Commonwealth v. Troila

571 N.E.2d 391 (Mass. 1991)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

Two children discovered a body that had been stabbed several times. The medical examiner testified that two of the stab wounds to the heart were fatal and the third in the neck was potentially fatal. The time of death was about 24 hours before the discovery of the body by the children. Troila (D) was indicted for murder in the first degree. Witnesses testified to seeing D with the victim on the evening of May 1, 1987, the night before the body was discovered. The jury heard a tape of D being interrogated by the police and heard testimony from three witnessed that D had stated and killed the victim. One witness was with D and the victim the night of the killing, and she placed D in the vicinity of the location where the body was subsequently found. Three men left their car and went out to look for drugs and only two returned. When the witness who stayed behind asked where the victim was, D admitted to the killing. Another witness with whom D lived with at the time, testified that the next day, D told her he thought he had killed someone and that the victim was a homosexual and had made a pass at him. The victim’s sister testified that her brother was homosexual. D was convicted of first-degree murder. D appealed.