McCarthy guilty of second-degree murder in death of Bella Bond
A Suffolk Superior Court jury on Monday convicted Michael P. McCarthy of second-degree murder for killing 2-year-old Bella Bond, then dumping her body in Boston Harbor during the summer of 2015.
The jury of four women and eight men deliberated over the course of five days before reaching a decision in a case that began with a wrenching mystery: who would kill a small child, then throw her body out to sea?
State investigators grappled with those questions nearly the entire summer of 2015, after a woman walking her dog found Bella’s body on the shore of Deer Island on June 25. For almost four months, she was dubbed “Baby Doe’’ as State Police tracked down hundreds of tips to learn her identity. They finally found out who she was in September 2015, after Michael Sprinsky, McCarthy’s childhood friend, told them that Bella’s mother, Rachelle Bond, had confessed to him what had happened.
Rachelle Bond, a 40-year-old recovering heroin user, eventually told authorities that McCarthy had fatally punched the child in the stomach, wrapped the toddler in plastic and blankets and threatened to kill Rachelle if she went to authorities. McCarthy, Bond testified, then weighed the child down with barbells and threw her in the Reserved Channel in South Boston.
McCarthy’s defense attorney, Jonathan Shapiro, told jurors that Rachelle Bond killed her own child, and he denounced the jury’s decision to convict his client. “The verdict was a travesty of justice,’’ said Shapiro.
But Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, whose office spearheaded the international effort to discover “Doe’s’’ true name along with State Police, said the verdict was justified, and that Bond’s testimony was just part of the evidence linking McCarthy to the toddler’s death.
“The witness testimony was only part of the evidence,’’ he said. “It was corroborated by independent evidence that [Rachelle Bond] didn’t know we would obtain.’’
Conley added: “Every lost life is a tragedy. But when it is someone so young and so innocent, it magnifies the loss, the pain and the sorrow to awful proportions.’’
Sprinsky was in the courtroom for the verdict, and when he learned his former childhood friend had been convicted, he hugged his sister, who was sitting near him.
“I just thank God something happened,’’ he said while standing in front of the courthouse. “People don’t realize how close a dangerous violent man was very close to hitting the street.’’
In reference to Bella Bond’s mother not being tried in her daughter’s death: “Karma will take care of that itself. I have a lot of feelings on that. I don’t particularly like it, but, I said, you do bad things, karma is going to take care of that.’’
Megan Fewtrell, who has identified herself as the toddler’s godmother, also welcomed the conviction.
“I’m happy. I’m very happy with the verdict,’’ she said. “I’m feeling justice for Bella.’’
When the verdict was announced, Fewtrell spoke sharply to McCarthy: “Wipe that smirk off your face.’’
McCarthy’s father, Joseph Sr., has attended every day of the trial and was on hand when jurors rendered their verdict.
Superior Court Judge Janet L. Sanders set sentencing for McCarthy on Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the Boston courtroom. He faces a mandatory life term with the possibility of parole after a period of at least 15 years.
Rachelle Bond will be sentenced Thursday, to an expected term of time served followed by probation, prosecutors said. Bond testified under a plea agrement with Conley’s office.
During the trial, Bond testified for five days against McCarthy, but the case was considered a weak one by legal specialists, who noted the lack of physical evidence connecting the defendant to the crime and how often Bond had changed important details of her story.
McCarthy’s attorney, Shapiro, had told the jury that Bond, who was charged with accessory after the fact, also had a motive to implicate the 37-year-old, who was her boyfriend at the time and lived with the child and Bond in her Maxwell Street apartment in Dorchester.
Shapiro said it was Bond who killed the girl and lied to McCarthy and others about the girl’s whereabouts, telling anyone who asked that she was in state custody or with family.
During his closing argument, Shapiro brought out a selfie Rachelle Bond took on Sept. 15, 2015, the day she told Sprinsky her daughter was dead. In the photo, Bond appeared playful, sticking her tongue out.
“Does this look like a mother who is grief-stricken over the death of her child?’’ Shapiro asked the jury. “It looks like a scheming, manipulative woman who, to save her own skin, is about to falsely accuse her boyfriend of murder.’’
Suffolk Assistant District Attorney David Deakin asked the jury to look past Bond’s faults and focus on the evidence that tied McCarthy to the crime.
“There is absolutely no question that the defendant dumped Bella Bond’s body,’’ he told jurors. “And therefore there is absolutely no question then that he killed Bella Bond.’’
Before the jury arrived on Monday, McCarthy came into the court and shook hands with Shapiro, looking relaxed as he exchanged a smile with lawyers.
The jury had faced four choices: They could have acquitted McCarthy, or they could have convicted him of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, or involuntary manslaughter.
Bella’s father, Joseph Amoroso, who has acknowledged not seeing his daughter before her death, was not in court when the verdict was returned.
The judge visited privately with the jurors after they returned their verdict. The judge said they told her that they did not want to make a statement to the press and asked not to be contacted individually.
