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Jun 10, 2008 2:43 pm US/Eastern
'Welcoming Lady': Entwistle Was Attentive Father
By Denise Lavoie, AP Legal Affairs Writer
WOBURN (AP) ―
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Pamela Jackson on the stand Tuesday.
WBZ
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Neil Entwistle. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
The British man accused of killing his wife and baby girl appeared to be a loving, attentive father who "absolutely beamed" every time he looked as his daughter, a "welcoming lady" for the town of Hopkinton testified Tuesday in his murder trial.
Neil Entwistle is accused of fatally shooting his wife and daughter with a .22-caliber revolver in 2006 after sinking deeply into debt and becoming despondent about his sex life.
But in the days before the murder, the Entwistles appeared to be a happy family, said Pamela Jackson, a Hopkinton resident who welcomes newcomers to town.
Rachel and Neil Entwistle seemed to have a "loving, adorable, engaged, attentive" relationship, Jackson said. "It was just a lovely family," she said in response to questions from prosecutor Michael Fabbri.
Under questioning from Entwistle's attorney, Jackson acknowledged she told police Entwistle was the most attentive father she had ever seen.
"Every time the baby gurgled or cooed or giggled or anything, he would actually avert his eyes and would really just concentrate on the baby," she said. "He beamed, he absolutely beamed."
Jackson's testimony brought Neil Entwistle's mother, Yvonne, to tears. She was led out of the courtroom by Entwistle's father, Clifford.
Prosecutors also called a string of witnesses who testified about Entwistle's flight to England after the killings.
Julie-Anne Aloise, an investigator with Citizens Bank, said Entwistle withdrew $800 from automated teller machines at Logan International Airport on Jan. 20 -- the day of the killings -- and was rejected when he made at least three other attempts to withdraw more money.
Carol Cox, a customer service supervisor for British Airways, said Entwistle was calm and polite when he approached her early in the morning of Jan. 21 and said he wanted to buy a ticket to London. After being told the computer system was down, Entwistle bought an electronic ticket and boarded an 8:20 a.m. flight to London's Heathrow Airport without any luggage, Cox said.
Prosecutors allege Entwistle went to the airport on Jan. 20 after killing his wife and daughter, left the airport, then returned some time later and slept in his car before buying an airline ticket the next morning.
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