Authorities in Massachusetts say a high school feud between two boys motivated one to cut off the other’s head in a brutal attack more than two years ago.
According to the New York Post, Mathew Borges was arrested after investigators alleged he beheaded 16-year-old Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino in a jealous rage.
The victim’s body was reportedly found the day after he was reported missing in November 2016. A passerby walking his dog in Lawrence when he saw the remains.
Viloria-Paulino’s severed head wrapped in a bag was reportedly found nearby by a state trooper on the scene.
Borges, who allegedly believed his girlfriend was cheating on him with the victim, texted threats to Viloria-Paulino prior to the homicide, according to prosecutors.
Assistant District Attorney Jay Gubitose presented some of the messages.
“The next time you see me, look at my eyes because that’s the last time they’ll be like that,” Borges allegedly wrote. “They’ll be dead.”
During initial questioning, the suspect reportedly told police that he and the victim were seen walking together on surveillance footage because they were looking for a place to smoke marijuana.
That story fell apart after a search of his home turned up a journal with his plans to commit the crime, Gubitose claimed.
“The defendant told them he stabbed him to death and cut his head and hands off so he couldn’t be identified,” the prosecutor said.
As for Borges’ defense, attorney Edward Hayden argues his client is facing unsubstantiated allegations and can only reasonably linked to a burglary at the victim’s home, not the murder.
According to the Boston Herald, Hayden claimed that those witnesses “who are going to say he committed murder are not reliable.”
The trial against 17-year-old Borges, who was 15 at the time of the crime, continues this week and is expected to conclude next month. He is facing a charge of murder in the first degree.
[Featured image: Mathew Borges, Paul Bilodeau/The Eagle-Tribune via AP, Pool]
