Prosecution Rests, Defense Begins Its Case In Bella Bond Murder Trial
BOSTON (CBS) – The prosecution ended its case Friday morning in the trial of a man accused of killing two-year-old Bella Bond.
Michael McCarthy is on trial for first-degree murder in Bella's death. The prosecution says McCarthy struck and killed the toddler because he was obsessed with the occult and believed she was a "demon."
Then it was the defense's turn and the defense zeroed-in on its primary target, Bella Bond's mother Rachelle. The defense is focusing on Rachelle Bond's apparent obsession with demons.
The first witness was Rachelle Bond's acquaintance Nicole Marquis. Marquis said she saw the composite photo of Bella police had released and remembered seeing Bella's picture on Rachelle's Facebook page.
"I went onto Facebook, and I saw the pictures of Bella and put them side-by-side," she said.
Acquaintance of mother put #BabyDoe photo next to screenshot from #BellaBond mom Facebook page. Resemblance prompted her to call police #wbz pic.twitter.com/XBOHN1ms9d
— Christina Hager (@HagerWBZ) June 16, 2017
She then told the court that said she remembered a conversation she had with Rachelle at a clinic where the two women met. Marquis said Rachelle believed her parents were demonic.
"She said when she was a child, her parents would try to pull her soul out of her body. She was in fear that whatever was trying to go after her was now trying to go after her daughter," Marquis said.
Phone records show friend called police, saying #BabyDoe looked like Rachelle Bond's daughter #BellaBond 2 months before baby was ID'd. #wbz pic.twitter.com/WRHto92OIx
— Christina Hager (@HagerWBZ) June 16, 2017
That was when Marquis called the police. Her phone records showed that she tried once and didn't get through. She got through the second time and, "I just told them that Rachelle Bond had a Facebook page and they could see the picture on Facebook."
"I remember they asked me why I was concerned about the matter and I just said the last time I saw her she was acting very strange," she said.
State Police didn't publicly announce the identity of Bella Bond for two more months. The police told WBZ-TV that it would be inappropriate to say if they followed up on Marquis phone call.
Prosecutor:"He didn't ask you anything about where she (#BellaBond) was or how she was..." Trooper:"No concern whatsoever." #wbz pic.twitter.com/pBJe2WzsrI
— Christina Hager (@HagerWBZ) June 16, 2017
The prosecution ended its case Friday morning. One of the final witnesses was a state trooper who spoke with McCarthy. The trooper told the court he was shocked that McCarthy showed, "No concern whatsoever," when he heard Bella was dead.
The defense is expected to end its case on Monday and the trial could go to the jury by Tuesday.
The judge said to day that she is open to a Manslaughter charge as one of the options the jury can consider.