Conviction Comes Two Years after Discovery of “Baby Doe” on Deer Island

BOSTON, June 26, 2017—Two years almost to the day after Bella Bond’s unidentified body was discovered in a trash bag on Deer Island, a jury convicted her mother’s boyfriend of murdering her, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

A Suffolk Superior Court jury found MICHAEL PATRICK McCARTHY (D.O.B. 5/29/80) guilty of second-degree murder this morning after about four full days of deliberations. He faces a mandatory life term when Judge Janet Sanders sentences him on Wednesday.

Bella Bond, Age 2

Conley thanked Assistant District Attorneys David Deakin, chief of the DA’s Family Protection and Sexual Assault Bureau, and Helle Sachse, a senior appellate attorney; the Suffolk County State Police Detective Unit, who led the death investigation aided by the resources of the Massachusetts State Police; detectives of the Winthrop and Boston police departments, who assisted in those efforts; the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who created a digital composite image of the then-unidentified toddler; members of the media, who broadcast it far and wide; and countless members of the public who shared it.

“We faced many challenges in this case, from the weeks Bella’s body spent underwater to the months she spent unidentified,” Conley said. “But there was no shortage of people who cared deeply about this tiny and innocent child. In untold ways, through contributions large and small, they did not rest until her name was known and her voice was heard.”

During about three weeks of trial, Deakin and Sachse proved that McCarthy was living with Bella and her mother, RACHELLE DEE BOND (D.O.B. 7/25/75), in an apartment on Maxwell Street in the weeks leading up to June 2015. Both adults were struggling with heroin addiction, the evidence showed.

On an evening in early June, the evidence showed, Bella was resisting going to sleep, and McCarthy entered her room to put her to bed. Rachelle Bond testified that she became concerned at some point, looked in the room, and saw McCarthy beating her. Bella’s face was discolored and she was not breathing; Rachelle Bond soon realized she was dead.

“Baby Doe” Flyer

McCarthy placed the 2-year-old girl’s body in a trash bag and, in the days that followed, drove with Rachelle Bond to a relative’s business, where he obtained several free weights from a set stored there; placed them in a duffle bag with the trash bag containing Bella’s body; and travelled to an area in South Boston near the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal where McCarthy had hung out as a teen. He dumped the duffle bag in the water.

On June 24, 2015, the trash bag – now free of the duffle bag – washed up on the western shore of Deer Island. A woman walking her dog discovered the child inside, which led to a sprawling investigation to identify her and determine the cause of her death. A composite image generated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was shared millions of times, shattering records for State Police and the Suffolk DA’s social media pages.

Bella was identified through a tip from a person known to both McCarthy and Bond. On Sept. 18, 2015, both were taken into custody – McCarthy for murder and Bond as an accessory after the fact. The Suffolk County Grand Jury would later indict McCarthy for first-degree murder and Bond for being an accessory and for larceny as a result of her continued use of state benefits intended for her daughter.

There was no evidence developed in the investigation or introduced through any witness at trial indicating that Rachelle Bond had played a part in Bella Bond’s homicide. She pleaded guilty to all charges on Feb. 10 and is expected to face sentencing tomorrow.

Kara Hayes was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. McCarthy was represented by attorney Jonathan Shapiro.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.