Entwistle appeals for new trial after 2006 killings

HOPKINTON, Mass. (WHDH) -- Neil Entwistle filed an appeal for a new trial on Friday. Some of his former in-laws were in court to watch the proceedings.

Entwistle was convicted of killing his wife, Rachel, and his 9-month-old daughter, Lillian Rose, in their rented home in Hopkinton in 2006.

Entwistle's lawyer says the evidence, including their bodies, which was used to convict Entwistle was tainted because it was retrieved without a search warrant.

“We’re talking about police entering without a search warrant and without any proper legal reason to do so,” said Entwistle’s lawyer.

Entwistle, who’s defense was that his wife killed herself and their daughter, was not in court on Friday.

The justices asked very pointed questions of the defense and the state during the nearly hour-long session. The state maintains the evidence discovered in the Entwistle home after the second police search, including the bodies of Rachel and Lillian Rose, would have been discovered by someone else if not the police.

“That the only way remaining to them to locate that family was to go back into that house,” said the state.

The state says the jury was fair and the trial was done by the book. But Entwistle’s defense says he never stood a chance because he was convicted by the media before he was arraigned.

Many of the victims’ family members were in court wearing roses in honor of Rachel and Lillian Rose. This trial comes one week before Lillian Rose would have turned five years old.

Five justices that sat on the bench Friday morning have 180 days to render a decision.

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