PEABODY, Mass. (AP) - Attorneys have made opening statements in the trial of a Massachusetts man charged with killing a couple 2 ½ years ago.
Wes Doughty is facing first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of Mark Greenlaw and stabbing death of Jennifer O’Conner in a Peabody property that prosecutor say was a drug den.
The 42-year-old Doughty is also charged with attempted arson, kidnapping, carjacking and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
Prosecutors say killing stemmed from a web of relationships and conflicts between the people living at the home.
Doughty’s attorney said his client killed Greenlaw and O’Conner to protect a “father figure,” who ran the house.
The Salem News reports that the prosecution dropped a rape charge against Doughty after onetime codefendant Michael Hebb asserted his Fifth Amendment right.
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