'A man of honor': Former DA Paul Walsh Jr., who brought justice in high-profile crimes, dies

During some of the darkest periods of modern history on the SouthCoast, Paul Walsh Jr. worked to shine the light of justice.

Walsh, who led the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office for 16 years in prosecuting several high-profile cases, and took unprecedented steps to lift what he called “the shroud of secrecy” that covered a shocking sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Diocese of Fall River, has died. He was 70.

Walsh was a New Bedford native and the son of Dr. Paul “Doc” Walsh Sr., a dentist who entered politics at the local and state levels, becoming a prominent New Bedford School Committee member for 36 years, chairman of the state Racing Commission, and clerk magistrate of Wareham District Court.

Walsh was a standout basketball star at New Bedford’s Holy Family High School, and his skill on the court led him to graduate from Providence College in 1976. In his younger days he lived for a time in Ireland, training greyhounds, but returned stateside to find work in the state treasurer’s office and take night classes at Suffolk Law. His future would be in another kind of court.

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Walsh's move from lawyer to Bristol County's top prosecutor

Walsh once described himself in an interview with The Herald News as a “gym rat” and a sports fanatic. As an attorney he similarly became skilled at both offense and defense. He joined the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office as an assistant prosecutor and opened a private practice in New Bedford as a defense attorney.

In 1990, following his father’s call to public service, Walsh decided to run for office.

“Paul was a natural politician, a student of history, and an enthusiast of all things Irish," said New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell.

At the time, the SouthCoast was still living in terror of the New Bedford Highway Murders, a string of serial killings in 1988 and 1989. Nine women, all sex workers or drug addicts, were found dead and dumped along the sides of highways in the area, often nude, often strangled to death; another two women went missing around that time and have never been found.

Ron Pina had been Bristol County’s district attorney for a dozen years, but was facing criticism over his handling of the case, among other issues.

Drawing on his father’s political machine and deep dissatisfaction with Pina, Walsh earned positive notice — including a bizarre endorsement from Kenneth Ponte, himself a one-time suspect in the highway killings .

“He was everyone’s best friend. He was friendly to everyone,” said Maureen Boyle, a crime journalist, author, and former Standard-Times and Enterprise reporter. “If he had enemies, he didn’t treat them as enemies.”

His affability played well on the campaign trail. Walsh campaigned hard, knocking on doors, shaking hands across the county at supermarkets and church feasts, raising $100,000 in donations. His campaign signs spread across Bristol County in the Irish colors of green and white.

“Paul was the upstart," Boyle said. “He was there at the right time, the right place." After over a decade of Pina, Walsh the fresh-faced former high school basketball star “exuded energy and change,” Boyle said.

In the Democratic primary of September 1990, Walsh coasted to victory. It was a surprise but decisive — two-thirds of voters chose the political newcomer over Pina.

Boyle said Walsh’s campaign party saw people in the streets cheering. Walsh’s people went to a nearby hardware store, bought brooms and started proclaiming his victory a sweep, until Walsh’s father, the veteran politician, “told them that wasn’t a very nice thing to do" and reminded them to win with grace.

Walsh faced no Republican challenger in November. The job was his.

Walsh's time as DA saw justice for multiple heinous crimes

Walsh would serve as Bristol County DA for 16 years, becoming the county’s longest-serving DA to date.

One of his first acts was to appoint a special prosecutor in the highway killings case, though he was careful to temper expectations. “It is a difficult case and we do not make the promise or a guarantee that we will come up with a conviction in this matter,” he told the Boston Globe in 1991. “To do so would raise false hopes and I just won’t do that.”

The case, perhaps the area’s most complex murder investigation, remains unsolved today.

But Walsh had other successes in the courtroom, bringing justice when confronted with some of the SouthCoast’s most heinous crimes.

His office finally secured a conviction against James Kater, a Brockton doughnut shop manager who kidnapped and killed 15-year-old Mary Lou Arruda near her Raynham home while she was riding her bicycle in 1978. Her headless body was discovered weeks later tied to a tree in the Freetown State Forest. After prior convictions in 1979, 1985 and 1991 didn’t stick, Walsh’s office in 1996 put away Kater for life.

In 1998, Walsh’s office successfully prosecuted Raymond Cook, the Fall River man who in 1994 murdered Police Officer Thomas Giunta. The cop had knocked on Cook’s door to give him a free parking pass for the city's Holy Ghost feast. Cook pulled Giunta’s gun from his holster and shot him three times. Cook's defense argued insanity; when the jury returned a guilty verdict and sentenced Cook to life without parole, Giunta’s family wept in gratitude.

A few years later his office prosecuted Jacques Robidoux , the leader of a fanatical cult in Attleboro who starved his infant son to death to fulfill a bizarre religious prophecy, sending him away for life in 2002.

