Calvin Carnes

Case overview

Calvin Carnes Jr. was sentenced to four consecutive life terms in state prison on June 20, 2008, after a conviction for four counts of first-degree murder and additional armed robbery and gun possession charges.

Timeline

• May 19, 2008 — First Assistant District Attorney Josh Wall told a Suffolk Superior Court jury that Calvin Carnes was the one and only shooter responsible for the deaths of Jason Bachiller, Jihad Chankhour, Edwin Duncan, and Chris Vieira; Wall also described an 11-count indictment charging four counts of first-degree murder and additional seven counts of robbery and weapons charges.
• May 23, 2006 — Both defendants pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree murder and robbery and weapons charges for Carnes; Robert Turner pleaded not guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder.
• April 10, 2008 — Robert Turner pleaded guilty in Suffolk Superior Court to four counts of accessory after the fact of murder and unlawful possession of three firearms, including the weapon used in the killings; Turner was sentenced to a maximum of 13 years in prison.
• April 10, 2008 — A written statement by Miriam Cepeda said: "I want you to imagine what his pain was in his last few moments. I want you to dream every single night what it must have felt like to hear your own heart beat slower and slower as your life slips away, scared and in pain."
• June 5, 2008 — Calvin Carnes took the stand and described an alibi involving smoking marijuana and drinking with friends in a Florida Street apartment building on the night of Dec. 13, 2005; he also said he learned of the massacre later that night by watching the news.
• June 18, 2008 — The conviction for four counts of murder and weapons charges was described as resulting from a trial in which jurors restarted deliberations twice after the judge dismissed members of the panel for various personal reasons.
• June 20, 2008 — Calvin Carnes Jr. was sentenced to four consecutive life terms in state prison.
• June 21, 2008 — Hearing marked the final public chapter as described; the sentencing hearing occurred before Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle.
• December 15, 2005 — Police hunted for whoever carried out Boston's deadliest crime in a decade after four men were killed in a Dorchester basement recording studio.
• December 14, 2005 — Four people were shot dead in the basement of a Dorchester house shortly before 10 p.m. on Bourneside Street; the fourth man was taken to Boston Medical Center and pronounced dead.
• December 13, 2005 — The four men were killed in the Bourneside Street basement recording studio; Wall later alleged the shooting ended the lives of three members of the rap group Graveside and a fourth man who was simply visiting.

Background

Calvin Carnes Jr. was friends with three young men who had formed a rap group called Graveside. Carnes did not know Chankhour. The four men killed in the Bourneside Street basement recording studio were identified as Jason Bachiller (20), Jihad Chankhour (22), Edwin Duncan (21), and Vieira (19). The victims were described as members of a rap group called Graveside, and friends and relatives said the victims were "good kids" who used harsh words as an outlet.

The offence

Location and setting

The killings occurred in the Bourneside Street basement recording studio of Edwin Duncan’s home.

Victims and count

Four men were shot and died:

• Jason Bachiller, 20
• Jihad Chankhour, 22
• Edwin Duncan, 21
• Christopher Vieira, 19

Alleged conduct described at trial and in court

First Assistant District Attorney Josh Wall alleged that one victim, Vieira, had a 9mm Glock pistol that Carnes wanted; Wall alleged that Carnes seized the weapon, shot Vieira, and then methodically murdered the three other men. Wall alleged Carnes shot the victims a total of 15 times, with 13 bullets hitting, and described shots as being to the backs of the victims, including shots while they were down. Wall alleged Carnes took Vieira’s car keys and fled the scene with Turner and that, in the days that followed, Carnes and Turner made efforts to hide the weapons and fabricate alibis and sold the firearms.

Opening arguments described that prosecutors said Carnes took and used a gun to turn a social situation into a bloodbath, with victims being shot execution-style. Another account described a prosecutor stating that Carnes took a semi-automatic handgun from one victim, then used it to shoot four young men from behind in a "cold-blooded execution." Prosecutors also described the weapons as including an AK-47 rifle and a shotgun stored in the basement and described as "not intended for use, but for protection and for show and to impress others in the music world."

Investigation

Boston Police homicide detectives and Suffolk prosecutors were described as running an extensive investigation by a special grand jury. The investigation was described as involving nearly 50 witnesses and about 75 pieces of evidence, including physical evidence and other evidence.

Investigators were described as using the grand jury to compel nearly 50 witnesses to testify under oath and to present some 75 pieces of evidence.

Evidence described

The prosecution described multiple pieces of evidence implicating the defendants, including:

• Carnes’s fingerprint in Vieira's Ford Escort, which was stolen from the scene of the crime
• Blood from one victim in the driver's seat area of the Escort
• Witnesses who saw a man matching Carnes's physical description leaving the crime scene
• Witnesses who saw Carnes and Turner in possession of Vieira's "distinctive looking" handgun in the months after the murder
• Witnesses who said the defendants tried to fabricate an alibi by enlisting help
• Cellphone records placing Carnes and Turner near the crime scene the night of the killings
• Witnesses who said the defendants tried to sell the stolen guns

Arrest

Carnes and Turner were arrested on May 11, 2006 amid the investigation. Another description stated that officers apprehended the alleged triggerman in a car in Wareham shortly after asking for public help. A separate statement described that in February, about a month before the grand jury probe began, Carnes and Turner were arrested on Talbot Avenue in Dorchester on trespassing charges after gang unit officers and a State Police K-9 officer sought Turner on an unrelated arrest warrant.

Assistant District Attorney Josh Wall described that Turner had been charged as an accessory after the fact to the murders and pleaded guilty later.

