MA - Remains of 3 infants found, Erika Murray charged, Blackstone, Sept 2014

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh says of interviewing Murray: “surprisingly there was no evidence of symptoms consistent with a major mental health issue.” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh on Murray: “her thought process was also surprising normal...she made sense when you spoke to her...consistent, logical” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh on Murray: “No evidence to support impulse control disorders, adult ADHD” or similar disorders @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh on Murray’s relationship with Rivera: she didn’t tell him she was pregnant until 5 1/2 months - “she was in love with Mr. Rivera” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh: “One theme...is that Mr. Rivera was abusive...allegedly being verbally...emotionally abusive...no physical violence toward Ms. Murray” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh says as he understands it Murray didn’t graduate high school, instead getting her GED. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh says Murray started working as a babysitter at age 12, then held various jobs until she was pregnant with her oldest child. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh on Murray: “There was no such history...of a mental health disorder...that she suffered from” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh on Murray: “nobody really reported that this is a woman who had some underlying mental health condition” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh says the older children “didn’t present as unhappy children” says Murray “was essentially doing fine” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh said some described Rivera as “passive” saying “he would reportedly retreat to his basement and smoke pot” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh says of Murray in jail: “She was joking, doing yoga, laughing frequently with cell mates...she wasn’t moved from Blackstone to a resort...she was called a child killer, loser...despite all that she did well” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh on Murray: “her life has been goal-directed since the time she left her family’s home...this is not somebody who’s disorganized, out of her mind” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh on Murray’s daily life: “She gets up, takes care of the two children she actually acknowledged to have...would get Mr. Rivera ready for work” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh on Murray: “What she also had to do was conceal the corpses of the children that she had, and conceal the children...and pregnancies for 9 months...and she was masterful at it” saying she did it for 8 years @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh on Murray: “all of this was concealment, nobody knew about it...she created this persona...to further mislead the family” he says she put on a wig & took a picture “pretending to be this Michelle” Ridgeway (fake FB profile) @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh points out when confronted by police, Murray didn’t admit any of it at first, “but little by little acknowledged it” - “there was this deception, not even just around the kids” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh: “I thought it would be a very straightforward case of insanity” but he says it’s not. He directly refutes what defense experts testified: “there’s nothing about her that’s avoidant or dependent in nature” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh: “Murray did not suffer from a mental health disorder” - anybody in her circumstances living with 5 kids she was hiding would have certain issues - but it’s not mental illness @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh on Murray: “there are certainly no deficits that would rise to the level of a diagnosis of being intellectually disabled” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh: “You have to take into account the behaviors she engaged in throughout all these years (8 years of concealing the children)...she may have a non-specific personality disorder with antisocial traits.” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Prosecutor is done with direct questioning of Dr. Saleh. Defense begins cross examination. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense begins by challenging Dr. Saleh’s assertion that Murray is not mentally ill in part because she hasn’t been treated for a mental illness since she’s been incarcerated. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense revisits Dr. Saleh’s resume; suggesting it’s not as strong and applicable to this case as has been presented; says his focus has been on sexual deviance, sexual offenders. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense says a former member of the Worcester DA’s office is cited in a lot of Dr. Saleh’s work - Dr. Saleh says the late ADA was his UMass professor & mentor. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh says he never really had just a 40 hour a week schedule. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense gets Dr. Saleh to agree he did a number of case reviews for the Worcester DA’s office in 2012 & 2013. That’s in addition to the $450K+ from public defenders’ cases. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense continues going through Dr. Saleh’s tax returns, comparing his work for the Worcester DA’s office vs. public defenders. He was making hundreds of thousands consulting for both sides. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense: “If you can’t reach an opinion that helps them, they stop asking you to help them.” Dr. Saleh: if the opinion is not supporting their argument, they may not have me write the report @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Back from the break, defense attorney Keith Halpern continues cross examination of prosecution rebuttal witness Dr. Fabian Saleh. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense is still going through Dr. Saleh’s billing for court consulting, looking at the hours and just how much he was making on these cases. It’s a lot. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense gets Dr. Saleh to agree the first 51 pages of his report for this case are just a summary of things he’d read about the case. Defense: “There’s no effort to synthesize anything, no effort to explain why it’s significant” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense gets Dr. Saleh to agree he interviewed Murray over a 3 month period after 3 years of incarceration. Defense challenges whether he considered how those years in prison affected her. