It was a plea bargain after criminal charges that allowed an African immigrant suspected of slashing the throats of two doctors in Boston to remain in the United States, according to a new report.
The Boston Herald reported Suffolk prosecutors agreed to the plea deal involving Bampumim Teixeira last fall.
He now is accused of murdering two doctors in their penthouse apartment.
The deal last fall allowed him to keep a green card and avoid being deported.
He had admitted robbing a bank – twice.
At the hearing, a prosecutor and a defense lawyer for the suspect suggested a joint motion to reduce the charges against him from two counts of unarmed robbery to larceny from a person.
The details came, the Herald said, in a recording it obtained of the hearing.
Its report said Teixeira was accused of robbing $212 from a teller at Citizens Bank, and under questioning, admitted to stealing $600 from the same bank in 2014.
The paper said Judge Lisa A. Grant “accepted the recommendations without comment or questions.”
WND reported a week ago that police found Teixeira, who is a legal permanent resident, inside a $1.9 million condo belonging to anesthesiologists Lina Bolanos, 38, and Richard Field, 49.
Bolanos and Field, who were engaged to be married, were dead inside the 11th-floor luxury penthouse. Their hands were bound, their throats slashed and the walls smeared with blood and a “message of retribution.”
“These are two well-respected people killed in their penthouse apartment,” said the Boston police commissioner.
Teixeira, 30, who worked as a security guard, engaged in a firefight with police. The suspect was shot in his stomach, hand and leg, but he did not die. Authorities found a backpack full of jewelry belonging to Bolanos at the scene.
“[Police] opened up the door and shots were fired at them,” the police commissioner said. “I mean, you have a guy here who just killed two people, and he had nothing to lose.”
Concerning Teixeira’s immigration status, Suffolk County District Attorney spokesman Jake Wark told Heavy.com: “From what I gather, Teixeira is a lawful permanent resident. Questions about immigration law and sanctions are best posed to federal authorities such as ICE, since state prosecutors have no jurisdiction or standing in those matters.”
But Immigration and Customs Enforcement told the Daily Caller: “ICE has no legal position with regard to this individual at this time, although we will continue to monitor the matter in case his criminal charges change his legal disposition.”
In fact, Teixeira was fresh out of prison in April, according to his ex-girlfriend, who said he served a nine months in prison for robbing two banks. Teixeira pleaded guilty in September 2016 to two counts of larceny. During both of the robberies – which took place at the same bank – the man did not carry a gun, and he passed notes to bank employees demanding money. He was originally sentenced to 364 days in prison, but the rest of his sentence was suspended after he served nine months.
Had Teixeira been deported after the two bank robberies, Bolanos and Field might still be alive today.
Teixeira’s ex-girlfriend, who has not been named, told the Boston Globe he was born in Guinea-Bissau and was raised in Cape Verde, an island country off Africa’s west coast. He moved to the Boston area with his aunt when he was in his 20s. But Teixeira and his aunt had a fight, and the man became homeless, living in shelters for a time.
Teixeira was arraigned May 8 while he remained in a hospital bed at Tufts Medical Center. He is being charged with two counts of murder.
At the arraignment Monday, “not-guilty pleas to two counts of murder were entered for Teixeira, of Chelsea, who kept his eyes closed throughout his arraignment,” reported the Associated Press. Teixeira was ordered held without bail.
