BOSTON, Nov. 10, 2014—The man accused of murdering 33-year-old Melissa Hardy was sentenced today to life in prison, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.
MARTIN JIMINEZ (D.O.B. 3/9/70) of South Boston pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Hardy’s June 23, 2013, bludgeoning death. Judge Jeffrey Locke imposed the mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years.
“This was a case of deadly domestic violence,” Conley said. “If you or someone you know are in an abusive relationship, help is available. Police, prosecutors, advocates, and others can connect you with an array of support services to help survivors leave their abusers.”
Conley urged victims of any crime, including domestic violence, to call 911 in an emergency. Victims of domestic violence may also call SafeLink, a statewide DV hotline, at 877-785-2020. SafeLink is answered by trained advocates 24 hours a day in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, as well as TTY at 877-521-2601. It also has the capacity to provide multilingual translation in more than 140 languages.
Had the case proceeded to trial, Assistant District Attorney Holly Broadbent, chief of the DA’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit, would have presented evidence and testimony to prove that Hardy had been involved in a romantic relationship with Jiminez, but Hardy had told Jiminez in May of 2013 that she had begun a new relationship with someone else. In the weeks prior to the murder, Hardy and Jiminez had argued over the status of their relationship and Jiminez physically assaulted the victim, the evidence would have shown.
On June 23, prosecutors would have established, Hardy told a family member that she was going to Jiminez’s residence in an East 4th Street rooming house to retrieve some of her belongings. Family members were not able to contact Hardy after that time and reported her missing to law enforcement. Boston Police officers on June 26 attempted to enter Jiminez’s apartment to perform a wellbeing check but found the door padlocked from the outside; they instead entered through a window to find Hardy dead from obvious trauma.
Prior to the discovery of Hardy’s body, Jiminez had been arrested by State Police in Concord for operating under the influence of drugs and was taken to Emerson Hospital when troopers were unable to wake him during booking. At the time of the arrest he was driving a vehicle registered to a relative of Hardy.
While hospitalized, Jiminez made statements to members of his family that he had killed Hardy with a bat and a hammer; a bat recovered at the scene of Hardy’s murder was found to have DNA matching that of the victim, as was the shirt Jiminez was wearing at the time of his arrest.
Kerry Kolditz was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Jiminez was represented by Michael Doolin.
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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
