By Margo Nash
In a recent blog regarding my book “The Politics of Murder,” I mentioned that Mr. Reilly was dealing with two very high-profile unsolved murders at the time of Janet Downing’s murder in July, 1995. Deanna Cremins, age 17, was strangled and left in an alleyway just blocks from her house on March 30, 1995. Before that, law professor Mary Jo Krug, age 49, was stabbed to death while walking near her home in Cambridge in the late afternoon of April 4, 1991. Reilly and his CPAC team had failed to develop any suspects for these murders; in fact, they both remain unsolved to this day.
I got curious about other unsolved murders in Middlesex County during Tom Reilly’s years, from January 3, 1991 to January 7, 1999. I also wondered about how many murder convictions were recorded in Middlesex County during that time. Unfortunately, that data is not readily available on any Internet search. Statistics for homicides in Massachusetts are not gathered by county. Middlesex County is comprised of 12 cities and 42 towns. I tried doing a city-by-city search. Only Cambridge had a listing for all homicides committed, the dates, the manner of death, the place of death, and who—if anyone—was convicted of the crime.
So my limited review of unsolved murders in Middlesex County during the years that District Attorney Tom Reilly was in office revealed only that under Reilly’s watch there were seven murders that went unsolved, six from Cambridge and one from Somerville.
3/5/1991 Uri Woods, 29, of Cambridge was stabbed to death on the street
4/4/91 Mary Jo Frug, 49, was stabbed to death in West Cambridge
12/5/91 Esther Olofson, 49, was strangled to death in her bed in Cambridge
9/22/93 Michael Garner, 23, was robbed and shot in Cambridge
3/31/94 Edward Semino was beaten to death behind CASPAR in Cambridge
3/30/95 Deanna Cremins, 17, was strangled to death in Somerville
8/9/95 Lilia Fagundes, 42, was shot to death in her market in Cambridge
And here’s what’s really significant: I never heard of these other murders.
In fact, most readers will probably only recognize the name of Deanna Cremins from Somerville. For years, her family had a billboard up on Route 93 asking for information about her case. Tom Reilly often boasted about his empathy for the victims of crime… but I’d never heard him even mention these other victims!
During this same period in Cambridge, Reilly’s office obtained 10 convictions for murdered victims. You wouldn’t recognize any of their names if I listed them, except, perhaps, that of Yngye Raustein, who was an MIT student brutally stabbed on Memorial Drive by a juvenile and two 17-year-olds. But even here, I believe that while most readers would remember the crime, no one would remember Yngye’s name, or nationality, or age, or even how he was killed.
Whether or not one considers 10 convictions out of 16 murders a good clearance rate for a district attorney, (I don’t) the fact is that Mr. Reilly did not choose to personally prosecute any of those murders.
Now think about this: virtually everyone knows the name “Eddie O’Brien.” Everyone knows that his case changed the juvenile laws in Massachusetts, making it possible for 14-year-old children to be tried as adults. Everyone knows that juveniles, after the O’Brien case, could be sent to adult prisons for a sentence of life without parole. Many people even recall the victim’s name, Janet Downing.
So why was this case so different from all of the other horrific murders that took place during Tom Reilly’s tenure? It’s because he made the case famous, by choosing from the outset that hot summer night in 1995 to handle the prosecution of the case personally. As Michael Blanding noted in a Boston Magazine article entitled “The Reilly Factor” in 2002:
He (Reilly) took the unprecedented step of trying the case himself, leading angry residents to accuse him of using the boy’s trial for his own political ends. Detractors accused him of grandstanding before the TV cameras and turning the case into a political issue he could ride into higher office.[1]
Reilly, on the other hand, told a reporter that he felt a personal responsibility for Downing, whose wounds, he said, showed she’d fought hard for her life.
Does that mean he felt no personal responsibility for the other victims who were brutally murdered under his watch? Did he not believe they had fought hard enough for their lives? What does it say about an elected official who picks and chooses who is worthy of his personal attention—and who is not?
In 2002, Reilly told Boston Magazine that his motivation was nothing more than a “personal promise. We owed it to the family to finish the job.”[1]
Why didn’t Derrick Chance, Bobby Schley, Tyrone Phoenix, Rosalie Whalen, Claire Downing, Trang Phoung Ho, Laurence Cooper, Helena Gardner, Benny Rosa or Joseph Berenger get the district attorney’s personal promise? Why didn’t he owe it to their families, to finish the job?
