Every year on May 5, Unit 1012 will always remember Dr.
Richard Fields and his wife, Dr. Lina Bolanos, two Boston Doctors who were
murdered on May 5, 2017.
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Dr. Richard Field and
Dr. Lina Bolanos had their throats slit by Bampumim Teixeira.
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Armed Robber,
Bampumim Teixeira, Given Light Sentence To Prevent Deportation, Brutally Kills
Two Doctors At Home
Boston, MA
– Prior plea deals that allowed Bampumim Teixeira to
keep his green card and prevent his deportation cost two innocent
doctors their lives last Friday, May 5.
According to The Boston Herald, police were called to the apartment
after being notified by a friend of Dr. Fields that he had received a text
message begging for help. Upon arrival, the suspect, Teixeira, opened
fire on police, and was shot three times; he remains hospitalized.
Both victims,
Dr. Richard Fields, age 49, and Dr. Lina Bolanos, age 38, were found bound, and
with their throats cut. Teixeira forced Dr. Fields to watch in a mirror as
his throat was cut.
Teixeira was arraigned in his hospital
room on Monday, May 8, and he appeared unsconscious throughout the
proceeding. His attorney, who represented him on his previous charges, entered
not guilty pleas. He is expected to recover; unfortunately, his victims
won’t.
In 2016, Teixeira was arrested by the
FBI Bank Robbery Task Force for robbing a branch of Citizens Bank. He
threatened to shoot up the bank if he didn’t get the money he demanded.
The teller thought he had a gun and
feared for her life. He only got $212, and a dye pack.
While being questioned about that bank
robbery, he told police that he was also wanted for a 2014 robbery of the same
bank. He got $600 that time, also while threatening to shoot up the bank.
He was so helpful that he told detectives he had seen his wanted picture
on the Mass Most Wanted website. Teixeira was shown the wanted picture of
himself and told detectives that was him.
With two bank robbery charges, he
should have served a lengthy prison sentence and then been deported, but he
wasn’t. Under an agreed-upon deal, the prosecutor and the defense
attorney allowed Teixeira to plead to two “larceny from person” charges instead
of two bank robbery charges.
Plea deals like this are becoming more
and more common as prosecutors in Palo Alto, New York, and Baltimore have
all recently made the news for reducing sentences to prevent deportations.
Legal non-citizen immigrants who are convicted of crimes with a sentence of 365
days or more are deported.
Recommendations were made to Judge Lisa
A. Grant that Teixeira be given a sentence of 364 days in jail, one day less than
a full year, with nine months to serve, credit for time served of 78 days, and
the rest suspended for three years.
The most Honorable Judge Grant accepted
the plea. This is the same Judge Grant who is fairly new to the bench, having
been a defense attorney and public counselor services director in her previous
career. She has also stated that she does not favor mandatory minimum
sentences, because they take away a judge’s discretion.
What was also interesting about the
plea deal was that Judge Grant accepted it orally, and did not require it to be
in writing.
Both the prosecutor and defense attorney
asked that the first robbery case be marked “guilty filed,” which exempts
Teixeira from immigration penalties such as deportation.
A spokesman for the Suffolk County DA
said that the plea was not accepted to shield Teixeira from deportation.
However, it is clear that the plea was designed to do just that.
Outside of aggravated felonies, federal
law states that any green-card holder like Teixeira who is convicted of two or
more crimes involving “moral turpitude” is deportable. But since his case
was filed as “guilty filed”, in a strangely retroactive move, it doesn’t count.
Federal courts have not yet
acknowledged “guilty filed” as grounds to deport an illegal immigrant.
As such, ICE said that it “has no legal role in this case at this time
but will continue to monitor its progress.”
It is not known yet what connection
Teixeira had to the murdered couple, but he once held a security job at their
condominium complex.
And this was not just a robbery gone
wrong. It is believed that there was a connection between one of Dr.
Fields’ patients and Teixeira, although that is still being investigated.
Deportation rules are in place for
public safety. Any prosecutor who intentionally circumvents those rules is
giving violent felons permission to roam free.
Do you think that there should be a
federal law which prohibits plea deals to prevent deportation?
Family of slain Boston doctors: Remember their lives, not how they died
By Karma
Allen
May 9, 2017,
2:23 AM ET
The families
of the two Boston doctors who were killed in a suspected double murder in their
penthouse apartment last week asked the public on Monday to remember the couple
for the lives they lived and not for how they died.
Richard
Field, 49, and Lina Bolanos, 38, -- described by family as a loving couple with
an infectious joy for life -- were killed in their South Boston apartment last
Friday night when a man who they, apparently, did not know walked in and attacked them,
police said.
The two were
planning to get married soon, according to their families.
In a
statement released on Monday, Field’s family reflected on the lives of both
doctors and asked that they be remembered for the good that they did in the
world.
"We
want to remember Richard and Lina for who they were, not how they died,"
the family said. "Their impact in the world --
in the lives of those who they loved, those who loved them, and the patients
that they cared for -- is the real newsworthy story."
The
family described the two as “loving” and “vital people,” who cared for the
children in their extended families as if they were their own.
"As
doctors, they dedicated their professional lives to alleviating suffering and
ensuring the safety of those most vulnerable—children undergoing surgery,"
the statement said.
The family
said that the couple would often find "the time to take interest in each
and every one of us no matter what was on their plate.”
Bolanos
worked as a pediatric anesthesiologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston,
according to the hospital.
"Dr.
Bolanos was an outstanding pediatric anesthesiologist and a wonderful colleague
in the prime of both her career and life," John
Fernandez, the hospital's president and CEO, said in a statement over the
weekend. "We will do all we can to support
their families and our staff members who are processing this senseless tragedy
and grieving an enormous loss."
Field
"was a guiding vision" at North Shore Pain Management, an entity he
helped create back in 2010, according to the practice. Prior to that, he worked
as an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at Beverly Hospital and
Brigham and Women's Hospital.
"Dr.
Field was noted for his tireless devotion to his patients, staff and
colleagues," the practice said in a statement. "He was a valued member of the medical community and
a tremendous advocate for his patients."
The suspect
in the slaying, 30-year-old Bampumim Teixeira of Chelsea, Massachusetts, was
taken into custody at the crime scene, according to police, who said they recovered a
bag containing the woman’s jewelry and a replica of a firearm from the
apartment.
A plea of not
guilty was entered on his behalf and he was ordered held without bail at his
arraignment in his room at Tufts Medical Center on Monday. He is scheduled to
appear in court on June 8.
The couple's
family asked for the public to make a "tribute donation in Richard and
Lina's memory" to the Doctors Without Borders Organization.
"We will
remember and celebrate their passion, gentility, and extraordinary kindness
forever," the family said in their statement. "[Th]eir loss will be
felt by family and loved ones across the world."
ABC News'
Joshua Hoyos and Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
INTERNET SOURCE: http://abcnews.go.com/US/family-slain-boston-doctors-remember-lives-died/story?id=47289952
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