BOSTON — Andrew MacCormack, the man charged with killing his 30-year-old wife, Vanessa MacCormack, in their Revere home in September, remains held without bail following his arraignment in Suffolk Superior Court on Tuesday.
MacCormack, 29, was arraigned on an Oct. 31 indictment charging him with first-degree murder in the homicide. He is accused of killing Vanessa, a second-grade teacher at Connery Elementary School in Lynn, at their Grand View Avenue home on Sept. 23, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.
The couple had been married for two years and had a 1-year-old daughter. MacCormack has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum, chief of the DA’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit, told the court that Vanessa’s homicide took place “following some conflict in the marriage” that included financial problems and “suspected drug use, denied by him, but confirmed by the investigation.”
Polumbaum said the investigation also revealed that Vanessa had planned to sell their house and considered a divorce because Andrew had “ruined their lives.”
On Sept. 23, Polumbaum said Andrew left the home at about 8:30 a.m., circled a liquor store a few minutes away and headed back. Video footage from the area showed him driving away from the home again at about 12:50 p.m., taking a circuitous route to a friend’s home in Saugus, where he did a carpentry job.
Polumbaum said Andrew left the Saugus home at about 2:15 p.m. and went to East Boston, where he met a person to buy cocaine, and then returned home after stopping in a parking lot for about 30 seconds.
During this time, Polumbaum said Andrew sent texts to Vanessa’s phone and was in contact with her mother. He said evidence showed that Vanessa was already dead at this time.
Polumbaum said Andrew was on the phone with Vanessa’s mother when he went back into the home. He allegedly told her that Vanessa’s keys and car were there and that she was on the floor, and asked her mother to call 911. Her mother told Andrew to perform CPR, and it was then that he allegedly said Vanessa was dead, Polumbaum said.
Revere and State Police found Vanessa face down in the bedroom with significant trauma to her head and neck. Polumbaum told the court that pathologists determined that she had suffered multiple stab wounds to the back and sides of her neck, multiple slash wounds to the front of her neck, and broken bones and cartilage inside her neck.
There were no signs of forced entry to the home and investigators reported there was a strong smell of bleach inside the home. Vanessa’s body showed signs of a chemical burn consistent with bleach, and when speaking with investigators, Andrew had complained of a rash that he allegedly claimed was from a new detergent. Investigators didn’t find any bleach or bleach containers within the home, Polumbaum said.
Polumbaum said an examination of Andrew’s vehicle revealed traces of blood on the steering wheel, driver’s seat and door.
Andrew returns to court on Dec. 12 and his presumptive trial date is Nov. 5, 2018.
The victims of any crime, including domestic violence, should call 911 in an emergency. SafeLink, a statewide DV hotline, can be reached at 877-785-2020. SafeLink is answered by trained advocates 24 hours a day in English, Spanish and Portuguese, as well as TTY at 877-521-2601. It also has the capacity to provide multilingual translation in more than 140 languages.
