Where is Amy Sher
Did a botched policed investigation allow a murderer to go free?That is a question surrounding how police responded to the disappearance of a Billerica woman who is now presumed to be a homicide victim.Our I-Team has been investigating this case. I-Team reporter Joe Bergantino with more on what the police should have done.
Wendy Murphy, Attorney: “It’s unconscionable that the police would not at least have talked to her co-workers.”Former Prosecutor Wendy Murphy is talking about what Billerica Police failed to do in October 2002 when thirty-eight year old Amy Sher disappeared without a trace.Police received a phone call from supervisors here at the Lahey Clinic where Amy worked in the hospital’s finance department.Those supervisors told police that Amy had been a victim of severe emotional and physical domestic abuse for several years, that her husband e-mailed a resignation letter and that they feared she had been murdered.The police response? Police made one phone call to Amy’s husband, Robert Desmond, and did nothing else after Desmond told them Amy had decided to leave the area for a while.
Wendy Murphy, Attorney: “Maybe thirty years ago that’s enough, the police make a phone call, the guy tells him something, he’s the husband, she’s the wife, whatever he says goes because it’s a boys club. Thirty years ago maybe, not in this time frame. It makes no sense.”So why didn’t police, at the very least, drive over to Amy’s home and assess the situation?Daniel Rosa, Billerica Police Chief: “I would say normally that would be the procedure. This particular case presented itself a little differently at the outset.”
In other words, this wasn’t a case that began with a phone call from a home in the middle of a violent episode.Mary Lauby heads up Jane Doe Inc., an advocacy group for domestic violence victims.Joe Bergantino: “Is that a legitimate excuse?”Mary Lauby, Jane Doe, Inc: “No, a very simple no.”Another question, why didn’t police bother to interview Amy Sher’s co-workers to better understand the extent of her abuse?Joe Bergantino: “It boggles my mind as to why some basic things that I would do even as a reporter weren’t done in this case.”Daniel Rosa, Billerica Police Chief: “It’s an ongoing investigation and I’m not going to comment any further about that part of it. Again, I feel there was a response.”Joe Bergantino: “An acceptable response?”Daniel Rosa, Billerica Police Chief: “And I do feel there was a response and they’re following up on the case as we speak.”Wendy Murphy, Attorney: “It’s beyond incredible that they didn’t talk to her co-workers to find out more about what they knew.Joe Bergantino: “So how serious a mistake was this?”Wendy Murphy, Attorney: “If he killed her and they asked no questions of anyone, this is, in a sense, the police being responsible for a murderer walking free.”The police investigation in this case didn’t begin until April of last year, eighteen months after Amy disappeared.It was triggered when Amy’s mother and sister, from whom she had been estranged for ten years, hired a private investigator to get pictures of Amy and son Michael.The private detective found Amy’s husband and son but not Amy.
Joel Picchi, Private Detective: “Amy was nowhere to be found.”Last spring, State Police and cadaver sniffing dogs searched the home where Amy had lived but found nothing. They have questioned Robert Desmond who has stuck by his story.Joe Bergantino: “Why didn’t you file a missing person’s report?”Robert Desmond: “Because she moved out under a sad but amicable situation. She’s not a missing person in our view.”But authorities say Amy’s disappearance is now a homicide investigation.And surprising to many, Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley is defending the Billerica Police’s failure to investigate back in October of 2002.
Martha Coakley, Middlesex D.A.: “I’m not sure looking back at that that either the department could have done more or that we would have advised them to do more.”Amy’s family and victim advocates strongly disagree.Joani McCullough: “I think they should have taken it more seriously and somebody should have investigated.”Even in the past year, detectives have failed to do some very basic police work. They have not tried to subpoena Robert Desmond’s credit card records, phone records or computer hard drive. They never searched for Amy Sher’s car until the I-Team questioned why that had not been done. And more than a year into their investigation, they still hadn’t talked with Desmond’s parents or co-workers.
Wendy Murphy, Attorney: “It’s unconscionable that the police would not at least have talked to her co-workers.”Former Prosecutor Wendy Murphy is talking about what Billerica Police failed to do in October 2002 when thirty-eight year old Amy Sher disappeared without a trace.Police received a phone call from supervisors here at the Lahey Clinic where Amy worked in the hospital’s finance department.Those supervisors told police that Amy had been a victim of severe emotional and physical domestic abuse for several years, that her husband e-mailed a resignation letter and that they feared she had been murdered.The police response? Police made one phone call to Amy’s husband, Robert Desmond, and did nothing else after Desmond told them Amy had decided to leave the area for a while.
Wendy Murphy, Attorney: “Maybe thirty years ago that’s enough, the police make a phone call, the guy tells him something, he’s the husband, she’s the wife, whatever he says goes because it’s a boys club. Thirty years ago maybe, not in this time frame. It makes no sense.”So why didn’t police, at the very least, drive over to Amy’s home and assess the situation?Daniel Rosa, Billerica Police Chief: “I would say normally that would be the procedure. This particular case presented itself a little differently at the outset.”
In other words, this wasn’t a case that began with a phone call from a home in the middle of a violent episode.Mary Lauby heads up Jane Doe Inc., an advocacy group for domestic violence victims.Joe Bergantino: “Is that a legitimate excuse?”Mary Lauby, Jane Doe, Inc: “No, a very simple no.”Another question, why didn’t police bother to interview Amy Sher’s co-workers to better understand the extent of her abuse?Joe Bergantino: “It boggles my mind as to why some basic things that I would do even as a reporter weren’t done in this case.”Daniel Rosa, Billerica Police Chief: “It’s an ongoing investigation and I’m not going to comment any further about that part of it. Again, I feel there was a response.”Joe Bergantino: “An acceptable response?”Daniel Rosa, Billerica Police Chief: “And I do feel there was a response and they’re following up on the case as we speak.”Wendy Murphy, Attorney: “It’s beyond incredible that they didn’t talk to her co-workers to find out more about what they knew.Joe Bergantino: “So how serious a mistake was this?”Wendy Murphy, Attorney: “If he killed her and they asked no questions of anyone, this is, in a sense, the police being responsible for a murderer walking free.”The police investigation in this case didn’t begin until April of last year, eighteen months after Amy disappeared.It was triggered when Amy’s mother and sister, from whom she had been estranged for ten years, hired a private investigator to get pictures of Amy and son Michael.The private detective found Amy’s husband and son but not Amy.
Joel Picchi, Private Detective: “Amy was nowhere to be found.”Last spring, State Police and cadaver sniffing dogs searched the home where Amy had lived but found nothing. They have questioned Robert Desmond who has stuck by his story.Joe Bergantino: “Why didn’t you file a missing person’s report?”Robert Desmond: “Because she moved out under a sad but amicable situation. She’s not a missing person in our view.”But authorities say Amy’s disappearance is now a homicide investigation.And surprising to many, Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley is defending the Billerica Police’s failure to investigate back in October of 2002.
Martha Coakley, Middlesex D.A.: “I’m not sure looking back at that that either the department could have done more or that we would have advised them to do more.”Amy’s family and victim advocates strongly disagree.Joani McCullough: “I think they should have taken it more seriously and somebody should have investigated.”Even in the past year, detectives have failed to do some very basic police work. They have not tried to subpoena Robert Desmond’s credit card records, phone records or computer hard drive. They never searched for Amy Sher’s car until the I-Team questioned why that had not been done. And more than a year into their investigation, they still hadn’t talked with Desmond’s parents or co-workers.
posted by Coleman Investments, LLC at 11:12 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home