MA man pleads guilty in 1996 mom, baby killings
A man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and letting her 22-month-old daughter starve to death pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter charges as part of a plea agreement in which his uncle, who was already serving life for killing four women, confessed to killing four more.
Paul Fickling was convicted in the 1996 deaths of Amy Smith, 20, and her daughter, Destiny, but was granted a new trial earlier this year after his uncle - convicted serial killer Alfred Gaynor - confessed to killing Smith.
Hampden District Attorney William Bennett said Fickling admitted hitting Smith after an argument and holding her in a headlock. Gaynor admitted tying her up, stuffing her in a closet and stuffing a sock in her mouth, Bennett said.
A social worker found Smith's naked body in the closet. Her daughter was found dead of starvation and dehydration in their sweltering Springfield apartment.
Bennett said prosecutors agreed to a plea bargain if Fickling pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the deaths of Smith and her daughter and if Gaynor gave a statement to police about any other killings he had committed.
"We indicated that Gaynor was a suspect in the other crimes and that if he would give us a statement detailing all the circumstances regarding other murders that he committed, in exchange for that, we would give some consideration to Fickling," Bennett said.
"It was important to us to solve those other murders," the prosecutor said.
In Hampden Superior Court on Monday, Fickling pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in Smith's death and involuntary manslaughter in her daughter's death. He was sentenced to 19 to 20 years. He has already served about 14 years.
Bennett said Gaynor confessed to killing Jill Ann Ermellini, Robin M. Atkins, Yvette Torres and Vera Hallums.
Prosecutors plan to present evidence and ask a grand jury to indict Gaynor in their deaths, as well as Smith's killing and the death of her daughter. He said Gaynor is expected to plead guilty to all those killings.
Bennett said Gaynor had been the prime suspect in the killings of Ermellini, Atkins and Torres, all of whom were killed in the 1990s. He was one of several suspects in the killing of Hallums, Bennett said.
All four women - as well as the four women he has already been convicted of killing - were crack cocaine users who exchanged sex for drugs, Bennett said.
"Their addictions placed them in (Gaynor's) hands and led to their deaths," Bennett said.
Fickling's lawyer in the plea negotiations, Joseph Franco, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Gaynor's attorney, Peter Ettenberg, also did not immediately return a call.
