BOSTON, Nov. 15, 2013—Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley was joined by Acting Boston Police Commissioner William Evans and a top courtroom prosecutor to deliver the following remarks on a 20-count indictment charging EDWIN ALEMANY (D.O.B. 9/2/84) with the July 23 homicide of Amy Lord and three other attacks on women:
“A short time ago, the Suffolk County Grand Jury returned indictments charging EDWIN ALEMANY with four violent attacks on lone women in the City of Boston. These indictments join separate cases arising out of Mission Hill, South Boston, and West Roxbury into one consolidated prosecution we expect to bring in Suffolk Superior Court. As you know, Alemany is in custoday and will remain held pending an arraignment next month on these new charges.
“The indictments charge Alemany with first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed carjacking, two counts of armed robbery, two counts of armed robbery while masked, stealing by confining, arson of a motor vehicle, and assault-related offenses – all in connection with the homicide of 24-year-old Amy Lord on the morning of July 23.
“The evidence suggests that Alemany abducted Ms. Lord as she left her Dorchester Street apartment shortly before 6:00 a.m. We believe he beat her and forced her into her Jeep Cherokee at knifepoint. In a little less than an hour that followed, he ordered her to make cash withdrawals at four bank machines through South Boston and Dorchester. We believe he then transported Ms. Lord to the Stony Brook Reservation in Hyde Park, where he murdered her. He then drove her Jeep back to South Boston, where he set it on fire at about 8:30 a.m.
“The homicide of Amy Lord was savage and brutal. The level of violence visited upon her shocked the City of Boston and even hardened police and prosecutors with decades of experience. But it was not the beginning or the end of Edwin Alemany’s violent spree.
“He is also charged with attempted murder, unarmed robbery, and assault and battery for a physical assault on a 20-year-old woman on Sept. 28, 2012. The victim in that case was walking along Parker Hill Avenue at about 2:30 a.m. when Alemany allegedly attacked her from behind and began to choke her. The woman fought back, and before she lost consciousness she was able to grab hold of Alemany’s wallet. That wallet was recovered at the scene along with a baseball cap. The cap was submitted for DNA testing as part of this investigation and yielded a profile consistent with Alemany’s.
“He is charged with attempted murder and assault and battery for a physical assault on a 22-year-old woman just before 5:00 a.m on July 23, 2013. She, too, was walking alone in the early morning hours when Alemany allegedly struck her in the face, knocked her to the ground, and dragged her by her legs into a parking lot off of Old Colony Avenue. As he did so, he allegedly told her he wasn’t going to rob her – he was going to kill her. But before he hurt her further, he fled the scene on foot.
“He is charged with armed assault with intent to murder and aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for one last attack shortly after midnight on July 24 – about 18 hours after Amy Lord was killed and about eight hours after her body was discovered by a passerby. In that case, he rushed a 21-year-old woman as she approached her Gates Street residence and began stabbing her. She suffered serious injuries to her torso, face, neck – but she screamed for help and neighbors called 911. As her attacker fled on foot, emergency medical technicians raced to the scene, where they stabilized her condition and brought her to Tufts Medical Center.
“The evidence suggests that Alemany cut his left hand badly on the knife he used to stab this last victim. By pure chance, he admitted himself for treatment at the same hospital where she was being treated – and where she gave a description that matched him to a T. Paramedics spotted Alemany, recognized that description, and notified Boston Police. Alemany has been in custody since that time.
“The evidence supporting these indictments comes from many and diverse sources. It comes from surveillance cameras, witness statements, DNA testing, interviews with the surviving victims, and many other sources.
“There is also unmistakable pattern evidence in these crimes: All of the victims were young women between the ages of 20 and 24. Each was walking alone in the late night or early morning hours. And the attacks were all blitz-style physical assaults where the victims were immediately overwhelmed with violence. Moreover, the power of 21st century science reveals that the assailant left traces of himself at some scenes, and carried traces of others on his clothing. Separately, these cases are pieces of a puzzle, but together they show a picture of one man – Edwin Alemany. This will be a challenging case, but a compelling one that we look forward to proving to a jury.
“The herculean job of marshaling this evidence was undertaken by an outstanding team. I’d like to note the contributions of Suffolk Chief Trial Counsel John Pappas; the Boston Police homicide squad of Sgt. Det. Paul McLaughlin and detectives Jeff Cecil, Jamie Sheehan, and Joe Keaveny; members of the Suffolk County State Police Detective Unit; the Boston Police Crime Lab; the Forensic Audio Video Imaging Unit of our office; uniformed Boston and State police, and most especially the civilian witnesses across the city who cooperated with this investigation from start to finish.
“Edwin Alemany’s criminal past suggests a car thief and petty crook whose offenses were occasionally violent but never approached this level of savagery – until the events of September 2012. We may never know what sparked that change in behavior, but today we do know this – there is an unmistakable clarity of mind in his actions, especially through the morning of July 23. We believe a jury will see those actions for what they are: efforts to commit a terrible crime and escape detection in its aftermath.
“Victim advocates from our office spoke today with members of Amy Lord’s family to tell them of this morning’s development and offer once again our promise to do everything in our power to hold accountable the man who took their daughter’s life. I also want to let them know that I have every confidence in Acting Commissioner William Evans, who was at the Stony Brook scene on the day Amy was murdered and who expressed his own commitment to hold her killer accountable. He’s got my deepest respect as a cop and a commissioner, and I’d like to ask him to say a few words, as well.”
Alemany is represented by attorney Jeffrey Denner. His arraignment in Suffolk Superior Court has not yet been scheduled but is expected next month.
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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
