The murder trial of a teenager accused of decapitating his Lawrence High School classmate in 2016 entered its second day Tuesday as jurors heard from a man who was walking his dog when he found the victim’s headless body near the Merrimack River.
Mathew Borges, 18, is charged with first-degree murder in the November 2016 death of Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino. He was 15 at the time but is being tried as an adult and has previously pleaded not guilty.
As opening statements got underway Monday in Salem Superior Court, prosecutors cited jealousy as a possible driving force behind the alleged heinous criminal act and introducing a journal that Borges and his girlfriend kept together.
Borges wrote an entry about growing angry after seeing Viloria-Paulino sitting with his girlfriend in the school cafeteria and accused her of sleeping with the victim, according to prosecutors. The last entry in the journal was a “kill note,” which prosecutors say was written in the third-person without mention of the victim.
Omar Medina, who found Viloria-Paulino’s body in December 2016, took the stand Tuesday as testimony resumed.
“I looked. I kind of second-guessed myself. I thought I saw a dead body but I wasn’t too sure,” Medina told the court. “It was missing some limbs.”
A first responder who was called to the banks of the river testified that he found Viloria-Paulino’s head floating in a plastic bag, which had been weighted down with rocks.
“I opened it up just enough where I could notice an ear,” Massachusetts State Police trooper Brian O’Neill said.
Viloria-Paulino left the courtroom while prosecutors showed jurors graphic photos of his dismembered body.
They also played surveillance video of what they said was Borges and Viloria-Paulino heading down to the river to smoke marijuana. Borges allegedly told police that the two split up after smoking.
Viloria-Paulino’s family have said that police mishandled their son’s disappearance after initially insisting that their son had run away.
Borges’ defense has suggested that Viloria-Paulino may have been killed in a violent gang attack. No DNA, no weapon and no physical evidence that link Borges to the crime have been found.
When testimony resumes Wednesday, prosecutors will play an audio recording of the hourlong statement that Borges gave to police.
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