SALEM, Mass. (WHDH/AP) — The trial of a Lawrence teenager accused of killing a high school classmate whose headless body was found near a river has been postponed.
Mathew Borges was expected in court Nov. 5 but the trial was continued, a spokeswoman for the Essex District Attorney’s Office said. A new start date has not been released.
Borges faces a first-degree murder charge after the body of 16-year-old Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino was found near a river in Lawrence by a woman walking her dog in December of 2016. Police recovered his head nearby.
Borges said in a police report that him and Viloria-Paulino, who both attended Lawrence High School, had gone to smoke marijuana together on Nov. 18, then parted ways.
However, the report also said Borges told a witness that he had “stabbed a kid and cut his head off killing him.”
No motive has been made public.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)