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh refers to his conclusion that Murray doesn’t have a mental illness. Defense says that’s not an analysis of how Murray’s time in jail may have impacted her mental state at the time he interviewed her. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense asks whether Dr. Saleh looked at whether Murray’s psychological state & depression had improved because she was no longer with Rivera. Dr. Saleh said he considered it. Defense presses him on where he wrote that in his report. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh reads a passage that doesn’t mention how Murray’s incarceration may have affected her state of mind when interviewed. He says it’s incorporated in the underlying thinking of his report; goes to read another passage before judge stops him @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense reviews testimony that Murray’s Blackstone neighbor told investigators her hygiene and mood deteriorated after she moved to the home with Rivera @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Murray looks on as her atty continues to press Dr. Saleh on what he knew about her hygiene. Defense: “her hygiene & clothes were bad before she moved to Blackstone?” Dr. Saleh: yes Defense: “who told you that?” He doesn’t remember @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense presses Dr. Saleh on who told him Murray was not living in filth. He said he thought it was her mother and Rivera’s parent, but he couldn’t remember. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense continues to challenge Dr. Saleh on what he did and didn’t examine on this case, and why certain factors were allegedly ignored by him. Dr. Saleh says he took the case as a whole and examined a lot of the interviews/evidence @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense: “is that your impression that she had a good capacity to plan ahead?” Dr. Saleh: “She did actually” - cites Murray’s 3rd & subsequent pregnancies; says “she did the same thing, engaged in the same behavior” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense presses: “what was the plan?” Dr. Saleh: to do the same thing, continue to have the babies Defense: she told you she lived day-to-day...hadn’t really thought of it Dr. Saleh: “but she was busy doing other things” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense: Murray’s motivation for hiding the pregnancies was “she was terrified Rivera would leave her” Dr. Saleh: “she said she was embarrassed about having the children...also said she didn’t want to be abandoned by Mr. Rivera” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense: “you interpreted her emotional flatness as a lack of remorse, no?” Dr. Saleh: “I didn’t say that” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense: “she wasn’t uncaring, she was just clueless” Dr. Saleh somewhat agrees. Defense: you said she was masterful at deception...of Mr. Rivera Dr. Saleh: more so of the older children @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh on Murray’s secret pregnancies/children: “it’s 8 years that she succeeded in that tiny home, I consider that quite masterful” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense again shows this photo from inside the older daughter’s room “how masterful do you think Ms. Murray has to be to keep Mr. Rivera from smelling that room?” Dr. Saleh: “it’s not a matter of masterfulness when it comes to smell” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense presses Dr. Saleh on the fake Facebook page & birth certificate doctored in pencil that Murray produced - suggesting they were anything but masterful @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense points out that antisocial personality disorder must have developed by age 15. Defense: “don’t you know?” Dr. Saleh: “I didn’t memorize it” and he insists he said Murray had “traits” of antisocial personality disorder @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense trying to point out more incongruities, presses Dr. Saleh: “People with antisocial personality disorder gain pleasure from deceiving people” Dr. Saleh says they may but says he didn’t diagnose Murray with it @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense: “you never asked her how she felt after the stillbirths of her babies” Dr. Saleh: yes I did Defense: no you didn’t - show me where you asked her @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense is now pressing Dr. Saleh on the questions he asked during his more than 7 hours interviewing Murray in 2017 & 2018 and whether he accurately reported the answers to those questions @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Murray appears to get emotional as her attorney continues to challenge Dr. Saleh on his interviews with her and his alleged mischaracterizations of her answers to his questions. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Defense: “So you’re not saying she had an impairment to recognize reality?” Dr. Saleh: “absolutely not” Defense once again shows the photo of this room in her home. Cross is done. Prosecutor begins redirect. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Prosecutor: “does the amount that you’re paid on this case or any other...influence your opinion?” Dr. Saleh: “absolutely not” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Prosecutor: has anyone at the Worcester DA’s office told you what your testimony should be in this case? Dr. Saleh: “absolutely not” @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Still not done with this rebuttal witness, the judge takes the lunch break. We’ll be back at 2pm @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

 

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Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Returning from the lunch break, Dr. Saleh remains on the stand under redirect. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
Dr. Saleh is excused. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors

Alysha Palumbo NBC10 Boston‏Verified account @AlyshaNBCBoston
The defense asks for a sidebar before closing arguments. This is a bench trial, so no need for jury instructions. @NBC10Boston @NECN #Blackstone #HouseofHorrors