Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Marshfield, MA: Woman is fatally stabbed in Marshfield; police arrest suspect after manhunt

By Akilah Johnson and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

The Big Story: Marshfield stabbing suspect arrested


MARSHFIELD -- Police have located and arrested a suspect this morning in the fatal stabbing of a woman in a domestic violence incident.


Police released this photo of Almeida
State and Marshfield police found him about three and a half hours after the attack was reported. He was hiding in a shed in a back yard not far from the stabbing scene at a local apartment complex.

He was injured and taken to an area hospital under police guard, State Police said in a statement. Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz identified the suspect as 41-year-old Marcelo Almeida. The victim was identified by friends and relatives as 24-year-old Patricia Frois.

“Obviously, domestic violence is a terrible crime, and it doesn’t really have any boundaries, ” Cruz said. “Obviously, these two individuals had a relationship. You can only see the unfortunate circumstances that can occur.”

The arrest took place just before 11:30 a.m., according to State Police radio transmissions.

The assault was reported at around 8:01 a.m. in a building at the Village at Marshfield, an apartment complex of 20-unit buildings off of Route 139.

The victim was found with multiple stab wounds in the building foyer. She was treated at the scene and transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead at about 8:30 a.m., Cruz said.

State and local law enforcement officers rushed to search the area. Federal agents also joined the investigation.

Almeida was eventually found in an area off of School Street. He did not put up a fight when officers found him, said Cruz.

Cruz said Almeida had a Brazilian passport, but he did not know yet whether Almeida was in the country legally.

Cruz had no comment on whether there had been earlier reports of domestic violence involving the couple.

“He’s a bad guy. I know he’s hit her a couple of times,” Claudia Da Silveira, Frois’s cousin, said at the scene. She said she would be calling Frois’s mother, who lives in Brazil, to inform her of her daughter’s death.

Cheri Howell, who has lived at the apartment complex for about three years, said she knew Frois, who had been trying to get out of an abusive relationship.

Martine Bernier, who said she used to work with Frois at a local Wendy’s, said Frois would come to work sometimes with a swollen face, but would deflect inquiries, saying the swelling was due to allergies.

Three schools nearby, the Martinson Elementary School, Furnace Brook Middle School, and Marshfield High School, were placed in lockdown as a precaution as police hunted for the suspect, said School Superintendent Scott Borstel.

Globe correspondents Amanda Cedrone and Jaime Lutz contributed to this report.

No comments: