25 murder cases. Many defendants thought they'd never see parole. Now, they have a chance

On Jan. 11, the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled, 4-3, that mandatory sentencing of life without parole for a class of defendants called "emerging adults" constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and as such is unconstitutional. The change could affect as many as 25 cases and 27 murderers in Norfolk and Plymouth counties, making some defendants convicted of first-degree murder eligible for parole immediately, according to court records.

Writing the majority opinion in Commonwealth vs. Sheldon Mattis, Chief Justice Kimberly Budd struck down mandatory life-without-parole sentencing for defendants aged 18, 19 and 20 based on increasing scientific understanding of the brain's development and maturity. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for self-regulation, continues to develop until the early to mid-20s, the opinion states.

Emerging adults, ages 18 to 20, more resemble juveniles ages 14 to 17 than older people in four ways, Budd wrote: lack of impulse control, proneness to risk taking in pursuit of rewards, susceptibility to peer influence and greater capacity for change. Massachusetts abolished life without parole for juvenile defendants in 2013.

As a result of the ruling, defendants convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment will be eligible for parole after not less than 20 years and not more than 30 years. However, emerging adults sentenced before July 25, 2014, will be eligible for parole after 15 years in prison.

Criticism from Plymouth and Norfolk County DAs

District Attorneys Timothy Cruz (Plymouth) and Michael Morrissey (Norfolk) have publicly criticized the court's ruling.

In an opinion piece published in The Patriot Ledger, Cruz argued that the ruling treats murderers as victims while betraying those murdered and their families.

"This decision devastates more than 285 families in Massachusetts who will now have to relive excruciatingly painful details of how their loved one was murdered at countless parole board hearings," he wrote.

Morrissey objected to what he views as the court's encroachment on legislative power.

"Codifying crimes and punishments is a core legislative function. ... (T)his issue was most appropriately handled legislatively rather than through the courts," his statement reads.

THE CASES

Robert Shelley murdered his boss, William Dubbels, with a meat cleaver

In 1978, Shelley, formerly of Needham, was convicted of murder in the slaying of his boss, William Dubbels, with a meat cleaver in Dubbels' Franklin home. Shelley's lawyer said Dubbels made sexual advances on Shelley on the night of the murder. Defense witnesses testified that Shelley had a deep-seated hatred of homosexuals.

Shelley's lawyers argued that he was mentally ill, and a psychiatrist testified that he was experiencing acute severe dissociative reaction and could not tell right from wrong at the time of the murder.

Mark Van Winkle killed Israel Espino with a gunshot from point-blank range in a robbery

In 1993, when Van Winkle was 20, he lured three men he planned to rob with a phony marijuana deal, prosecutors said. During the robbery, he killed Israel Espino, of Brighton, with a gunshot to the head at point-blank range and wounded the other two men.

Van Winkle, formerly of Pembroke, is the son of Roger Van Winkle, the former president of Massachusetts Bay Community College. He was arrested in Falmouth after a three-day search. The prosecutor said the robbery was part Van Winkle's scheme to take his girlfriend away from a Falmouth alcohol and drug rehabilitation clinic.

Zeno Williams, who was pregnant at the time, assisted in the killing of her employer, Manuel Andrade

In 2002, Williams and Jamaal Haith talked their way into the Stoughton apartment of Manuel Andrade, Williams' employer and a Cape Verdean immigrant. Williams, who was pregnant at the time, handed Haith a screwdriver to stab Andrade before he strangled him with electrical wire, the prosecution said.

Andrade had just sold his home and was selling his business before relocating to Florida with his family. The prosecution said that's why Williams believed there was money in the apartment.

James Garrey stabbed co-worker Corey Skog to death in a bar

Garrey was convicted in 1999 of stabbing Skog to death at the Dugout Bar in Franklin two years earlier when Garrey was 19. An argument between the men ensued after Garrey tried to strike up a conversation with Skog's girlfriend. Garrey stabbed Skog in the heart, head and upper body and kicked him as he bled to death, investigators said.

