Man kidnaps 16-year-old stepdaughter, kills her and himself

ACTON – A 49-year-old man who will stand trial later this summer for the alleged rape of his stepdaughter abducted the teenager Thursday, shot her to death and then turned the gun on himself.

According to authorities, Acton police found 49-year-old Juliano Santana and his 16-year-old stepdaughter dead in Santana’s vehicle on Great Road.

A joint news release from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and Acton police said authorities received a report of Santana’s abduction of the teenager shortly after 4 p.m. Santana’s probation officer was able to determine his location using a GPS monitoring device he was required to wear due to the pending rape case in Middlesex Superior Court.

Police found Santana in a parking lot on Great Road in front of the victim’s residence. There they found both him and the 16-year-old girl dead in his vehicle from apparent gunshot wounds, authorities said.

A later investigation revealed that Santana abducted the victim while she was walking on Great Road near her home after school.

On September 7, 2021, the victim reported that Santana had sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions. That same day, Santana was arrested and charged in Malden District Court with six counts of aggravated rape of a child.

Santana’s bail was set at $30,000 and he was ordered to wear the monitoring device. He was also ordered to stay away from and have no contact with the victim and to have no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18. Authorities added that the victim has a restraining order against Santana.

His trial was scheduled to begin on July 29, 2024.

The investigation into the murder-suicide case is ongoing and is being conducted by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, Acton Police and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Investigation Division.

This is an evolving story.

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