Briton convicted of murdering wife, baby in Mass.

6/25/2008

WOBURN, Mass. A British man who fled the U.S. after his wife and baby daughter were shot to death in their home has been convicted of murdering them.

A Massachusetts jury on Wednesday rejected a claim by Neil Entwistle's lawyer that his wife killed their baby then committed suicide.

Prosecutors say Entwistle was in debt and dissatisfied with his sex life when he fatally shot his wife and daughter as they snuggled in bed in their Hopkinton home in 2006. He then fled to his native England.

The defense did not put on any witnesses. Instead, Entwistle's attorney claimed Rachel Entwistle shot 9-month-old Lillian Rose and then killed herself.

Entwistle claimed he returned the gun to his father-in-law's home 50 miles away because he wanted to preserve his wife's honor.