elizabeth Souza Entwistle”