Trial

Charges and plea

Carnes pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and robbery and weapons charges. Robert Turner pleaded not guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder and other charges, and both were ordered held without bail.

Defence and position at trial

Calvin Carnes took the stand and insisted he was not the killer. His lawyer, Shannon Frison, told the court that Carnes had no prior criminal convictions and had his family's support. Another attorney also stated that Carnes was not guilty and had no history of violence, and described that Carnes and Vieira were friends and had argued.

Jurors and deliberations

Jurors were forced to restart deliberations twice after the judge dismissed members of the panel for various personal reasons.

Witness testimony

A lifelong friend of Carnes identified him as the triggerman. Zafer Chankhour testified against Carnes.

Evidence and theory presented by prosecutors

Prosecutors described that:

• Carnes wanted guns and seized a 9mm Glock pistol
• Carnes shot and killed Chris Vieira and then rapidly fired at the other victims
• Carnes fired a total of 15 rounds and hit with 13 of them
• Carnes stood over the dying victims shortly after 9:30 p.m. and pumped additional rounds
• Carnes fled with Turner and both fabricated alibis and tried to hide and sell the weapons

Sentencing

Robert Turner sentencing and plea

Robert Turner pleaded guilty in Suffolk Superior Court in April to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Another account described Turner as pleading guilty to four counts of accessory after the fact of murder and unlawful possession of three firearms, including the weapon used in the killings, and being sentenced to a maximum of 13 years.

Before Turner was sentenced, Darnella Phillips, mother of Edwin Duncan, said she would never forget that Turner and the alleged shooter, Calvin Carnes Jr., were welcomed into their home. Darnella Phillips said: "It's such an evil, evil crime for someone to do this," and also said: "To come into our home and take their lives - I will never get over that."

Robert Turner said in court, reading from a handwritten note:

"My actions were cowardice and heartless and also selfish," Turner, 21, said in court, reading quickly from a handwritten note.
"I was raised to be strong, no matter what the situation was. . . . My actions were wrong."

Calvin Carnes Jr. sentencing hearing

The sentencing hearing took place after Carnes was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder, armed robbery, and gun possession charges. The hearing before Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle lasted 45 minutes.

Statements at sentencing

Elizabeth Perez Barani, mother of victim Christopher Vieira, said:

"You will pay for what you did. How dare you take these good kids away from us for just a spark of adrenaline," said Elizabeth Perez Barani, mother of victim Christopher Vieira.
"You are truly the spark of evil."

Suffolk First Assistant District Attorney Joshua Wall said:

"It was the spark of evil that ripened into a plan of evil," Wall said.

Zafer Chankhour spoke to Carnes, including:

"I saw cruelty and meanness in your eyes," said Chankhour, who testified against Carnes and also noticed that Carnes carried a copy of the Koran into the courtroom.
"It is in our deeds and actions that portray the depth of what is in our hearts, not in any book that you carry in your hand."

Zafer Chankhour also said: "You do not know the love, the beauty, and compassion you have taken away form this world."

Guillermo Bachiller, Jason Bachiller's uncle, said:

"It is appalling how you have reduced Jason and his three friends to pieces of meat," he said, adding that Carnes attacked people who considered him a friend.
"You were a wolf in a lamb's clothing."

Miriam Cepeda, Bachiller's maternal aunt, said in a written statement:

"You are a monster," Miriam Cepeda, Bachiller's maternal aunt said in a written statement.
"I want you to imagine what his pain was in his last few moments. I want you to dream every single night what it must have felt like to hear your own heart beat slower and slower as your life slips away, scared and in pain."

Carnes’s response

Carnes was asked whether he wished to speak, and he responded:

"No," he said.
"No, your honor."

Judicial sentence terms

Judge Margaret Hinkle sentenced Carnes to mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole for each killing and said each life sentence would begin after Carnes completes the prior one. These were four consecutive life terms in state prison on June 20, 2008.

Judge Hinkle said:

"These are horrendous, senseless crimes," Hinkle said.

Appeals and further review

Carnes’s convictions were described as automatically being reviewed by the Supreme Judicial Court.

Outcome

Carnes was convicted of four counts of murder and weapons charges and was later sentenced to four consecutive life terms in state prison on June 20, 2008. Robert Turner pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Aftermath

Relatives of the victims applauded after the judge left the bench. Chris Mitchell, a friend of the victims, said outside the courtroom that the clapping was not a celebration but a message that friends and family believed justice had been done. Mitchell said of Carnes:

"He knows what he took away from this earth," Mitchell said of Carnes.
"Now he gets to rot for a little while."

Other details

Carnes’s defence lawyer Shannon Frison said Carnes had no prior criminal convictions and had his family's support. Carnes’s family declined comment after the sentencing.

Carnes carried a copy of the Koran into the courtroom, and the copy was noticed by Zafer Chankhour during testimony.

Robert Turner was described as the charged accessory after the fact and as assisting Carnes in fleeing and stashing guns. The prosecution alleged that Turner helped Carnes avoid arrest for about five months. Prosecutors also alleged Turner found a place in Roxbury to stash the AK-47 and the shotgun and destroyed them, and fabricated a mutual alibi for Carnes.

There were details in the investigation about cars and guns: Vieira's Ford Escort was stolen from the scene of the crime and was described as having Carnes’s fingerprint in it; a 9mm Glock pistol was described as being unregistered and as belonging to Vieira; and a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun and an AK-47 rifle were described as being in the basement studio. Police asked for help in finding a car driven by one of the victims before the shootings: a black 1998 Ford Escort with tinted windows.