Two men were held without bail today at their arraignment on charges that they shared responsibility for the fatal shooting of Charles Cantave inside his car late last month, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.
MARIO H. BURNS (D.O.B. 10/5/72) and CORNELIUS F. EVANS (D.O.B. 6/19/75), both of Dorchester, were formally charged with murder today in the very same courthouse at which Burns’ wife had filed a small claims action against the 36-year-old victim.
Assistant District Attorney Holly Broadbent told the court that Burns, his wife, and Cantave were present in the courthouse regarding that Dorchester District Court civil case on the morning of March 29. Video surveillance from the area shows a vehicle owned by Burns’ wife crossing paths with Cantave outside the courthouse as Cantave walked to his car near the corner of Washington and Park streets, Broadbent said.
Shortly before 11:00 that morning, Broadbent said, a witness flagged down a Boston Police officer and provided information about a shooting. The witness gave the officer a description of a man and a license plate of the vehicle to which he had run after the shooting. The victim, Cantave, had been shot once in the head.
About 15 minutes later, additional Boston Police units stopped the suspect vehicle in the area of Grove Hall. Burns was behind the wheel; also in the vehicle were his wife, his mother-in-law, and Evans. All four gave conflicting accounts regarding when and where Evans had entered the vehicle.
Burns was arrested April 8 as an accessory after the fact to Cantave’s homicide. Yesterday, based on additional evidence developed in the ongoing investigation, Conley approved warrants charging both men with murder. Both were already in custody, with Burns held on $750,000 cash bail and Evans held on an unrelated probation warrant.
Katherine Moran is the victim-witness advocate assigned to the case. Burns is represented by attorney Bernard Grossberg and Evans by attorney Matthew Feinberg. Both men will return to court on May 20.
