Valentine Underwood, a convicted murderer serving two life sentences in California, will soon go to trial for an alleged 1988 kidnapping, rape and attempted murder of a Massachusetts woman, a crime which crossed state borders from Andover, Mass. to Hampton, N.H., resulting in charges from both states.
According to police, the woman, 24 years old at the time, was driving in Andover, Mass., where she was kidnapped, raped, then stabbed in the liver. The perpetrator then tried to cut her throat, but the knife had broken in the attack. She was left to die off Interstate 95 in Hampton, where she was later found by a passerby.
Underwood, 49, of California, was charged with the 1988 crime against the woman, whose name was blacked out in court documents.
New Hampshire prosecutors, however, will have to wait to have their chance to try Underwood, who will first be tried for aggravated rape and armed kidnapping with sexual assault in Massachusetts.
Once the Massachusetts trial is over, Underwood will face trial in New Hampshire for attempted murder, second-degree assault, kidnapping and two counts of aggravated assault, according to New Hampshire Interim County Attorney James Boffetti. He added that “that’s what our expectation is” and there is currently no planned prosecutor.
The Massachusetts trial, originally scheduled to occur before Sept. 22, 2011, has been prolonged due to various requests made by Underwood, who is representing himself. It was pushed back until Feb. 3 of this year, but defense attorney Joseph Collins — who is Underwood’s standby attorney — said it was postponed again because Underwood filed “a motion to have the DNA sample retested.”
According to court documents, Underwood requested funds for a DNA expert for an independent analysis of the DNA used in the case. A revised version of the request was approved on Feb. 27, which allowed him to use up to $4,380 to hire Cellmark Forensics to retest the semen sample collected, as well as a swab from the defendant.
Collins said this sample should be ready for the new trial date of May 12 this year. Underwood, however, will appear in court for a final pre-trial hearing on April 9.
Massachusetts prosecutor Kate MacDougall could not make any comments regarding the case, since it is ongoing, but previously said that DNA from his previous convictions in California matched that of this case. Local detectives found Underwood through a national DNA database and matched him to the 1988 attack.
Underwood was indicted for the crimes in Massachusetts on Sept. 17, 2010. He was transported to Essex County Jail from California on May 20, 2011 — 23 years after the original crime was committed — but was moved to the Massachusetts Correctional Facility at Cedar Junction in September 2013.
The move was authorized after, according to a Sept. 18 Eagle-Tribune article, “he used pieces of broken mirror as knives and taped them to his hands.”
Court documents also state Underwood previously requested to be moved to a state facility — described in a letter related to his request as “a facility suitable for my (Underwood’s) security level” — in October, November and December 2012.
This “security level” comes from his previous convictions in 1997 for two first-degree murder charges in California, where Underwood is serving two life sentences for the murders of Mandi Scott, 15, and Rosalie Ortega, 20. Both victims had been raped and stabbed.
Court files said that there has been “one escape attempt from county jail” and that he was “suspected in multiple sex offenses on the East Coast prior to his incarceration in California, without successful prosecution.”
Underwood stated in court documents that he’s a devout Sunni Muslim. Records received from Pelican Bay State Prison in California allege he has used the Muslim chapel to “radicalize Muslims on the General Public (GP).” The records also allege, “While on the GP at a different institution, Underwood had significant influence over the entire Black inmate population to include Muslims, Bloods and Crips. It appears Underwood may have also taken part in a plot to murder the Muslim Chaplain.”
Notes in these records also stated he “became verbally abusive with staff and punched a correctional officer in the face” in November of 2006 and threatened his cellmate in January 2009.
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Underwood, 49, of California, was charged with the 1988 crime against the woman, whose name was blacked out in court documents.
New Hampshire prosecutors, however, will have to wait to have their chance to try Underwood, who will first be tried for aggravated rape and armed kidnapping with sexual assault in Massachusetts.
Once the Massachusetts trial is over, Underwood will face trial in New Hampshire for attempted murder, second-degree assault, kidnapping and two counts of aggravated assault, according to New Hampshire Interim County Attorney James Boffetti. He added that “that’s what our expectation is” and there is currently no planned prosecutor.
The Massachusetts trial, originally scheduled to occur before Sept. 22, 2011, has been prolonged due to various requests made by Underwood, who is representing himself. It was pushed back until Feb. 3 of this year, but defense attorney Joseph Collins — who is Underwood’s standby attorney — said it was postponed again because Underwood filed “a motion to have the DNA sample retested.”
According to court documents, Underwood requested funds for a DNA expert for an independent analysis of the DNA used in the case. A revised version of the request was approved on Feb. 27, which allowed him to use up to $4,380 to hire Cellmark Forensics to retest the semen sample collected, as well as a swab from the defendant.
Collins said this sample should be ready for the new trial date of May 12 this year. Underwood, however, will appear in court for a final pre-trial hearing on April 9.
Massachusetts prosecutor Kate MacDougall could not make any comments regarding the case, since it is ongoing, but previously said that DNA from his previous convictions in California matched that of this case. Local detectives found Underwood through a national DNA database and matched him to the 1988 attack.
Underwood was indicted for the crimes in Massachusetts on Sept. 17, 2010. He was transported to Essex County Jail from California on May 20, 2011 — 23 years after the original crime was committed — but was moved to the Massachusetts Correctional Facility at Cedar Junction in September 2013.
The move was authorized after, according to a Sept. 18 Eagle-Tribune article, “he used pieces of broken mirror as knives and taped them to his hands.”
Court documents also state Underwood previously requested to be moved to a state facility — described in a letter related to his request as “a facility suitable for my (Underwood’s) security level” — in October, November and December 2012.
This “security level” comes from his previous convictions in 1997 for two first-degree murder charges in California, where Underwood is serving two life sentences for the murders of Mandi Scott, 15, and Rosalie Ortega, 20. Both victims had been raped and stabbed.
Court files said that there has been “one escape attempt from county jail” and that he was “suspected in multiple sex offenses on the East Coast prior to his incarceration in California, without successful prosecution.”
Underwood stated in court documents that he’s a devout Sunni Muslim. Records received from Pelican Bay State Prison in California allege he has used the Muslim chapel to “radicalize Muslims on the General Public (GP).” The records also allege, “While on the GP at a different institution, Underwood had significant influence over the entire Black inmate population to include Muslims, Bloods and Crips. It appears Underwood may have also taken part in a plot to murder the Muslim Chaplain.”
Notes in these records also stated he “became verbally abusive with staff and punched a correctional officer in the face” in November of 2006 and threatened his cellmate in January 2009.
READ MORE
http://ift.tt/OudN0u
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