There is only one answer to these rhetorical questions. He didn’t personally try those cases because Tom Reilly would never have been elected attorney general for convicting Dennis Whalen of bludgeoning his wife Rosalie to death with a hammer. Tom Reilly would never have been elected attorney general for convicting Ken Downing for beating his wheelchair-bound wife Claire to death with a blunt object. Domestic violence was just not part of Reilly’s political agenda in 1995. He wasn’t trying to change the laws on domestic violence in Massachusetts. He was, however, trying desperately to change the juvenile laws in Massachusetts. He, like Governor Weld, wanted to be the trailblazer for the super predator theorists.
Less than a month after the O’Brien verdict, a jury convicted Louise Woodward (a British au pair tried for the murder of a baby in her care) of second-degree murder. But the judge in that case took the highly unusual step of reducing the verdict to manslaughter, and releasing her from custody in exchange for the time she’d served while awaiting trial. Why? He accused Reilly’s office of overreaching and overcharging defendants. He wanted to put an end to it.
The label “overzealous prosecutor” Reilly earned when he personally prosecuted the O’Brien case was forever cemented, according to Blanding, with the Woodward case.
If only Eddie O’Brien had drawn a judge willing to see what so many others saw in his case: the full weight and power of the state being brought to bear on a 15-year-old boy who had neither the temperament, the motive, or the opportunity to commit this heinous crime. If only Tom Reilly had not made a “personal promise” to Janet Downing’s family, we would have learned who really killed her that hot night in July. The real killer would have been tried and convicted of her murder, just like the other 10 murderers. The Downing family would not be tortured by reopening this case for further investigation, and Eddie O’Brien would not have lost 22 years of his life.
We all lost when Tom Reilly chose this case as his cause célèbre. That is, everyone lost… except Tom Reilly. He won that election for attorney general. But what a price the people of Massachusetts, the Downings, and the O’Briens paid for his win !
I wonder if he thinks it was worth it?
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2014/01/21/somerville-erin-downing-petition/
🙏
http://robertgeorgelaw.com/commentary.asp So now you all want to call the most sort after high profile Lawyer in Massachusetts incompetent, just because he lost your case doesn’t make him incompetent, he just never realized how smart this Jury was , Is every Lawyer who lost a case incompetent ? A lawyer can only come up with so many false fabrications before he even knows , this Jury is not believing my theory, This Lawyer had one of the most vivid imaginations in the courtroom , this guy had all the Ts crossed n Is’ dotted , He Just lost another high profile case , The Jury got it ……not incompetent
So this book I’ve noticed is full of many assumptions with no explanation that prove them factual , lots of accusations against people that sounds more like anger against them for doing a job they took an oath to up hold , lots of hearsay which is never a proven fact , ( which most books on crime are lots of hearsay ) that’s why there in a book no one believes them , but they make for interesting read ,many many stories that changed multiple times over of the course of 20 yrs , sorry nothing in this book makes me go hmmm ….This case has been before many Judges , they all got it right …..
Have a nice day , bunker down there’s a blizzard out , stay safe
http://masslawyersweekly.com/wp-files/pdfs/ma/Briefs/obrien.htm
Ok, so this is Tom Reilly’s appellate brief. This is the prosecutor’s argument from 22 years ago. So what?
It’ also explains all the protocols taken during the investigation before DA Tom Riley was ever involved or the case was turned over to the DAs office , that’s what !!
Ray Ortiz you are just plain wrong. You drank the Kool Aide. it blinded you. You do not know what you are talking about. You only know how to pump the party line. Let me just say this: Tom Reilly was interviewing witnesses hours after Janet Downing was murdered. That’s a fact in the record. But who cares about the facts? Certainly not Artie’s brother or are you the nephew Ray Ortiz?
Of course he was that’s his job , but did he collect any evidence an or plant it in house as you accuse ….the DAs office of wrong doing
Never made that accusation Ray. That’s on you. Maybe you know the truth?
Absolutely you do …. your book is full of all false twisted accounts of any an all evidence shown to be proven in a Court of Law , sorry just not believable, no proven facts ….
I could care less about the book facts are you all are trying blame me so rot in hell eddie
Maybe you should of read that at the trial, those poor jurors all brainwashed , how do you think they felt sending a young kid away for life , they had no doubt in their mind ( they had to do the right thing , sad ) for all involved , I had nothing to do with the trial or case why would you reply to me …. just asking , must be casting some doubt in your brain …
“The old adage, “never wrestle with a pig. You’ll both get
Dirty and the pig likes it” holds especially true here, and if the person
has more interest in getting a rise out of you, they’ll behave irrationally
and dismiss your evidence, studies and any real proof you have
to offer just to continue to get a reaction from you.”
