FILICIDE: Massacusetts: Sandra Dostie appeal denied

 April 30, 2011 FRED CONTRADA

NORTHAMPTON - Calling her claims "unfounded" and "roughly cobbled together," a judge has denied Sandra Dostie's motion for a new trial on the murder of her stepson.
Dostie, who is now 42, was convicted of first-degree murder in 1995 for smothering her 5-year-old stepson Eric Dostie in their Easthampton home. Prosecutors said Sandra Dostie resented the child support that Eric's father paid to his mother and the care Sandra had to provide the sickly boy, who had hemophilia. She was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Earlier this month, Dostie's new lawyer, Framingham attorney Sandra F. Bloomenthal, filed a motion for a new trial based on the contention that Janice Healy, who represented Dostie at her murder trial, violated attorney-client privilege by providing damning information to reporter Pippin Ross. Ross allegedly used the material in a Boston Magazine story published shortly before the trial. Although she included a copy of the story in her motion, along with an undated letter purportedly sent by Ross to Healy, Bloomenthal did not specify what information Healy supposedly shared with Ross. In fact, Ross' letter appears exculpatory, telling Healy she was not the primary source of the information for her story.

Judge Constance M. Sweeney, who presided over Dostie's murder trial, denied the motion Friday, less than 10 days after it was filed, calling the claims unsupported.
"A letter, which the defendant claims was written by the reporter to one of the defense attorneys, does not assist the defendant," Sweeney wrote. "The defendant fails to provide any credible basis for her allegation that one of her attorneys violated the ethical obligations attendant on the attorney-client relationship."
Sweeney goes on to say that Dostie was well represented, calling Healy a "highly experienced and skilled chief trial counsel." Healy, who currently works in the office of Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan, could not be reached for comment. First Assistant District Attorney Steven E. Gagne released a statement saying, "We are pleased the court denied the defendant's motion and preserved Dostie's conviction for murdering a 5-year-old defenseless child."
In her request for a new trial, Dostie seemingly admits murdering her stepson but claims she was suffering from a "severe mental illness" brought on by pregnancy. Sweeney also dismisses that argument, noting that Dostie swore under oath at her trial that she did not kill the child but rather that Eric was murdered by two unidentified men who supposedly broke into the house.
"The evidence revealed that the defendant hatched an elaborate plan to murder the child and an even more elaborate plan to deflect suspicion away from her," Sweeney wrote. "She is not entitled to nor does she deserve a new trial."
Bloomenthal said Friday she will appeal Sweeney's ruling. She declined to comment further, saying she had not yet seen it.
Ross did not respond to requests for an interview. At the time of Dostie's trial in 1995, she enjoyed a successful career as a journalist, reporting for the Amherst-based radio station WFCR-FM and writing for magazines. An alcohol addiction took a toll on her career, however, and she was sentenced to jail in 2005 for operating under the influence of alcohol as a fourth offender. Ross compounded her troubles when she forged documents for her early release. Charges resulting from that crime landed her in Framingham State Prison, where she became Dostie's fellow inmate. Although the two women were acquainted there, Dostie's lawyer has declined to disclose the nature of their discussions.
http://www.masslive.com/chicopeeholyoke/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-33/1304147781307291.xml&coll=1

FILICIDE: Massachusetts: Dora Tejada Accused of Killing Daughter during Exorcism

Jupiter

Dora Tejada, 26-year-old mother said she had to kill her 3-year-old daughter during an exorcism.
According to reports, she shoved her fist into her daughter's mouth, believing it would exorcise the "devil" out of the toddler.

The Salvadorian woman told authorities that she has the ability to see dead people and God speaks to her directly calling it "a gift from God." , relatives reported that her behavior was making them uncomfortable.

Shocking to believe that a mother could kill her own child because God order her to do so.

The child's death is the first homicide to occur on the island of Nantucket in two years, the Boston Globe reported.

FILICIDE: Massachusetts: Li Rong Zhang used wok as means to murder her 8-year-old son, investigators say

By Jack Encarnacao

Jan 14, 2011

QUINCY —

Li Rong Zhang was not using the silver, charcoal-fired wok to cook a meal for her 8-year-old son inside her Germantown apartment. She was using it to kill him, and herself, investigators said.
In a Boston hospital room Friday, Zhang, 39, was arraigned for her son’s murder after police say a motionless Brandon Yang was found face-down on a bed in the apartment. Police said poisonous fumes had left Zhang unconscious on the bedroom floor.
At a press conference Friday, police said a large bureau had been placed in front of the door, an apparent attempt to block access to the room where the wok was burning Thursday.
Meanwhile, officials are investigating the response to a smoke alarm call a resident in the same building said she placed two hours before Zhang and her son were found, a call that never reached the fire department.
The announcement that Zhang is charged with murder capped a day of mourning in city schools for Brandon Yang, a standout student at Snug Harbor Community School.
“Brandon was one of those kids that every teacher wanted to have in their class,” Principal Dan Gilbert said. “He was adored by our school teachers and students alike, and he was just a model of what a student should be.”
Gilbert said Brandon had been recognized by the school for exemplary behavior such as friendliness and good attendance. Brandon did not attend school Thursday, School Superintendent Richard DeCristofaro said.
Firefighters responding to a call placed by Zhang’s other son, 16-year-old Deming Yang, discovered Brandon’s body inside the Yardarm Lane apartment in Germantown.
According to a police affidavit, Deming Yang told police he arrived home from school at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday and tried to enter the building through the rear and front doors, both of which were locked. Yang “said that it was unusual for both doors to be locked,” according to the affidavit, written by State Police investigator Brian Brooks.
The affidavit said Yang eventually forced his way in through the front door and went to his second-floor bedroom, which was empty. He then went to his mother’s room, but the door was locked. He kicked it several times but was unable to get inside. He called 911.
Firefighters arrived at about 3:44 p.m. and used a crowbar to break the bedroom door lock. They found Zhang and her son along with a wok, a lighter and charcoal briquettes.
Lt. Shawn Darcy and firefighter John Christiani administered CPR to Zhang and Brandon outside the home. Brandon was pronounced dead at 4:50 p.m. at Quincy Medical Center. Zhang was taken to Boston Medical Center.
The affidavit states Zhang was treated for carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation.
An autopsy Friday on Brandon Yangindicated a need for further tests before his cause of death could be determined, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said.
After she had sufficiently recovered, Zhang was arraigned Friday afternoon in the intensive care unit of Boston Medical Center. She is being held without bail until a Jan. 28 hearing.
“Once she is capable and able to be removed, she will be taken to another secure facility,” Morrissey said. “She will remain, at least for the foreseeable future, in a Boston hospital under guard and under arrest.”
Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan said the grounds for a murder charge were established through witness interviews and evidence collected in a late-night search of the apartment after a warrant had been obtained.
Keenan said investigators believe Zhang was trying to commit a murder-suicide. No suicide note was found.
Zhang was divorced from the father of her two children, according to a court document.
Keenan said police received a call from someone in the apartment in 2005 because of a verbal altercation between Zhang and her ex-husband. Charges were not pressed and a restraining order was not sought, he said.
Alison Goodwin, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Children and Families, declined to say if the agency had any prior involvement with the family. The father is caring for his 16-year-old son, she said.
http://www.patriotledger.com/features/x512659107/Quincy-mother-used-wok-as-means-to-murder-her-8-year-old-son-investigators-say