New pictures show suspect lying in hospital bed as he’s charged with the brutal double murder of engaged Boston doctors

DENISE LAVOIE
AP Legal Affairs Writer
BOSTON (AP) — A desperate text message to a friend by Dr. Richard Field sent police rushing to his luxury penthouse condominium, where he lived with his fiancee, Dr. Lina Bolanos.

Inside, police were confronted by a gunman who opened fire on them and was wounded when police fired back.

They also found the bodies of Field and Bolanos, two anesthesiologists who were planning to marry by year’s end. They had been bound and had “obvious trauma” to their bodies, a prosecutor said Monday during the hospital arraignment of Bampumim Teixeira, the man charged in the killings.

By the door, police found a black backpack filled with jewelry they believe belonged to Bolanos.

Authorities released few details during Teixeira’s arraignment. They did not say how the couple was killed or how Teixeira managed to get through security and get up to the 11th floor of the building, where the couple lived.

Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said earlier that authorities believe Bolanos and Field knew Teixeira. A spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley would not elaborate on that.

Teixeira, 30, lay in his bed at Tufts Medical Center covered up to his chin by a blanket during the arraignment. He kept his eyes closed through most of the proceeding as prosecutor John Pappas described two calls made by a friend who received a text from Field.

At Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Monday, May 8, 2017, Bampumim Teixeira, accused of murdering two engaged doctors in their South Boston penthouse condominium, lies in a hospital bed. Teixeira was wounded when confronted by Boston police inside the condo where he allegedly murdered the doctors. (David L Ryan/The Boston Globe, Pool)


The friend first called the front desk at the couple’s condominium building and told security that Field had texted him and said “there was a gunman in the house.”

The same friend also called 911 and told police that Field texted him with “a plea for help.”

By the time police arrived, both Field and Bolanos were dead.

Pappas said police found keys outside the couple’s unit in the Macallen Building. When they opened the door, they found the unit was dark and they were almost immediately confronted by Teixeira, dressed in dark clothing and wearing gloves, Pappas said.

“In the ensuing moments … there was an exchange of gunfire,” Pappas said.

Steven Sack, a court-appointed attorney for Teixeira, entered not-guilty pleas on his behalf to two counts of murder. He did not argue for bail.Pappas said Teixeira was shot in the hand, abdomen and leg during the shootout with police. Teixeira mumbled, “Thank you,” at the end of the arraignment.

Teixeira, 30, of Chelsea, had recently been released from jail after serving time for larceny. Last June, he passed a note demanding money at a Boston bank. He committed the same crime two years earlier, prosecutors said.

Defense attorney Steven Sack, left, stands next to his client, Bampumim Teixeira, center, near prosecutor John Pappas, right, at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Monday, May 8, 2017. Teixeira is accused of murdering two engaged doctors in their South Boston penthouse condominium. (David L Ryan/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)

Bolanos, 38, was a pediatric anesthesiologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an instructor at Harvard Medical School.

Field, 49, also an anesthesiologist, worked at North Shore Pain Management.

Jeffrey MacDowell, a patient of Field’s, said he “was a cut above” the other doctors he has seen for back problems.

“He is the reason I can walk today without being in excruciating pain,” MacDowell said in a text message.

MacDowell said he recently hugged Field for making him feel better and told him, “You’re lucky I don’t kiss you.”

“You can’t do that with many doctors. I will dearly miss him and am worried about my future without him treating me,” he said.

Dr. Sunil Eappen, chief medical officer and chief of anesthesia at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, said he first met Bolanos when she was a young researcher.

“I watched her mature and blossom from a young medical school graduate to a fabulous experienced pediatric anesthesiologist,” he said.

Eappen said she performed her job with both great skill and compassion.

“Everyone at Mass. Eye and Ear really loved her,” he said. “It is desperately hard for all of us to fathom that our friend who never failed to brighten our days is no longer with us.”

[Featured Image: David L Ryan/The Boston Globe, Pool]

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Associated Press writers Mark Pratt and Crystal Hill in Boston and Christina Paciolla in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

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