Jury Begins Deliberations In Mathew Borges Beheading Murder Trial
SALEM (CBS) -- A jury began deliberations Monday in the trial of 18-year-old Mathew Borges, who is charged with beheading Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino in November 2016.
Borges is accused of killing Viloria-Paulino, a classmate at Lawrence High School when they were sophomores in 2016. Viloria-Paulino was last seen alive on Nov. 18, 2016, when Borges told police they smoked pot together. His body was found on Dec. 1. 2016.
During closing arguments Monday morning, defense attorney Ed Hayden said there's not enough evidence to convict his client.
"They come up with a handful of instances where Matthew was talking about jealousy. They have their motive and they're sticking with it. But if you consider those texts in the context of the thousands of other texts and in the context of the witnesses who testified here— then it is pretty clear that this motive about jealousy is just manufactured," said Hayden.
He called the social media posts used as evidence "unreliable" and the Lawrence teens called to testify "were lying to protect themselves."
"There is some big secret that these kids are hiding," Hayden said.
The family of Lee Viloria-Paulino. On the front of their shirts is a picture of Lee. On the back, they ask for justice. @wbz pic.twitter.com/vV3YQpjxAt
— Lisa Gresci (@Lisa_Gresci) May 13, 2019
But prosecutor Jay Gubitose told the jury every piece of evidence points to Borges, citing text messages and social media posts where Borges referenced killing someone.
"These aren't coincidences ladies and gentlemen, this is evidence," said Gubitose.
In one instance, Gubitose noted, "This [text message] is to Stephanie, 24 hours before he kills Lee: 'Take a good look at my eyes the next time we talk because that may be the last time you see them like that ever again.' Something like that. She says 'don't say that, I don't want to see your eyes dead.' 'No, don't, it's true. I know what I'm going to do and I can't do anything about it. People will notice a big difference in me once my eyes turn dead.'"
A jury of eight men and four women were sent to deliberate Borges's fate at 11:45 a.m. Monday.
Borges, who was 15 at the time, is being tried as an adult.