August 25, 2005
Suspect charged in crypt break-in
By Adam Martignetti and Priti C. Prabhakar
Staff Writer - The
Newburyport Daily News
Bryan Eaton/Staff photo — Neil Goodwin appears in
Newburyport District Court after being arrested for disturbing
a grave and disinterring a body in the Old Hill Burying Ground
in Newburyport. He is being held on $10,000 cash bail.
NEWBURYPORT — A Salisbury man was arrested yesterday
and charged with breaking into a crypt at the Old Hill Burying
Ground and disinterring the remains of the bodies therein.
Neil Goodwin, 19, of 78 North End Blvd., was one of at least
a dozen people working at the burial ground last Wednesday as
part of a maintenance crew overseen by the Massachusetts Trial
Court Community Service Program.
Goodwin was performing the community service as part of his
court-appointed probation. He has been arrested for three local
break-ins, as well as for outstanding warrants.
Police say that at some point Goodwin broke away from his supervisors
and smashed the front door of the tomb. Once within the underground
burial site, he opened a casket, twisted the skull from one
of the bodies and paraded around the burial ground with that
fragment as well as other bones, police said.
One witness captured a photograph of Goodwin carrying the skull
on his shoulders. It was eventually found in a nearby bush.
"This is disgusting on every level," said Sgt. Peter
Finnegan, who used a biohazard suit to examine the scene of
the crime on Tuesday. "I can't describe why anything like
that would be done."
Goodwin was arraigned yesterday afternoon in Newburyport District
Court on felony charges of disinterment of a body and disturbing
a grave. He faces a maximum penalty of eight years in jail,
if convicted.
Michael Baldassarre, Goodwin's appointed attorney, claimed
that the grave's door had already been smashed and that the
remains had already been removed when his client came into possession
of them.
"During community service work within the cemetery, there
were a lot of other characters hanging around the burial grounds,"
Baldassarre said.
Outside the courtroom, Goodwin told reporters that he was innocent,
though Finnegan said he signed a statement verifying his involvement
in the matter.
Goodwin was arrested last August in Salisbury on an outstanding
warrant and later named as a suspect in three area break-ins.
In October, Salisbury police charged Goodwin with two counts
of breaking and entering to commit a felony, one count of larceny
of property valued at more than $250 and destruction of property
valued at more than $250. Goodwin kicked in the door of Melo's
Liquor Store and stole $350 worth of alcohol, Salisbury police
said. In January, Salisbury police arrested Goodwin again on
an outstanding warrant.
It is unclear to which charges Goodwin's community service
work related. It is also unclear how Goodwin came to be alone
for long enough to commit the crimes for which he is charged.
"How this group got away from them and got into the tomb
is still under investigation," City Marshal Thomas Howard
said.
The community service program, which is run through Newburyport
District Court, "administers community work service as
an intermediate sanction for criminal justice agencies throughout
the state," according to its Web site.
Goodwin's probation officer was on vacation and could not be
reached for comment at the courthouse yesterday. Lisa Hickey,
who runs the Essex County branch of the program, was also out
of the office yesterday. Two calls to the office of Kevin Duggan,
the state supervisor of the community service program, were
not returned yesterday afternoon.
The disturbed crypt in the burial ground was marked only "Pierce
1863." Police revealed yesterday that six bodies were laid
to rest in the family vault. Howard said it was still unclear
if any of their descendants resided locally. Someone must claim
the remains before they can be put back into the tomb.
This article was copied with permission by © The
Newburyport Daily News