Thomas Lally bludgeoned Marina Calabro to death to inherit $350K from her

In 2001, three unemployed high school dropouts from Norton conspired to kill the doting great-aunt of one of the men in her Quincy home and make it look like she fell down the stairs, prosecutors said. In 2006, a jury decided that Lally bludgeoned Marina Calabro with a teakettle and a frying pan while Anthony Calabro and Jason Weir kept watch.

Calabro inherited about $350,000 from his aunt and immediately went on a spending spree, buying a Chevrolet Corvette and tens of thousands of dollars of electronics and military equipment, according to a friend.

The scheme nearly worked. A medical examiner determined the death was an accident. But later, Weir confessed the slaying to his friend and bandmate James Morel. The young men were in a death metal band called Electronic Kill Machine, which produced an album titled "Plastic Kids with Guns and Cocaine."

After informing Quincy police of the confession, Morel got Weir to confess again, this time wearing a concealed microphone. In 2006, Lally was convicted of first-degree murder. Weir and Calabro pleaded guilty to lesser charges and have since been released from prison.

Ryan Bois raped and killed his cousin Joanna Mullin, 6, and then stole his grandmother's SUV

In August 2007, Bois broke into his grandmother's Weymouth home, where he raped and killed his 6-year-old cousin Joanna Mullin, authorities said. Hours later, he crashed his grandmother's SUV, which he stole, into a taxicab on East Howard Street in Quincy. Police found the girl's body wrapped in a blanket in the back seat.

It was reported that Bois, who was 20 at the time of the murder, had a long history of mental health and anger control issues and had been in the custody of the Department of Youth Services from 1998 to 2004. He was sentenced to two life sentences without parole in 2009.

Donald Rudolph has been deemed not competent to stand trial in deaths of sister, mother and mother's boyfriend

In November 2011, Rudolph, who has yet to stand trial, allegedly killed his sister Caylin Rudolph; his mother, Paula Rudolph; and her boyfriend, Frederick Medina, in his mother's Weymouth home on Upland Road.

Police said they found a hammer and a knife on the kitchen table. The mother had been bludgeoned to death. The sister and Medina had been stabbed. Medina's body was found with his throat slit and a Beanie Baby toy stuffed into his mouth.

In 2011, Rudolph's court-appointed lawyer said he was recently diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In June 2013, a judge decided he was not competent to stand trial. The case remains open, and Rudolph has a competency hearing scheduled for April 3 in Dedham Superior Court.

Robert Larkin III and two other men raped and killed Sonia Leal before dumping her body into the Granite Rail Quarry

In November 1995, Larkin, of Quincy, and two other men picked up 17-year-old Sonia Leal, of Stoughton, and drove her to a home on Newbury Street in Quincy, where they raped and killed her, then dumped her body, wrapped in a blanket and weighed down with cinderblocks, into the Granite Rail Quarry, where it was later discovered by hikers, prosecutors said.

Larkin confessed when police confronted him with his fingerprint lifted from a piece of duct tape used to bind the woman's mouth. One of the three men, Shawn Kane, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was released in 2015. Larkin and the third man, Kevin Lynch, of Quincy, were convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated rape.

Emanuel Lopes killed Weymouth police Sgt. Michael Chesna with Chesna's own gun and then killed Vera Adams

After his first trial ended in a deadlock, Lopes, of Brockton, was convicted in February of murder in the 2018 shooting deaths of Weymouth police Sgt. Michael Chesna and town resident Vera Adams. Prosecutors said Lopes hit Chesna with a large rock, stole his gun and shot at two other police officers.

Lopes' defense did not dispute the charges against him but said he was not criminally responsible because of his history of mental illness. He was scheduled to be sentenced March 19, but defense lawyer Larry Tipton said he needs time to prepare evidence and find witnesses regarding parole eligibility.