So my advice to those who know Eddie is innocent is to not
Continue to try and change a brainwashed mind. We all know
the truth and the truth will eventually set Eddie free…!!!
but he wasn’t bleeding in the house remember the killer didn’t touch him told him to leave or else , he didn’t get stabbed till after he left an went to burger king then got robbed an stabbed ( all lies by the way) ,all testimony which is it , how did his blood , bloody prints an friends see him jumping from the backyard up hamlet st , just wondering
The blood stopped on Hamlet St. If it was O”Brien it would of followed him to Burger King. Blood stopped at the Green Cab that was parked on Hamlet St. That was towed that night !!!! Reilly and whoever did this might not have to pay in this lifetime but you will pay once your dead!! Have to 🙏🙏🙏 for the truth!!!!
You are so wrong the blood was at least 30 ft behind my cab going down hamlet st so get your facts straight
I’m wondering why when he was sitting on his front porch with family & friends he decided to walk into this home thought the front door , seen a victim on flood then a person with a mask on who told him to get out before he gets killed , he decided to run though the kitchen down the basement stairway out the back door though the backyard up the street , all this time leaving his blood , bloody fingerprints , a trail of blood up the street , then went to Burger King decided not to eat there cause the food made him sick , then walked to the Sq where someone ( how did they setup robbery )got 2-3 men to rob & decided they had to stab an kill him because he seen their face , funny no blood at the scene ( they must of cleaned it up ) but a murderer told him get out of the house or he’s next , how an why was he in house , I’m thinking the police walked him thought it after the murder ( smart move now they got his evidence there ) …. cause he never left his front porch according to his father , what a mystery this case is after the fact of a conviction, ( story after story ) sounds like the OJ trial , im wondering who came up with this whole idea during the investigation , let’s set someone up ….. sorry facts are facts
I’m still wondering why the Somerville Police were at the hospital taking O”Briens blood and then bringing it back to the crime scene??? Then stopping the DNA on the hilt of the knife because it did not match Janet or O”Brien. Sloppy investigation/DEFINTLEY POLITICAL!!!!!
Simply terrible that for his own personal gain and desire to climb higher on the political ladder this man would single out a young teenager to step on. All I can say is despicable Mr. Reilly.
Eddie rot in hell you scum bag
I read the book and believe Reilly was only looking out for himself for political reasons. I know if I was being named as a suspect I would go to great lengths to clear my name. Even though it is political in the end the truth will set Eddie free.
Think about what you just said , this case should based on Politics not a murder , I hope you believe that when you look in a mirror , I’m uneducated hmmm …
By the way all leads in this case pointed to one an only one suspect Eddie O’brien , when the police investigate a crime they let the evidence lead them right to the suspect, which the suspect will always leave their own personal evidence at a scene , A DA is handed all the evidence , base a charge off what evidence is found , it all lead to one person , you can throw other names around all you want , when it all points to one person what would you like the DA to do , sorry people but all the evidence lead to Eddie O’Brien, Politics didn’t come into this case till well after the conviction an all appeals got turned down, all other stings the family tried failed , I’m sure when all else fails , they’ll come up with another plan …..truth be told Guilty , Throwing other names around hasn’t proven anything , Evidence is all Proof
Dear Rayo, you seem to be the most uneducated man writing under this post. Edward Obrien is far from the monster you and many others portray him to be. You’re hateful comments are fueled by the guilt you have and will continue to feel all your life for pointing fingers at the innocent. You say Margo Nash has blood money on her hands ? I think the real blood money is in your pocket, along with Tom Rileys. People like you and Riley did NOT do the Downing family justice. The people convicted an innocent 15 year old alter boy, and wrapped 20+ years of his life around prison bars.
Sorry but it’s facts ….proven in the court of law …
My brother or me feel no guilt in this case Eddie is the real killer rot in hell you scum bag
Eddie is the monster that killed my sister in law so you should get your facts straight. Rao
Margo Nash has blood money on her hands … sad hope you can live with your hands blood red…
Ray Ortiz. That is your name. Why not use it?
It’s all facts an proven , this murder lead to one person , it was all shown to be true in the Court of Law Tom Reilly didn’t commit this crime with his politics, he just presented all the facts to a Court of Law , Guilty on all counts
This kid is a scumbag murderer , perfect reason Massachusetts needs the death penalty, stop trying to deflect politics with the Gulit of murder , politics didn’t kill this women , Eddie Obrien did with his stone cold hands , Our court did their job an proved , Politics didn’t hold the knife……murderer Eddie Obrien
Tip of the iceberg?
Excellent read. Mysterious doings. So many unsolved deaths. Why? So many questions, so many “unusual acts” in court, in investigations, in evidence shuffling for the “solved” cases. Is nobody curious what is being done, or not being done under cover of “law and order”? Get curious people, or you could pay a dear price.
Gina you are such a load mouth with nothing better to do than blame me I hope Eddie rots in jail. Tell the o’briens I know where my sons are