Prosecutor says accused Massachusetts child molester kills victim in murder-suicide

The Boston Police Department is asking the public for help in identifying suspects in two separate crimes that occurred on May 24. The man in the two pictures on the left is wanted for vandalism in Dorchester. The woman in the two pictures on the right is wanted for an assault in Roxbury. (Courtesy of BPD)

Authorities say a 49-year-old Acton man accused of repeatedly raping his 16-year-old stepdaughter shot both her and himself.

Acton police received a call around 4 p.m. Thursday that Juliano Santana had kidnapped his stepdaughter. Officers contacted Santana’s probation officer, who was able to locate him using the GPS monitor he was required to wear due to his pending child sexual abuse case, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

Police arrived at a parking lot on Great Road near the victim’s residence and made a horrific discovery: both Santana and his victim were “dead from apparent gunshot wounds” in his car.

“The subsequent investigation suggests that Santana abducted the victim as she was walking on Great Road near her residence after school and later shot her and then herself,” the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office wrote in a statement.

Santana is alleged to have raped the girl since at least September 7, 2021, when the girl first reported the abuse. He was arrested the same day and charged with six counts of aggravated rape of a child. The victim had obtained a restraining order against Santana, according to prosecutors. Santana’s trial was scheduled for late July.

Murder suspect in unsolved Fitchburg case in court

The second of two men charged in March with the 1993 murder of 15-year-old Deondray Atwood in Fitchburg has appeared in court to face the charges.

Robert D’Lucca, 49, appeared in Worcester Superior Court on Friday to be formally charged with murder. His arraignment follows that of co-defendant Lawrence Calafell, 51, who appeared in court shortly after the grand jury’s indictment.

Both men are also charged with armed assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a firearm without a permit and possession of ammunition without an FID card.

Prosecutors said D’Lucca and Calafell fired shots at a car parked on Dennis Street in Fitchburg on Nov. 25, 1993, hitting two of the vehicle’s three occupants, according to the Worcester District Attorney’s Office. Atwood was shot multiple times and died. A second, unnamed passenger was also shot multiple times but survived. The third occupant was not injured.

Boston police search for suspects

Boston police have asked the public for help in solving two unrelated crimes that occurred about an hour apart on May 24: A man is suspected of slashing car tires in Dorchester and a woman is suspected of attacking someone with pepper spray.

At around 5 a.m., officials said, an unknown woman — a black woman with blonde hair who appears to be wearing a tight-fitting purple athletic wear in submitted photos — along with another suspect possibly known as “Brooke” pepper sprayed someone and then stole the victim’s car keys in the 100 block of Seaver Street in Roxbury.

At around 5 p.m. that same day, police say, a man pulled out a knife and slashed the rear driver’s tire of his victim’s car in the area of ​​Columbia Road and Geneva Avenue in Dorchester. Police describe their suspect as a “Dominican, 20-30 years old, long dreadlocks” who was wearing a tan shirt at the time. They say he is known to hang out in the area of ​​Columbia Road between Devon and Stanwood Streets.

Police are asking anyone with information about either incident to call Criminal Investigation at (617) 343-4275. Anonymous tips can be forwarded to the CrimeStoppers hotline at 1-800-494-TIPS (8477) or by texting the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463).

Dorchester’s ‘gratuitous’ puncher

Authorities have charged 52-year-old Damond Brown, who prosecutors say has a 35-year-old, 12-page probation record, with the “unprovoked” beating of a 65-year-old man during a robbery in Dorchester.

Brown, who was convicted of armed assault with suspicion of murder in 2019, appeared in Boston Municipal Court to be arraigned on a single count of unarmed robbery of a person over 60. Judge Steven Key found Brown dangerous and ordered him held without bail ahead of his probation hearing on June 17.

Police responded to the area between Harrison and Massachusetts Avenues just before 5 a.m. on April 20. The victim, who was reportedly lying next to a pool of blood and suffering from a laceration to his head, told them he was walking when the man — authorities say is Brown — “randomly punched him and knocked him to the ground.” He said he “passed out” and woke up on the floor.

Surveillance footage shows Brown and an unidentified second suspect rummaging through the man’s pockets as he lies “motionless” on the ground.

Market manipulation is not a pretty picture

A Mashpee man who runs an investment firm issued a false press release to artificially inflate the trading price of photo agency Getty and then sold his shares to reap illegal profits.

Robert Scott Murray, 60, has pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud and will appear later in federal court in Boston. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $5 million.

Seattle-based Getty Image Holdings, Inc., which sells images, videos and music for a variety of media clients, trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GETY. Authorities say Murray – a longtime investor who has served as CEO of several publicly traded companies – owned about 300,000 shares of GETY stock and sought to join the company’s board of directors. He failed in that endeavor.

Federal authorities allege that Murray, the sole owner and CEO of Massachusetts-based Trillium Capital LLC, then devised a plan to artificially inflate the company’s stock price so he could then sell all of his shares at a large profit.

Part of that plan involved issuing a press release between market hours on April 24, 2023, saying his company would acquire Getty for $10 per share, nearly double the stock’s value of $5.06 at the previous day’s close. The press release caused the stock’s value to soar to $7.88 when the market opened on Monday. The government says Murray then sold all of his shares within an hour, raising nearly $1.5 million.