Jaylen Isiah Wallace indicted in fatal shooting of Christian Vines, 17

Wallace was indicted in October 2020 in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Christian Vines. Police said Vines, a recent graduate of Avon Middle-High School who lived in Randolph, drove to Stoughton to sell marijuana and was found inside his vehicle with a gunshot wound in the parking lot of a condominium complex. Wallace, who was 17 at the time of the slaying, was charged as an adult. The case is ongoing, with a hearing scheduled for April 5 in Dedham Superior Court.

Julius Hammond-Desir accused of shooting Dijoun Beasley in the head at South Shore Plaza

Hammond-Desir, of Maynard, is accused of shooting a man in the head at South Shore Plaza in Braintree in early 2022. Prosecutors say he shot Dijoun Beasley, 26, of Dorchester, in front of Beasley's girlfriend and 3-year-old child inside the busy shopping mall. Hammond-Desir eluded authorities for four weeks before Boston and Braintree police arrested him in Dorchester.

Jaivon Harris and Keniel Diaz-Romero charged in slaying of Nathan Paul, 17

Harris and Diaz-Romero were charged with first-degree murder in the February 2022 shooting death of 17-year-old Nathan Paul, of Weymouth, in Quincy's Germantown neighborhood. Prosecutors said the two men and four juveniles planned to buy marijuana vape cartridges from Paul using counterfeit money.

Harris and Diaz-Romero were 18 at the time of the shooting. Harris was arrested in the immediate aftermath, but Diaz-Romero fled to his native Puerto Rico, authorities said. Quincy and State Police took custody of him in Puerto Rico in September 2023, returning him to Massachusetts 16 months after his arraignment.

Michael Eagles beat Lewis Jennings to death, stole money and shotgun

Eagles was convicted of murder in the slaying of 79-year-old Lewis Jennings in his Middleboro trailer home in 1986. Prosecutors said he and Jeffrey Roberio beat Jennings to death and robbed him of money and a shotgun. Roberio, who was 17 at the time, was paroled in 2020.

Prosecutors said Roberio and Eagles took acid and cocaine on the night of the killing, cut Jennings' telephone wire, broke into his trailer and beat him with a blunt object before strangling him with a pillowcase. Police said they found the victim's blood on Eagles' pants, shoes and shirt, and a bloody footprint found on a pillowcase matched Eagles' shoes. Eagles testified that he only served as a lookout and did not otherwise participate in the killing.

Joel Quiles stabbed Jonathan Semedo to death during home invasion

Quiles, of Brockton, was convicted of murder in 2017 in the slaying of Jonathan Semedo, of Taunton. In May 2013, police responded to a home invasion, in which Semedo was fatally stabbed. Another victim was released from Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton with a stab wound to the neck, police said.

Prosecutors said Quiles and two co-defendants broke into a home on Summer Street in Brockton and held up its occupants at gunpoint. Semedo refused to hand over his belongings, prosecutors said, and when he reached for the gun being held to his head, he was stabbed 18 times in the ensuing melee. The co-defendants pled guilty in August 2016 and received life sentences with the possibility of parole after 15 years.

Franklin Kapaia shot and killed Eric Dillard while wearing a GPS monitoring bracelet

In 2016, Kapaia was convicted of murder in the shooting death of 32-year-old Eric Dillard, who was found in his apartment on Montello Street in Brockton on March 6, 2013, with 12 gunshot wounds.

Kapaia was wearing a GPS monitoring bracelet at the time of the shooting, which he had been ordered to wear after a previous rape conviction. State Police arrested him after executing a "no-knock entry" of his Brockton apartment. He was 19 at the time of his arrest.

Vernon Carter shot Scott Monteiro in the head at a Wareham house party

Carter was convicted of murder in 2013. Authorities said that in 2009, he fatally shot Scott Monteiro, 21, in the head at a Wareham house party after Monteiro tried to stop him from stealing a gold chain from another man. According to prosecutors, Carter said he was a member of the United Front Project gang in New Bedford.

