PHOTO BY SCOTT EISEN
Murder suspect Michael Hebb is escorted during his arraignment in Peabody District Court.
By GAYLA CAWLEY
PEABODY — After one suspect was arraigned in Peabody District Court on Tuesday for the weekend double homicide on Farm Avenue, authorities are warning the public to be on the lookout while the second suspect remains at large.
Police are searching for Wes Doughty, 39, who is wanted in the killing of Mark Greenlaw, 37, and Jennifer O’Connor, 39.
The couple’s bodies were discovered Saturday night in a home at 19 Farm Ave. Both victims were thought to have been living there, and investigators learned that they were dating. A search of their respective Facebook profiles shows that the couple was engaged.
Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett is warning the public that Doughty, who is considered to be armed and dangerous, should not be approached.
State Police detectives assigned to the District Attorney’s office obtained an arrest warrant for Doughty on Saturday. State and Peabody police have been actively pursuing him since that time, according to the DA’s office.
If anyone sees Doughty or knows his whereabouts, they are asked to call 911 or the Massachusetts State Police immediately at 1-800-KAPTURE (527-8873).
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The other suspect, Michael Hebb, 45, of Peabody, was arraigned Tuesday in Peabody District Court and was ordered held without bail by Judge James Barretto. Hebb pleaded not guilty to two counts of first degree murder.
Hebb was taken into custody Monday at an apartment complex at 84 Aborn St. He is scheduled to appear in court on March 28 for a probable cause hearing.
Hebb’s defense attorney, Ray Buso, said he couldn’t comment directly on the charges, or from what his client may or may not have said, but only what had been said in open court.
“I can’t say anything that my client has said to me,” Buso said following the arraignment. “He could have confessed. He could have said I’m not the guy.”
Buso said his client had what he called a fairly exhaustive interview lasting nearly two hours, before he was appointed as Hebb’s attorney.
“I can tell you that he gave a recorded statement after he was arrested yesterday about his involvement and other people’s,” Buso said. “My advice to anybody charged with a crime is you don’t talk to the police until you talk to your lawyer first.”
The cause and manner of the death of the two victims has yet to be determined by the Office of the Medical Examiner. A motive has not been released by authorities, but based on a witness statement, the people involved are believed to have all known each other.
Investigators said a woman came into the State Police barracks in Danvers on Saturday around 11:30 p.m. to a report that a crime had been committed at the two-bedroom bungalow. The woman fled the house and flagged down a car, which took her to the police station. Peabody officers entered the home and saw part of a dead body.
Authorities initially had difficulty determining the number of victims because the home was in poor condition and messy and the bodies were somewhat concealed. X-ray machinery was used to make that determination, according to the DA’s office.
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Edward O’Connor, 70, Jennifer’s father, was not in court for Hebb’s arraignment, but spoke by phone on Tuesday from his Beverly home.
“She was the sweetest, kindest person you would ever want to meet,” O’Connor said. “She didn’t have a mean bone in her body.”
O’Connor said his daughter suffered from a lifetime of medical issues. When she was 5, he said she came down with leukemia. She lost her hair from chemotherapy. At 15, she had a minor stroke from the radiation. He said Jennifer also suffered from some very painful menstrual cycles, which led to her looking for pain relief, including oxycontin and other pain medication.
At 30, O’Connor said Jennifer came down with a flesh-eating disease. At one point, doctors told Jennifer’s parents that they needed to say goodbye to their daughter. She was put in an induced coma for six weeks. A team of doctors operated on her from her navel to the top of her thighs.
“Unfortunately the painkillers, the sickness, the operation … She had a downward spiral of drug and alcohol addiction. She’s been into rehab, into programs. They didn’t work for her. They weren’t enough.”
O’Connor said women with alcoholism and drug addiction face a greater stigma than men. He said there aren’t enough facilities to take care of women. His daughter served a short stint in state prison for OUI and a minor shoplifting charge, and then transferred to Women in Transition in Salisbury, a pre-release facility that serves women with drug and alcohol addiction.
“Unfortunately, Jen being a follower, not a leader, got into the wrong crowd that led her to where she was unfortunately Saturday night,” O’Connor said. “She really was a kind soul. She loved kids. One of her biggest depressions was that she might not have been able to have children. The person is not the addict. The person is kind, but with a sickness.”
O’Connor said he had only met her fiance a few times, and couldn’t say that he approved of the relationship, but that “we can’t help who we fall in love with.” He said he’s always been close with Jennifer, but she sometimes divorced herself from her family because she was going in a different direction.
If anyone is looking for the father to say he wants to harm the two suspects in his daughter’s murder, O’Connor said they’re not going to hear him say that.
“It won’t bring my daughter back,” O’Connor said.
Pam, a relative of Greenlaw who did not want to share her last name, said it had been about six months since she had seen Mark. She’s close with his mother and his sister. She came to Hebb’s arraignment to support the family.
“I’m just going to miss him,” Pam said. “And his mother, they just lost their niece, her niece a year and a half ago, so now their son. She was devastated about that and I’m sure she’s devastated about this … This is a very bad thing for somebody to do to somebody.”
She described Mark as friendly and hyper. Pam said his family loved him and he was very protective of his siblings and his mother.
When she looked at Hebb, Pam said she saw a lost soul. She said she felt shock, but not anger. The crime left her with questions.
“Why?” Pam said. “Why? I don’t know if it’s drugs or not. Why does it have to end this way? Why do people have to go to that extreme? It’s awful. It’s brutal. It’s gross. From what I hear, it was really bad. How does a person in their mind want to do something like that?”
Greenlaw had been in trouble with the law before. In 2010, he was charged with shooting a man outside a train station in Lawrence, according to the Eagle-Tribune.
Police in the past had often been dispatched to 19 Farm Ave., the home where the victims were found, according to the DA’s office
The home was the site of a stabbing five years ago. In 2013, George Moise was sentenced to prison time after pleading guilty to stabbing Robert Kowalchik outside the residence. Moise was living there at the time, according to the Salem News.
George’s father, David Moise, is believed to also live at 19 Farm Ave. Property records list Lucy J. and Stanley J. Pikul Jr. as the owners of 19 and 21 Farm Ave. The owners live at 21 Farm Ave.
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley
