DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - The trial for a man accused of killing a Weymouth police sergeant and a bystander in 2018 got underway on Thursday.
Four witnesses took the stand at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, including friends of the accused, Emanuel Lopes, as the prosecution and defense laid out what led up to the deaths of police Sgt. Michael Chesna, 42, and Vera Adams, 77.
Lopes himself was led into the courtroom in handcuffs and with chains around his ankles before the start of the proceedings.
The prosecution described how the then-20 year old had been wanted in connection with a crash in Weymouth the morning of July 15, 2018, when Sgt. Chesna confronted him. Prosecutors say Lopes hit Chesna with a rock and then murdered him with his own service firearm.
“Mr. Lopes then took the gun, that he had taken from the ground, next to Sgt. Chesna, stood over Sgt. Chesna’s body, and fired it eight times into his head and into his chest,” said Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor
Other officers started chasing Lopes when he fired three more rounds – one of which fatally struck Adams, an innocent bystander who was sitting in her sun porch at the time, according to the prosecution.
The defense described Lopes as a man suffering from mental health problems.
“15-20 different clinicians over a period of years, diagnosed a young man with major mental illness,” said Larry Tipton, Lopes’s attorney.
During the first day of the trial, prosecutors introduced evidence that included video of Lopes in a convenience store hours before the murders. On the stand, witnesses suggested that Lopes was fine, but became agitated while with his girlfriend – both of whom were arguing, apparently.
Attending Thursday’s opening statements was the family of Sgt. Chesna, as well as several Weymouth police officers.
On Friday, members of the jury are expected to leave the courthouse to view the crime scene. The trial itself is expected to last a month.
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