Esau Depina and Isaiah Monteiro shot and killed Anthony Hamilton as Hamilton sat on a porch

Depina and Monteiro, of Brockton, were convicted in 2014 of the 2009 slaying of Anthony Hamilton. Authorities said Depina and Monteiro shot Hamilton to death as he sat on the porch of a Johnson Court residence in Brockton with two other men.

Depina fired 15 bullets from a semiautomatic pistol, hitting Hamilton twice, with one round entering the back of his head and killing him immediately, police said. Hamilton, who was 22 at the time of his death, had a 6-year-old son, according to his girlfriend's testimony.

Lewis Franklin shot John Falcone five times and killed him

Franklin was found guilty of murder in 2009 for the August 2004 shooting death of John Falcone, 30, of Hanson. The prosecutor said Franklin shot Falcone five times on Farrington Street in Brockton over a $14 bag of crack. Falcone was in a recovery program for addiction at the time. Franklin was arrested in 2007 after investigators pieced together evidence for about three years.

Robert Silva and Eric Pimental beat Thomas Loftus to death over a lottery ticket

Silva, of Wareham, was sentenced to life without parole in 2011 for the slaying of 47-year-old Thomas Loftus. Authorities said Silva and Eric Pimental beat Loftus to death over a lottery ticket in 2004 and concealed his body in the Community of Christ campgrounds.

Pimental was convicted of first-degree murder and armed robbery in 2006. Silva was charged in the killing in 2004, but the case was dropped. In 2007, the charges were reinstated. Prosecutors said Silva bragged to a fellow inmate of stomping an older man to steal a $2,000 scratch ticket. Silva was in prison on assault charges at the time prosecutors said he admitted his role in the murder.

Laurence Bynum Harris beat Claudio Montrond with a hammer, stabbed him 20 times

In 2011, Bynum Harris, formerly of Brockton, was convicted of murder in the slaying of Claudio Montrond, also of Brockton, by beating him with a hammer and stabbing him 20 times inside a bus terminal parking garage on Commercial Street.

Charles Dyous was one of seven men convicted in slaying of R&B singer Christopher Bender

Dyous was one of seven men convicted of murder in the 1991 slaying of Christopher Bender. Bender, an 18-year-old R&B singer from Brockton, had signed a $500,000, seven-album record deal earlier that year and released his second album just months before the attack.

Prosecutors said Dyous and others opened fire on Bender as he sat in his car outside Brockton's Crescent Court housing project, striking him four times. Four of the seven men convicted in relation to Bender's death have since been released from prison.

Jeremy Depina and Tayshawn Brown charged in shooting death of Fabio Andrade-Monteiro

Depina and Brown were arrested in the shooting death of 22-year-old Fabio Andrade-Monteiro. At the time of their arrest, Depina was 15 and Brown 17. They have not yet stood trial.

In February 2022, Brockton police responded to 911 calls reporting a shooting in the area of 102 Ash St. They said three people were caught on camera approaching a parked van in which Andrade-Monteiro sat with a friend. A prosecutor said a green laser flashed in the van just before Andrade-Monteiro was killed by a single bullet to the head.

John Pires Monteiro Macedo accused of slaying Robert Aponte-Flores while on probation

On July 12 of last year, an altercation near Fearing Pond in Plymouth's Myles Standish State Forest resulted in the shooting death of Robert Aponte-Flores, 25. Witnesses said Aponte-Flores was shot in the face, shoulder and arm.

Prosecutors said the slaying occurred in front of several young children, including Aponte-Flores' 7-year-old son. Nearly a month later, police arrested Macedo when they found him hiding under a pile of laundry in the closet of a New Bedford apartment.

Macedo's case is pending in Plymouth Superior Court. At the time of the killing, he was on probation for a burglary-related charge out of Plymouth District Court.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Massachusetts murderers aged 18 to 20 now eligible for parole