WORCESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - Two more people are facing charges in connection with the death of a man whose body was found burned in the woods in Worcester last week, but an attorney for one says he did not know he was involved with the alleged disposal of a body.
Primitivo Matos, 35, and Daniel Rivera, 27, were arraigned Monday in Worcester District Court on a charge of accessory after the fact in the death of 30-year-old Benjamin Pacheco, court documents indicate.
A third suspect, 35-year-old Rafael Guzman, was arraigned Friday on the same charge. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.
Authorities responding to a report of a blaze in the woods near 277 Granite St. around 6 a.m. on Sept. 10 “found a burning human body in a grassy area,” according to the documents.
Police say there was “evidence that he [the victim] may have been wrapped in bubble wrap packing material and a blanket.”
An autopsy later revealed that Pacheco had suffered a “sharp penetrating wound” to the neck and that his manner of death was a homicide.
Before firefighters found the victim’s flaming body, police say surveillance video in the area showed a suspicious car driving up and down Granite Street, and at one point “stopping in the area of the crime scene for several minutes, suggesting that it was the vehicle involved in dropping off the body and burning it.”
Surveillance cameras at the Great Brook Valley housing development captured video of Guzman walking into the building on the morning of Sept. 10 with a large roll of plastic bubble wrapping material, police said in the documents.
Guzman, Matos, and Rivera were then allegedly seen on video carrying a “‘body-length” bundle wrapped in the packaging material, leaving the building, and putting it in the trunk of a car that had been reportedly loaned to Guzman.
But an attorney for Rivera, a father of two who worked at a bakery, said he was unaware of what he was carrying.
“My client is telling me he did not know that what he was moving was a dead body,” attorney Jeffrey Goldstein said.
Guzman’s car was again seen on surveillance video traveling down Granite Street shortly before the body was found.
Police say Guzman was a “known associate” of Pacheco and that the two men had briefly hung out on Sept. 9. Guzman’s attorney said Guzman is related to Pacheco, and said he was not involved.
“He denies having anything to do with this case,” attorney George Murphy said.
Matos, who was said to be present at the time of Pacheco’s death, allegedly admitted to assisting with the removal of the wrapped-up body but denied knowing what was inside the bundle.
Pacheco was a native of Puerto Rico and a “well-known” music producer known as “Benny Beats,” according to his obituary.
An investigation is ongoing.
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