Neil Entwistle - Arrest and Events Prior To Trial

Arrest and Events Prior To Trial

One week after the funeral of his wife and daughter, on 8 February 2006, Neil Entwistle was arrested by the extradition unit of London's Metropolitan Police Service at Royal Oak station. Initially refusing to agree to his extradition, Entwistle eventually waived his right to contest the extradition order and was flown to the United States on 15 February where he was arraigned at Framingham district court and ordered to be held without bail at Middlesex County jail in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

A month later, on 28 March, Entwistle was indicted on two counts of murder, the illegal possession of a firearm, and the illegal possession of ammunition. On 11 April, he pleaded not guilty to all charges and was again ordered to be held without bail. Over the following months Entwistle's legal team, led by Elliot Weinstein, fought proposals by the prosecution to use DNA evidence and argued, in both cases unsuccessfully, to have the case dismissed.

In December 2006, nearly a year after the deaths of Rachel and Lillian Entwistle, officers at the Middlesex County jail where Neil Entwistle was being held found letters to his parents and to his legal team which, according to the addressees, indicated he was depressed and might be contemplating suicide. As a result he was initially transferred to Bridgewater State Hospital for mental evaluation before being returned to Middlesex County.

In the following months, Weinstein raised further (unsuccessful) legal argument requesting the suppression of evidence found in the family home. The basis for the motion was that Entwistle had not given police or prosecutors permission to enter the home without a warrant.

On 11 September 2007, Entwistle's legal team successfully requested that the trial, due to start on 1 October 2007, be rescheduled to allow the lawyers time to analyse the evidence. Later, on 14 November, Weinstein requested a further delay and the trial was then rescheduled to March 2008. Subsequently the illness of one of Entwistle's lawyers, Stephanie Page, led to a further delay before a new trial was finally set for 2 June 2008.

In early June 2008, Middlesex superior court began a lengthy juror selection process, punctuated by legal argument that the delay in the trial date and the high profile nature of the murders meant that the defendant would not receive a fair trial. Some media reported that potential jurors were indicating that they formed significant views on the defendant's guilt or otherwise prior to the trial.