What we know about the case of the slain Lynn elementary school teacher

The husband of a Lynn elementary school teacher who authorities say killed his wife in their Revere home has been charged with her murder, a development that has shocked the neighborhood where the couple lived.

Andrew MacCormack, 29, was arrested Tuesday by Revere and state police and appeared in Chelsea District Court Wednesday on the charge that he murdered his wife. He pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail, The Boston Globe reports. His attorney says the Revere man denies murdering his wife. 

Authorities said after Vanessa MacCormack was found dead Saturday in their home on Grand View Avenue in North Revere, police worked “around-the-clock” to investigate, processing the crime scene, scouring footage from nearby surveillance and public safety cameras, and phone records.

“After a thorough, open-ended investigation, it was clear that those facts and evidence led to one person and one person only — and he is now under arrest,” State Police Colonel Richard McKeon said in a statement Tuesday.

Here’s what we know about the tragic killing that authorities are calling a “crime of domestic violence.”

The alleged crime

Crime scene tape is stretched across the lawn of the home where the body of Vanessa MacCormack was found.

Police said officers arrived at the MacCormacks’ home just after 3:30 p.m. Saturday, responding to a 911 call that was made by Andrew MacCormack.

Inside the home, officers found his 30-year-old wife dead, with “obvious evidence of physical trauma,” police said. According to a Wednesday statement from the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office, “the house smelled strongly of bleach” when police arrived, and “areas of the home appeared to have been freshly cleaned.” The statement continued:

[Andrew] MacCormack had a rash covering his upper body that he blamed on a change in laundry detergent brands, which police said was contradicted by evidence at the scene. The victim’s body also had chemical burns that suggested bleach was poured on her. A medical examiner found that Vanessa MacCormack had blunt head trauma, stab and slash wounds to the neck, and signs of both strangulation and suffocation, the latter possibly from a trash bag that may have been used to cover her head.

“Evidence observed by police suggests that her killer made concerted efforts to clean the crime scene and dispose of related items,” police said earlier.

Andrew MacCormack was arrested at the Revere Police Station Tuesday.

The DA’s office said prosecutors believe he murdered his wife inside their home and then traveled to Saugus with their infant daughter to finish a carpentry job.

On Saturday, Andrew MacCormack received calls from members of his wife’s family who were worried after they were unable to reach her by phone, authorities said. He texted his wife’s phone, but authorities say he was in possession of her phone at the time.

According to authorities, Andrew MacCormack then went to East Boston after their daughter dirtied her diaper. There, he withdrew cash from an ATM in order to purchase cocaine, according to the DA’s statement. He received another call from one of his wife’s family members upon returning home, authorities said, at which time he told them to call 911 and did the same a few minutes later.

“The evidence suggests that her murder was a crime of domestic violence, committed in the very place where she should have been safest — her own home,” Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley said in a statement.

The victim

Vanessa MacCormack.

Vanessa, whose maiden name was Masucci, and Andrew MacCormack married in 2015 and have a 1-year-old daughter together, the Globe reports.

Her sister, Angela Masucci, told Boston 25 News, before Andrew MacCormack’s arrest, that Vanessa MacCormack “lived a happy life.”

“She had the wedding of her dreams, her dream job (teacher), traveled, went out to eat, had the perfect baby, and loved her husband with every ounce of her soul,” she told the station.

https://www.facebook.com/vanessa.masucci.3/posts/10100957152171516

Masucci told CBS Boston before her brother-in-law’s arrest that her sister was dedicated to her family.

“My sister had the closest relationship with my parents,” she told the station. “Them and myself went to her house every single day because she always wanted us there; she just loved family.”

Vanessa MacCormack taught second grade at the Connery Elementary School in Lynn, according to a statement from the school district where she had worked for seven years. The school notified students and staff of her death on Monday and is providing counseling for those in need of support.

Mary Dill, principal at Connery Elementary, said the school community is “heartbroken” over the death of the teacher who’d taught at the school for five years.

“Vanessa was loved by students, parents and colleagues,” the administrator wrote. “She was involved in every aspect of the school and a great friend to everyone on the staff. She will be dearly missed.”

The revelation that Andrew MacCormack was arrested for his wife’s death stunned and disturbed residents on their street, according to the Globe.

Lou Falzarano, 52, who lives across from the MacCormacks’ home said the couple seemed to be “normal” and “quiet” just like the rest of his neighbors.

“I wouldn’t know if they were happy or not, because you never really see them together,” he told the newspaper. “I didn’t see anything that would have indicated anything different. Never heard them arguing.”

But his wife, Debbie, told the Globe that two weeks before Vanessa MacCormack’s death she’d heard a disturbance at the couple’s home with “a lot of yelling and screaming.” She said she questioned whether she should go over and make sure everything was OK.

Debbie Falzarano called the death of her neighbor “completely disturbing.”

“Everybody that I talk to, we’re just like, our heart is on our sleeves for this poor girl,” she told the Globe. “This is terrible. … She was a beautiful girl. Really, my heart just breaks over this whole thing.”

The suspect 

Andrew MacCormack cries at his arraignment.

During his arraignment Wednesday, Andrew MacCormack repeatedly shook his head as prosecutors presented the argument that he tried to cover up his wife’s murder by cleaning up the crime scene, calling 911, and appearing to be distraught when police arrived at his home, according to the Globe.

Prosecutors allege that Vanessa MacCormack had discovered that her husband was spending hundreds of dollars on drugs each week and threatened that she would consult a divorce lawyer if his drug use continued, the Globe reports.

Andrew MacCormack allegedly texted her back, “You’re crazy,” saying he’d never sign divorce papers.

Here’s part of text message conversation between Andrew & Vanessa MacCormack from 8/31/17 per police report. #wcvb pic.twitter.com/rA1rV3NXiq

— David Bienick (@BienickWCVB) September 27, 2017

His lawyer, John Hayes, said in court that while the couple was struggling with some issues, they were “going to look forward to a life together,” according to the Globe.

Lou Falzarano told the Globe that he often saw Andrew MacCormack arriving and departing the house during the day.

Falzarano’s teenage daughter, Julia,  told the newspaper she’d once witnessed her neighbor punching the trunk of a car.

“He had his shirt off,” she said. “He just got really violent.”

And on Saturday afternoon — after authorities had arrived at the MacCormacks’ home — Lou Falzarano told the Globe he saw the 29-year-old visibly distraught outside the house.

The neighbor said Andrew MacCormack was “shaking, crying, saying, ‘What am I going to do without her? I can’t believe somebody … did this to her.’”

CBS Boston reports that he returned to the home Sunday to pick up items, including a baby chair, and broke down crying in front of reporters.

Authorities said Andrew MacCormack is originally from East Boston. According to his Facebook page, he studied criminal justice at UMass Boston and was working as a drywall taper.