Dorchester man convicted of killing girl, leaving flaming physique close to practice tracks

Crime

Fernando Owens is accused of killing New Jersey resident Ashley Bortner in November 2015.

A Dorchester man was convicted of murdering a New Jersey girl and leaving her physique close to a set of MBTA practice tracks in 2015.

Fernando Owens, 51, was discovered responsible of first diploma homicide and aggravated kidnapping, in accordance with Plymouth County District Legal professional Tim Cruz’s workplace. A jury deliberated for 10 hours following a seven-day trial.

Bridgewater Police obtained a 911 name simply earlier than midnight on Nov. 3, 2015 relating to a report of a hearth close to practice tracks, in accordance with Cruz’s workplace. Police discovered that the physique of 29-year-old Ashley Bortner was on fireplace.

Greater than 70% of Bortner’s physique had been burned, Cruz’s workplace mentioned. She had been gagged and a towel had been wrapped round her face. Her palms and ft have been certain behind her.

Massachusetts State Police investigators decided that Owens knew Bortner and believed she “one way or the other performed a job within the Suffolk County homicide of Owens’s son,” in accordance with Cruz’s workplace.

Owens’s 21-year-old son, Dominic, was shot and killed in what seemed to be a focused killing earlier on Nov. 3, The Boston Globe beforehand reported.

As household gathered on the scene of the crime, Owens was seen visibly agitated and making calls on a cellphone. Owens and Bortner spoke 13 occasions on the telephone that day, in accordance with the Globe.

{An electrical} twine and a cotton towel have been seized from Owens’s house, officers mentioned. This stuff linked him to the homicide.

Authorities say Owens fled to the Dominican Republican shortly after killing Bortner. He was captured by police there.

Two co-defendants, 48-year-old Julian Squires and 46-year-old Shannon Squires have additionally been charged for his or her alleged roles within the homicide of Bortner. They have been in Bridgewater across the time of the homicide, in accordance with Cruz’s workplace. They allegedly helped Owens kill Bortner and get rid of her physique, officers mentioned.

Julian Squires was sentenced to life in jail for his position within the homicide. Shannon Squires is scheduled to seem in court docket subsequent month.