Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley today delivered the following remarks on charges in the Dec. 26, 2009, homicide of Surendra Dangol in Jamaica Plain:
“Shortly before 12:00 this afternoon, I authorized a warrant charging EDWARD CORLISS (D.O.B. 2/7/46) of Roslindale with the Dec. 26 homicide of Surendra Dangol in Jamaica Plain.
“Corliss is currently behind bars at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Cedar Junction and Boston Police homicide detectives will serve that warrant in the coming days. We expect to arraign Corliss Tuesday in West Roxbury court on charges of murder, armed robbery while masked, and firearms offenses.
“A quiet whirlwind of activity preceded this announcement – activity both on the streets of Boston and behind the closed doors of the Suffolk County Grand Jury. For all the surveillance imagery we’ve released and all the high-tech methods employed by the investigators here today, this case boiled down to a methodical, sometimes tedious, shoe-leather investigation.
“In the immediate aftermath of Surendra’s shooting death, investigators consulted with outside experts in identifying the getaway car’s make, model, and general year of manufacture. Armed with that information, Boston Police detectives began tracking down every single white Plymouth Acclaim made between 1986 and 1992. One by one, they interviewed dozens of car owners, former owners, and persons with access to such a car.
“Last week, we had two significant breaks: first, homicide detectives learned that Corliss had access to such a car through a family member and began investigating him. And second, an alert parole officer contacted police to say that he had a parolee who not only had access to such a car but also had facial features similar to those visible in the Tedeschi’s surveillance footage. On Jan. 7, the Parole Board revoked Corliss’s 2006 parole and remanded him to Cedar Junction as detectives continued to pound the pavement and conduct interviews.
“Finally, within the past 24 hours, we’ve obtained additional incriminating information that prosecutors will explain more fully at Tuesday’s arraignment.
“I would like to applaud the efforts of Chief Trial Counsel Patrick Haggan; the Boston Police Homicide Unit, especially Sgt. Michael Devane and detectives Garrett Mitchell and Michael Walsh; Deputy Superintendent Robert Merner and Lt. Greg Long; the Fugitive Apprehension Team; the Special Investigations Unit; and the men and women of the Boston Regional Intelligence Center. And without a doubt, the Massachusetts Parole Board, its Chairman, Mark Conrad, and its eyes and ears on the ground, the Commonwealth’s parole officers, contributed greatly to this result.
“The murder of this peaceful working man shocked the city and broke our hearts. But in the 19 days since Surendra Dangol was shot to death, five other lives have ended violently in our city and I ask you to remember them as well. Man or woman, young or old, immigrant or native-born, every life has value. Every grieving family deserves the same satisfaction that Surendra’s widow and daughter have today, however small it may be compared to the terrible loss they suffered.”