He was not a DA known for being in front of cameras, Boyle said. But Walsh made national headlines when his office used creative flexibility in the state’s statute of limitations laws to prosecute former Catholic priest James Porter , accused of molesting scores of children in Fall River, New Bedford and North Attleboro starting in the 1960s. Porter in 1993 pleaded guilty to sexually abusing 28 children in Southeastern Massachusetts, a landmark case of clergy sexual abuse.

Ten years later, in 2002, frustrated by continued allegations of abuse in the diocese, Walsh took the unprecedented step of releasing the names of 21 Catholic priests accused of sexual misconduct who had not been formally charged with crimes. Though the DA’s office typically did not name suspects unless they were charged, and he was criticized by some for the action, he said he felt justified by the extreme circumstances.

“The shroud of secrecy has gone on long enough," Walsh said at the time. “We can't pretend we don't know that the acts occurred and know their names.”

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The move prompted other victims to come forward with more allegations against those priests.

Some may have found Walsh’s stance surprising. He was a proud Irishman who had attended Catholic schools, including college.

“His job as the DA is not to be the mouthpiece of the church,” Boyle said. “It’s to be the Bristol County district attorney.”

'A man of honor, integrity, and intelligence'

Richard Fabio, Walsh’s longtime aide and press secretary, worked for Walsh for 13 years, but had known him since he was a teenager.

Fabio said Walsh had a brilliant mind, was fond of reading Winston Churchill, and had a way of listening deeply to victims and witnesses.

“He found everyone curious,” Fabio said.

“He assembled a talented team of prosecutors and unfailingly supported them in bringing difficult cases,” said New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell. “The office secured countless convictions of individuals who victimized the innocent and threatened the safety of their communities. But his greatest legacy is that many of his hires went to become distinguished judges and elected officials themselves.”

Fabio said so many of Walsh’s colleagues became judges that his funeral services couldn’t be held during a work week because it would impact the courts. “It’s going to be like a reunion — a very, very sad reunion,” Fabio said. “He was loved and respected by everyone in the office.”

Among other elected officials to come out of Walsh’s office was current Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III.

“I worked for Paul for more than six years as an assistant district attorney," Quinn said in a statement. “During that time, I appreciated the support and confidence he showed in me by promoting me and allowing me to prosecute serious cases. I also appreciate his support during my time as the district attorney.”

Longtime friend Raymond Veary, a prosecutor under four different DAs including Walsh, said he was “better off for having crossed paths with him.”

“I’d describe Paul Walsh as a man of honor, integrity, and intelligence,” Veary said. “Perhaps more importantly, he was a man of poetry and good humor. He could wrap all of that up in a single conversation — and many’s the time he did.”

In 2006, after several terms without a challenger, Walsh faced opposition from former Assistant DA Sam Sutter . It was a sometimes contentious campaign — one in which the specter of the still-unsolved New Bedford Highway Killings was raised again — that saw Sutter win a narrow victory against his ex-boss. Walsh returned to private practice afterward.

Sutter said he always maintained a great deal of respect for Walsh.

“We were friends before we became rivals in the district attorney’s race in 2006, and in my mind, we were friends again afterwards," Sutter said. “As many know, he was the longest serving district attorney in Bristol County history, as well as the president of the National District Attorney’s Association. Those are singular achievements. But I would also like people to remember that he was an excellent trial lawyer.”

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Walsh: 'All we have in life is time'

Those who knew Walsh remarked upon his love of Ireland and Irish poetry and, in singular contradiction, the Portuguese language. He was an avid golfer, traveling often to Sligo in his ancestors’ homeland to hit the links, and was a board member of the Allendale Country Club in Dartmouth.

Despite Walsh’s reputation as a ferocious prosecutor, friends described Walsh also as a warm, compassionate person, a close listener, and a man who liked to laugh.

“Paul was a regular guy who identified with the average citizen," Quinn said. “He and his family have left a lasting legacy in the city of New Bedford and beyond through their many contributions to the community.”

In his retirement, Walsh told The Herald News he worried at first about being bored but soon found his days full of enjoyment. He exercised, read poetry, played golf.

“There are books I haven't gotten to yet,” he said. “When you do get to stop and smell the coffee, it is an adjustment. I'm starting to enjoy it.

“All we have in life is time,” Walsh said.

He is survived by a daughter, Patricia Anne of New York, his longtime companion Patricia Manley, his siblings William, Anne and Alice, and dozens of other relatives. His funeral is scheduled for Saturday, July 13, at St Lawrence Martyr Church, 565 County St., New Bedford.

“Paul’s untimely passing will be sorely felt in New Bedford,” said Mitchell, “but his service has made the city and the rest of the county more safe and just, and maybe a bit more fun.”

Dan Medeiros can be reached at dmedeiros@heraldnews.com . Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: 'A man of honor': Former DA Paul Walsh Jr., who brought justice in high-profile crimes, dies