Marblehead resident indicted for murder

SALEM – A grand jury has indicted a Marblehead man on a charge of murder, after police found the man’s girlfriend dead inside their Sparhawk Terrace home just before Christmas.John Devine, 28, of 27 Sparhawk Terrace, was indicted by an Essex County Grand Jury Wednesday for murder, according to Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett’s office.Devine is accused of murdering his 51-year-old girlfriend Tanya Nichols.Police responded to the Sparhawk Terrace home Dec. 21 and found Nichols on her bedroom floor with a pool of blood and blood-soaked clothing around her head. The glass door to the bedroom was shattered, a nightstand had its legs broken off, and a bedpost was on the bureau, police said. Nichols was determined to have died of head trauma.Devine remains held without bail after pleading not guilty to murder at his arraignment in Lynn District Court Dec. 22.But Devine’s defense attorney said authorities have presented no evidence connecting Devine to the alleged crime other than placing Devine at the scene … along with several other people.Neighbors said police regularly were called to the house because of fights between Devine and Nichols. Along with ordering Devine held without bail, Judge Cathleen Campbell revoked Devine’s bail in a Nov. 14 case where the defendant allegedly cornered and threatened to kill Nichols.A date for Devine’s arraignment in Salem Superior Court has not yet been scheduled.