Trial begins for Lynn suspect in mom’s stabbing

BOSTON – The trial of a Lynn man accused of stabbing his mother to death because she would not help him fill out his tax forms was to get under way Monday with jury selection in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston.Authorities have charged Cory Roche, 25, with first-degree murder for allegedly stabbing 42-year-old Lisa Bryson Roche in her Revere home on Feb. 25, 2008 during an argument that was sparked when the victim refused to help her son complete his tax returns.Lisa Roche was home with her adult daughter, 17-year-old son, 6-year-old daughter, 2-year-old daughter and the adult daughter’s fiancé when her son arrived at the first-floor apartment and asked for tax help.When Lisa Roche said she could not help her son, he became angry and stabbed her multiple times.Along with fellow officers, Lt. John M. Azzari and Officer James R. Rose of the Revere Police Department responded to a report of a woman stabbed and were the only two to enter the premises.After finding the injured victim in a blood-soaked scene, the officers located the suspect. Rose confronted Roche, ordered him to drop the knife and, when Roche refused to do so, shot him once in the chest.Roche pleaded innocent from his hospital bed the following day to murdering his mother and armed assault with intent to murder Rose.Roche had a previous court record that included two charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.Roche’s defense attorney Robert Wheeler has said that the facts of the case will emerge at trial.Assistant District Attorney Mark Lee, deputy chief of the Homicide Unit, is trying the case for the commonwealth before Judge Charles Spurlock.