The alleged killers of Bella Bond, originally known as Boston’s Baby Doe, returned to Dorchester District Court today for a status hearing, one month after facing charges of murdering Baby Bella.
Mother, Boyfriend Due In Court In Bella Bond Case #babydoe https://t.co/NURqfFSgaB pic.twitter.com/Z46gh326RW
— WBZ Boston News (@cbsboston) October 20, 2015
Rachelle Dee Bond, Bella’s mother, and Rachelle’s boyfriend, Michael McCarthy, stand accused of murder in the death of 2-year-old Bella Bond earlier this year. McCarthy is charged with murder and is being held without bail, while Bond is charged as an accessory after the fact, held on $1 million cash bail. Though Bond is not thought to have physically harmed her daughter, she allegedly helped to cover up the murder, knowing that McCarthy stored little Bella Bond’s body in a refrigerator before dumping her remains in the Boston Harbor.
Rachelle Bond tells the story of an abusive boyfriend who repeatedly punched Bella in the stomach, stating she deserved to die because the girl was a demon, states a previous report by the Inquisitr .
According to CNN, McCarthy’s lawyer claims he had no reason to be suspicious of the fact that Bella was not with her mother, as Bond told him the state had taken custody of Bella.
Indeed, Rachelle Bond previously had two children permanently removed from her custody by the Department of Children and Families several years ago. Though DCF investigated Bond for neglecting Bella on two different occasions — once in 2012 and again in 2013 — the cases were rapidly closed, and her history as an unfit mother did not play into their investigation regarding Bella at all. Apparently, Bond’s history of prostitution and substance abuse was not taken into consideration as well.
Mother, boyfriend due in court in ‘Baby Doe’ killing https://t.co/4rUIDF0Fgl pic.twitter.com/hVoniU77RI
— NEWS10 ABC (@WTEN) October 20, 2015
Since the suspects have not yet been indicted, not much was expected to happen in court today , reports News 10 . However, according to the Boston Globe , Bond and her boyfriend received a small victory in court today as defense attorneys were awarded the right to perform their own autopsy on baby Bella’s remains .
Working together, the defense attorneys jointly requested a second autopsy on the battered remains of toddler Bella Bond. Bond’s lawyer, Janice Bassil, and McCarthy’s attorney, Jonathan Shapiro, requested a court-appointed pathologist to perform an autopsy to be conducted at the state medical examiner’s office no later than November 19.
According to Janice Bassil, Bond did not want a second autopsy to be performed on Bella.
“It’s not something my client wanted. It’s heartbreaking for her. But there are times as a lawyer you have to ask clients do things they don’t really want to do. And I need to protect her.”
Jonathan Shapiro states his reasons for requesting another test is due to the fact that Bond’s word is the only reason his client has been accused of murdering Bella Bond.
“The only evidence comes from someone who is completely not credible.”
The decision to allow the defense their own autopsy is certainly controversial, but at least a certain amount of time has been allotted for the procedure to take place. One month from today, on November 19, another hearing will take place, and the new autopsy must be completed before this date.
What do you think about the court’s findings today? Should the alleged murderers of baby Bella Bond be allowed this small victory?
[Lead Image via Shutterstock]
